Despite new technologies, communication on social media and ever increasing amounts of customer data, successful retailers still depend on well-known figures: Motivated employees and a committed dialogue with customers are still the key success factors.
“Big data” is one of the buzzwords in Internet and retail: More and more providers from all industries are collecting immense amounts of data via discount cards, consumer behavior of customers and purchased customer profiles. Using complex algorithms, this customer data allows conclusions to be drawn about future buying behavior and enables providers to present their customers with tailor-made advertising, suitable special offers or particularly interesting news.
One study from consulting firm A.T. Kearney in over 20 countries has now revealed that retailers apparently get very little out of their data collections. And what's more: Success in retail is probably still much more dependent on the classic principles of customer service than you would expect with all the data euphoria.
“A successful retail business depends on people: employees, customers and the interactions between them,” the authors conclude. And: “One of the big secrets of success is the simple concept of engaged dialogue: listen to your employees and listen to your customers.”
Customer reviews are free but immensely valuable
But only a few of the retailers, according to the study, consistently use the data available to them from social networks. These platforms offer an immense breadth and depth of customer reviews. Customer reviews are free but immensely valuable. Anyone who doesn't read them, doesn't react to them and doesn't translate the findings into improvements is their own fault.
In Europe, too, there are now online customer reviews for almost all industries. Platforms like Yelp.com may not yet have the reach they enjoy in the USA, but very soon customer reviews will play a decisive role in every purchase decision: from A for car dealers to Z for dentists.
For companies of all industries and of all sizes, this means that customer contact has once again become more important. In addition to bare costs and additional services decides Namely, more and more the professional expertise of employees and their active responsibility for customer well-being as to whether a customer comes back and whether they even recommend a provider to others.
Customers who take the time to write a review are usually engaged and they are quite open to the provider even in the event of any mistakes. If they are taken seriously by the provider, they are potential brand ambassadors, even if they act as critics here and there.
The study by A.T. Kearney can be found here.