This article is provided by BRC Associate Member, IP Integration.
__________________________
People, process and technology changes are transforming the retail Contact Centre
UK policymakers like to remind people that the country is the third-largest e-commerce market in the world, and the biggest in Europe. But the high street isn’t going away anytime soon. For retailers with a presence in both digital and bricks and mortar, the focus must therefore be on serving their customers’ needs consistently across channels, with exceptional experiences.
As a key interface between buyer and seller, the Contact Centre has a critical role to play here. By harnessing the power of AI, automation and social listening, it can cement itself at the heart of an enhanced, personalised customer retail experience.
Who is the experience-centric shopper?
To understand today’s consumers, we need to understand how they shop. According to BRC figures, total retail sales grew by nearly 4% annually in 2023 even as the UK economy faltered. But how this money is spent is changing. Over a quarter (27%) of sales are now digital, up from less than 20% in February 2020, according to the ONS.
While consumers are increasingly digital-savvy, they’re also becoming more demanding of the shopping experience itself. Research reveals that 80% of customers believe the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services, and two-thirds (65%) expect businesses to adapt to their changing needs and preferences. Nearly three-quarters (71%) see personalised interactions today as table stakes.
This is where customer service, and by extension the Contact Centre, can play an outsized role in improving customer experience. By delivering consistent, personalised experiences across digital and traditional channels, responding to pain points, and improving first-call resolution rates, it can do much to drive loyalty and sales.
Digital channels more important than ever
Three-quarters (76%) of consumers say they get frustrated when they don’t get the personalised experience they demand. There’s clearly a huge opportunity for retailers to do better. But how? One way is to enable shoppers to interact with them via their favourite channels.
According to a ContactBabel report, retail Contact Centres are actually ahead of the game in this respect. It claims they are “consistently handling a greater proportion of interactions through email than an average UK business”, and rapidly adopting web chat as a replacement to telephony in order to support online sales growth. Use of social media is also “considerably above average” and retail Contact Centres are also keen on proactive outbound customer service via emails, calls and texts.
This is good news for the experience-oriented shopper, and ultimately, the bottom line. McKinsey estimates that customers will spend 20-40% more with brands that respond to requests via social media.
Getting proactive
The Contact Centre doesn’t have to stop here. Social listening is gaining momentum as a useful way to find out more about customer preferences, head off crises and improve brand health. Up until now it’s usually been confined to the marketing team, but there’s no reason why the Contact Centre can’t step in.
It could be something as simple as monitoring social channels and jumping in with support when a customer is airing their grievances in public. That could help to accelerate resolution and improve customer sentiment, as well as showcasing the company’s commitment to excellence in customer service. In a similar way, acknowledging positive customer feedback via social media is a useful way to promote the brand in a more subtle way. Contact Centre teams could even get ahead of potential issues by posting statements on social media about possible outages or other incidents.
Social listening could also be used more passively, as a way to gather customer preferences and interests, which can then feed through into new business processes and workflows. Feedback could also be used longer-term in liaison with product development teams, to improve products and services.
Harnessing the power of AI
Another trend with great potential for enhancing the Contact Centre experience for shoppers is AI. Over half of Contact Centres are now estimated to have an AI-centric strategy. And according to ContactBabel, the retail sector is using the technology more than any other. When deployed judiciously, it can help to accelerate call handling, resolve queries, improve security and simplify workflows.
Consider AI-based Agent Assist and Knowledge Management systems, which are designed to provide agents with real-time information to help resolve customer queries quicker and more effectively. Or generative AI-powered chatbots, which can help customers to self-serve, taking the strain off human agents. Meanwhile, speech and text analytics can trawl through speech and text-based conversations at scale and speed, enabling retailers to identify underlying issues and enhance customer experience and agent performance.
The good news is that AI-powered Contact Centre solutions no longer require lengthy integration or wholesale changes to the underlying technology platform. They can be seamlessly integrated via modular SaaS solutions.
Better for customers, and agents
There are therefore plenty of options for the ambitious retailer to appeal to the experience-centric shopper. Through AI, social listening and other initiatives, they can create friction-free customer service interactions that ultimately increase loyalty, brand value and profits.
These efforts can also benefit Contact Centre teams. At a time when talent is hard to find and burnout is unfortunately commonplace, streamlining workflows and driving up productivity can help agents feel less stressed, more empowered, and more satisfied in their day-to-day roles. The future’s just around the corner.