BY POWERFRONT featuring Chelsea Dawson & Matt Cerche
Discover what the world’s most iconic brands are looking to implement for 2023 with a quick round up from our Powerfront business exec team.
What are retail brands looking to implement next?
Tell us your 2023 insights.
“In 2023 CX will get a further shake up.
Brands work hard to keep customers engaged to the level they are in-store and on social channels. Online, competitor reach expands in a much bigger way and brands need to focus on creating engaging, personal and humanized experiences – that are exciting enough to compete with other offerings in the market.” – Chelsea
We will see more virtual events and more video related content. This type of content will move from its traditional positions in social feeds to retailers websites and become interactive. Shoppers will be able to connect directly to sales associates in store, with customer service agents and product experts or simply add to cart and go straight to checkout. Shoppable content and social-like videos makes sense because this is how we shop and where we are now. The strategy is straightforward – to enable a seamless buying experience for a really captive audience.” – Matt
Where did your change-makers come from in 2022?
“There are alot of digital transformations from iconic brands that will spill over into 2023 and become the brands to watch.
Well known luxury brands that were in the ‘dark ages’ with chat and online service are coming to us with requests to elevate their customer experience online. We find a growing number of luxury retailers see the potential in using their store teams, located in boutiques, to sell online, but have a hard time knowing the next steps to execute or where to start. Luxury automotive will be moving more and more towards virtual selling from their dealerships, and developing innovative ways to amplify their website capabilities and customer experience online.” – Chelsea
“Luxury watch and jewelry brands want to expand their reach to customers outside of their store network. These brands have realized, post covid, that customers will buy high-priced products online and this opens up a huge opportunity to clientele regional customers too. These brands are prioritizing support to this experience and building the technology capabilities to support this strategy. It’s about bringing the shopping experience seamlessly from in-store to online.
“Product is being showcased in the most beautiful way through video and consumers are really confident to purchase like this. They are receiving an in-store experience with a person they are seeing, plus interacting with. It builds upon brand loyalty and, of course, instant revenue too!”
“There is a definite shift in mindset that self-service is beneficial and that customers are often very willing to use chatbots to solve their problems. Being able to align this with human representation, really elevates a brand’s experience and positioning around trust and loyalty. Smaller, more localized fashion brands that are growing and expanding are recognizing they need more powerful tools to manage their customer service teams and be able to communicate in a more humanized way with their customers. They are seeing the value in investing in a higher-yielding solution vs a plug and play that doesn’t give them the data insights they need to maximize on their website visitor interactions.” – Matt
What is the biggest adoption trend for omnichannel services?
“There are 4 main standouts that we are seeing brands prioritize.
Firstly, turning the contact center, that is traditionally a cost center, into a profit center. The ability to deliver experiences that convert shoppers and equally as important, being able to measure and attribute performance against sales. This elevates the type of recruitment brands then activate for customer support and sales. It can add a real competitive edge to a brand, which in turn leads to higher revenue.
Secondly, being able to recognize your online visitors and communicate with them throughout the buying journey, through all channels. Having these powerful, data-rich tools connects a brand’s marketing, sales, social and service teams all together. Traditionally these have sat in completely different corners. Customer service insights are now really driving marketing initiatives.
Thirdly, the shift for seamless omnichannel communication. For example, taking an online order and having it confirmed by email and SMS and updates on both channels. Being able to start a conversation through one channel like WhatsApp and then continuing it one another. It creates choice for the customer and simplicity for the sales associates and agents handling the inquiry.
The fourth momentum is the shift back to utilizing stores to support online customers. During the pandemic it was essential, but now it has become an absolute wake up call for a lot of businesses. We are seeing the move to a ‘one customer, one business’ mentality. This is such a positive mindset shift for brands with multiple retail locations (who perform differently store-to-store) and also brands with less footprint, but with the people available to increase their service and sales capacity.”
What can CX leaders do to maximize the ROI on their 2023 budgets?
“This is so very simple. Focus on conversion, engagement and retention. Treat every service related engagement like a sales opportunity. Adopt the same mindset that has been in bricks and mortar forever – If a customer wants to return an item, what can you sell them instead? This is a brand’s moment to shine. Recognize the customer when they come back to you, use the opportunity to provide the best absolute service and proactively sell.” – Chelsea
Talk to our Powerfront team today to find out how INSIDE by Powerfront can help deliver your 2023 CX strategy and better connect your customers in store, online, or wherever they interact with your brand.
Discover how to create a Language of Luxury Service.
