Harnessing CX to Transform Your Omnichannel Strategy

Post-pandemic, Nordic retailers are improving their customer experience. Mapping out their future digital strategy will inevitably include revamping the CX across all eCommerce platforms to maintain a competitive advantage. 36% of retail leaders from our 2022 report, said they already have a modern, agile eCommerce platform in place. While a further 38% said they plan to modernise their eCommerce stack in the coming year.

Discover how to transform your customer journey. Take a look at the agenda for eTail Nordic today! 

Competing in the ‘Age of Experience': The New Battle for the Customer

In today's market, retailers face two key challenges. First, the proliferation of new consumer-facing technology and choosing which vendor is right for their organisation. Second, the evolving consumer habits and expectations post-pandemic. Customers now expect ‘shopping experiences’, with seamless online purchase journeys and tech-enabled in-store interactions. Everything must delight, and each touchpoint is an opportunity for retailers to improve customer relationships and loyalty. In short, retailers are now operating in an ‘age of experience.’ 

Seamless Online Experiences

Customers today are looking for a seamless shopping experience. From product discovery to the post-purchase experience, retailers need to ensure delivery managment and support are in place and operating at a high-standard to win and retain customers. Industry leaders have already taken note of this and are focusing more investment in improving their CX across their eCommerce platforms.

A key area of focus for retailers is optimising the payment process. Traditionally this was a tedious and cumbersom purchase process which often resulted in abandoned carts and frustrated customers. The rise of innovative payment technology is giving retailers an opportunity to address these challenges. Consumers can take advantage of ‘buy now, pay later’ services, such as Klarna, and one-click payments, and already retailers and customers are seeing the benefits.

Ironing out the kinks in the payments experience was also referenced by our respondents as a key priority. 66% said that they would invest in building in-house payment management tools in the next three years.

Personalisation the online shopping experience is fast-becoming a key trend for retailers. Tailoring the end-to-end purchase journey to each customer’s individual needs and preferences will become more important for customers in the future. Although the industry is far from achieving this, our survey reveals progress in this direction. 45% of respondents in the Nordics plan to increase their investment in personalisation by 10-20%, while 1 in 5 will raise it by 20-40%.

Much of this spend will inevitably go towards acquiring the new data infrastructure and analytical tools. Investing in the creation of hyper-personalised shopping experiences, tailored recommendations, offers and content will help retailers achieve 360-degree customer visiblity.

Tech-Enabled In-store Experiences

With the lifting of lockdown restrictions, bricks-and-mortar stores are back. However, it is not a simple case of returning to business as usual. Customers do value the ability to assess products in person, but their shopping habits have changed since 2020. Increasingly, in-store technology is finding its way back onto the shop floor.

Forward-thinking brands, like Burberry, have embraced retail’s shift towards an omnichannel, hybridised purchase journey.  For example, creating immersive shopping experiences that are connected with social media and introducing elements of gamification. Another way retailers are embracing technology is investing in augmented reality (AR). In Nike stores, AR technology is being used to enable customers to expore the supply chain of the goods they are interested in, blurring the lines between the digital and physical worlds in retail.

Using the technology the right way in-store is a great way for retailers to create memorable experiences for their customers.

Picking up the Pace with CX: Suggestions for Getting Started

Every retailer will be at their own stage of their CX transformation journey. Retailers need to do the following:

• Identify the weakest links in the omnichannel customer experience and tackle them first. The omnichannel offering is only as good as the weakest links deployed. Identifying them first is the best way forward. Integrating back-office processes is a good place to start, enabling retailers to roll out real-time inventory management systems and better tracking capabilities. All with the view to better serve customers, wherever they want to engage with the brand.
  
  
• Focus on developing tech-enabled business agility. Consumers expect continuous innovation in the shopping experience, both in-store and online. The ability to move quickly to satisfy these demands and respond to market shocks is critical for retailers. Tackling any rigidities in the tech stack and replacing them with flexible cloud solutions will help to overcome this challenge. Hiring the right talent and expertise in this area is key to the evolution of the customer experience.

• Balance near-term ROI objectives with the long-term view. Demonstrating the business impact of CX initiatives is undoubtedly important. However, a balance has to be struck between driving topline growth in the near term and investing in long-term growth. Innovating CX is also about aligning with the future of the industry. Adjusting the timeline of ROI expectations could be a benefit in the long run.
  
  

Want to Learn from the CX Leaders?

If you are keen to learn from the leaders driving the CX revolution in retail across the Nordic region, eTail Nordic is your golden opportunity. Join us this year in Copenhagen and take part in the debates that will decide the future of retail.