The Importance of Customer Centricity: A Beginner’s Guide for eCommerce and Omnichannel Retailers
In today’s competitive business environment, customer experience (CX) is becoming a critical success factor for eCommerce and omnichannel retailers. With consumers having more online choices than ever before, keeping pace with their expectations and needs has become a top priority. Moreover, two-thirds of global consumers are quick to switch brands if they feel unsatisfied with the digital experience they receive. This fact highlights the importance of CX and the need for retailers to build customer loyalty and prevent churn.
In this beginner’s guide, we will explore why customer centricity is essential and offer practical tips on how eCommerce and omnichannel retailers can create a culture that puts the customer front and center.
Product Teams Need Clarity on What Customers Want
Creating customer-centric products should be the top priority of any organization. According to Salesforce’s 2022 State of the Connected Consumer report, 58% of consumers switch brands for better product quality. Thus, understanding your customer’s wants, needs, and preferences is crucial.
Product teams need to rely on granular and comprehensive customer data to identify customer preferences and tailor their offerings to meet them. Using advanced AI-powered demand forecasting tools can help product teams to forecast customer demand, refine product selections, and develop products that resonate with consumers.
Service Teams Need to See Complete Customer Histories
Customer service plays an integral role in maintaining customer loyalty. Today’s consumers expect not only quality products but also a seamless service experience. When customer service agents have access to a customer’s purchase and service histories, they can provide more personalized support.
Furthermore, automated, personalized customer service tools can suggest related products that the agent can offer as upsell or cross-sell options. By leveraging customer data from each engagement, AI/ML tools can become increasingly accurate and provide better service to customers.
UX, Commerce, and Fraud Teams Need Unified Visitor Insights
Understanding how customers interact with websites and apps is essential for effective CX. There are various UX elements to consider, such as website accessibility, ease of navigation, localization, and personalization.
Customer recognition is one of the key factors in delivering personalized recommendations and content, and it is crucial in avoiding false declines during the checkout process. However, the data that supports personalization and the data that drives fraud control are not always unified.
Unifying data sets can reduce false declines, improve CX, and simplify how customers behave during checkout. By analyzing customer behavior during the checkout process, retailers can reduce cart abandonment rates, which can negatively impact customer loyalty.
Final Thoughts
Becoming more customer-centric requires more than just sharing data and insights; it requires a top-down commitment to change. Every organization should have a chief experience officer or similar leader to oversee this process, connect with different departments, and eliminate siloed processes and technologies.
In conclusion, customer centricity is becoming an increasingly vital element for eCommerce and omnichannel retailers. To stay competitive, retailers must focus on meeting the ever-increasing expectations of their customers. This means that creating a culture centered around the customer experience is essential. By following the tips outlined in this beginner’s guide, retailers can start moving in the right direction and create more meaningful and lasting relationships with their customers.
