The tech industry is caught in a repetitive loop.
Silicon Valley, the birthplace of the world's technological innovation, has gradually become a collection of cannibalised ideas in search of user needs. Threads is the latest example in a long list of copycat launches that demonstrates just how far the industry has drifted from its roots in user-centric innovation.
Some might view the trend of copying competitors' features as a welcome move towards standardising user experiences. But there's a big difference between universal implementations of patterns like hamburger menus that provide familiarity and intuitiveness and a rampant replication of features.
Design thinking is about understanding and meeting user needs in a way that's empathetic, innovative, and specific to the situation. However, copying features from other platforms that work well ignores the unique needs and situations of users. It ignores the basic requirement for experiences to be memorable and meaningful if they are to resonate with the people using them.
On further reflection, it becomes obvious that the world's biggest design organisations are driven by commercial protectionism and competition, more than they are by understanding the world around them and creating relevant products.
It's like the world's most expensive game of musical chairs, with each company trying to claim the last seat before the music stops. Quite simply, that's because the commercial success of platforms like Twitter and Facebook rests on maintaining and monetising huge user bases - the model only works at a massive scale.
So, when any new platform or format takes off, the commercial threat is immediate. Any decline in active users, or any increase in user churn is immediately felt in the bottom line and the share price, so the instinct is to plug the hole and fast.
We've seen the response many times before.
There's a long list of examples of Twitter and Facebook copying rivals. Remember Fleets? Twitter's attempt at capturing the success of Snapchat's Stories (Instagram didn't even bother to change the name of Stories when they implemented the same feature). Or Instagram Reels? Facebook's response to the success and popularity of TikTok's short-form video content.
But, perhaps the most egregious example was Twitter's acquisition of Vine. Fearful of losing relevance to short-form video content, they bought out the competition and then failed to make any meaningful improvements to the platform, before pulling it completely in 2017.
But the issue here isn't just a disregard for innovation that really moves the dial, it's a failure to design with purpose. Short-termist and preoccupied with fending off threats, they've not stopped to ask: What do our users actually need?
In a system where companies can make profits running to tens of billions simply by maintaining the status quo, a see-what-sticks, feature parity approach to innovation is inevitable. We've helped create companies that are too big to take risks. They have grown so dependent on monetising eyeballs, and therefore maintaining huge, ring-fenced user bases, that true innovation - at least within the core platform - is a threat in its own right.
Why wouldn't they take the path of least resistance? Understanding and addressing user needs is a complex, intensive and expensive process. It requires substantial investments in research, ideation, prototyping, and testing. Despite making huge research and development investments in areas like the metaverse and AI, when it comes to the core platform, copying a proven feature can be done much more quickly and cheaply. It's a shortcut to staying relevant in a competitive industry that values speed above all else.
But risk is a necessary ingredient for innovation.
After all, if an idea is guaranteed to work, it's probably not very innovative. Think of any groundbreaking product or service, and you'll find risk. Whether it was Apple's first iPhone, which was a huge bet, or SpaceX's first attempt at private space travel, the most innovative ideas usually involve significant risk.
Meanwhile, the relentless and blatant cannibalisation of features by companies like Twitter and Facebook is gradually diminishing their credibility in the eyes of the very people they're meant to serve.
The short-term survival strategy may seem smart to these companies, but it is not going unnoticed by their audience. They have a keen eye for originality and can spot a copycat feature from a mile away. When they see a platform that was once a leader playing catch-up, it shows that they're more focused on competing with other companies than creating value for their audience.
Users want to feel that they're part of a platform that respects their intelligence, listens to their needs, and is genuinely committed to innovating on their behalf. Companies that put imitation ahead of innovation risk not only their reputation but the trust and loyalty of their users.
In the long run, this will lead to a backlash against these tech giants, with users choosing more innovative, authentic alternatives. It's time for these big companies to take note (but don't hold your breath).
Sam Steele
This year's Future of Fashion event took place against the backdrop of hugely challenging market conditions and an industry undergoing a period of profound change. Brands like Net-a-Porter and Mulberry are wrestling with challenges ranging from the European Commission's looming Extended Producer Responsibility regulations (EPR) to changing consumer behaviours as Generation Z rises to prominence.
It was fascinating to see how brands at the vanguard are responding, with new priorities and new thinking - and, make no mistake, customer experience innovation is front and centre.
Three key themes emerged time and again:
All eminently sensible, but how do you actually deliver on these ambitions in a way that drives revenue when adding Gen Z as the unknown variable, with its new behaviours, needs and motivations?
The answer is in design thinking, which can be applied to any customer experience problem or opportunity. The solutions are often surprising or unexpected, but the outcomes in terms of almost any KPI are often transformative.
For the uninitiated, design thinking - also known as human-centred design is a process for solving problems by prioritising customer needs above all else. At its heart it relies on observing, with empathy, how people interact with an environment or service, then using that insight to guide an iterative, test-and-learn approach to continuous innovation and improvement.
Crucially, putting a deep understanding of, and empathy with customers at the heart of innovation can be incredibly powerful. It can drive novel thinking by unearthing previously hidden connections between problems and opportunities - and unlock commercially transformative innovations that might otherwise have been overlooked.
That allows us to think differently:
Clearly, the above is not based on detailed customer insight and is intended only to illustrate the point. In a way, that is part of the point of design thinking. It takes the guesswork out of customer experience innovation - both in terms of specific innovations and their commercial outcomes.
First, every design decision is driven by customer insight, and shaped to satisfy real customer needs. But secondly every solution candidate will be prototyped and live tested to understand its impact on KPIs - from customer sentiment to revenue.
Ultimately, every iterative innovation is rolled out not in hope, but in expectation, because potential revenue uplifts are already known, the business case is solid, and the risks have been assessed and mitigated. It's a little bit of certainty in an uncertain world.
The benefits of design thinking don't end with problem solving. That is, the starting point for design thinking - gathering customer insight - must always be broader than the problem or opportunity at hand, because empathy is impossible without context.
As a result, more often than not, unexpected opportunities and hidden problems emerge. Often, they open the door to transformative innovation - we call them million dollar tests and they happen more often than you might think.
In some ways, these hidden gems are akin to finding a million dollars down the back of the sofa - you'll never know if you don't look - and that's the kind of magic we would also welcome with open arms.
If you want to know more about design thinking and how to apply it to customer experience innovation, get in touch with us today info@biglight.co.uk
It is all too easy to think of people with accessibility needs as those with visible or profound disabilities. However, while this cohort is a very important part of the picture and should clearly be catered for through accessible digital commerce, the issue is far more wide-ranging.
The truth is that the UK is home to 16m people with disabilities and, therefore accessibility needs - that is one in four people [1] - many of them routinely under-served by brand and retail digital commerce sites.
Excluded and frustrated
The facts are stark. The WebAIM annual accessibility analysis of the top one million homepages found that a sobering 97.4% had 'detectable accessibility errors' when measured against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) [2].
In part, this is down to a failure to understand the true nature of disability and the associated accessibility needs. In particular, the idea that disability is permanent and profound is out of step with reality. Disability can be permanent (such as deafness), temporary (ear infection) or situational (anyone working in a noisy environment).
What's more, conditions like colour blindness, rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson's Disease, Autism, ADHD, and even age-related disabilities create real and significant accessibility needs - some of which you can experience first-hand via UK government accessibility personas.
On top of all that, when you think about accessibility as a route to delivering inclusive digital customer experiences, the issue broadens even further. This is because, even where only a minority of people are excluded from using a product or service through accessibility failings, a significant additional number of people may have difficulty or be frustrated when they try to use it [3].
The Click-Away Purple Pound
Clearly, these failings have very real implications for people with accessibility needs. Despite public commitments to accessibility and inclusion, all too many brands are doing the opposite - inadvertently making life harder or even excluding people with disabilities.
That disconnect between what brands say and what they do can only harm reputation - and if a desire to make good on accessibility commitments from an ethics or brand perspective is not enough, there is a significant financial dimension too.
The total annual spending power of 'Purple Pound' families - those with at least one disabled person - is estimated at GBP 274bn. But brands failing to take an inclusive approach to digital design are simply missing out:
On the other hand, according to Accenture, companies that prioritise digital inclusion realise 28% higher revenues, 30% better profit performance and higher shareholder returns than accessibility laggards.
Closing the accessibility gap
At a time when digital is becoming ever more pervasive, affecting almost every aspect of daily life, this accessibility gap is only going to get wider if brands do not step up - with consequences for consumers, staff, the bottom line and shareholders.
So, what can be done?
First of all, there are a range of accessible design approaches and guidelines brands can follow in developing inclusive digital experiences. They include the WCAG Guidelines highlighted above, as well as techniques such as accessible design, universal design and inclusive design.
All of which begs the question - 'With so much guidance out there, why are so many brands failing the accessibility test?'.
The answer seems to lie in context. That is, while guidelines and tools for accessible design are undoubtedly useful, they are by definition general. How they are applied must take context into account - and this boils down to the specifics of a brand, its products and services, customer base and so on.
This context will determine a range of specific accessibility needs, and accessible, inclusive or universal design techniques only really deliver when they respond to these specific needs. In other words, accessibility must be intrinsic to design, not an afterthought or overlay.
The solution: Design thinking
This is where brands appear to be falling down. Recent research found that just 31% of brands consider accessibility when they research customer needs, and 19% consider accessibility when deciding which digital products and services to build.
To make matters worse, 54% only consider accessibility at the development stage and 65% admit they have never tested their digital accessibility with real customers [5].
This is the opposite of design thinking, an approach based on observing and understanding customer needs and behaviours, then using this insight to guide design decisions - in the context of inclusive and accessible design, this is the only way to truly embed universal accessibility in digital design.
At Biglight, design thinking is the approach we take to every programme of customer experience innovation we undertake - albeit modified to ensure client's commercial goals are also very much part of the equation.
When it comes to truly delivering on their accessibility promises and, by extension, earning a share of the Purple Pound spend, design thinking is an approach that many brands could and should adopt. From a practical point of view, it does not require brands to veer so very far from the approach to digital design that many already take.
It simply means including individuals with accessibility needs in customer research, considering and responding to those needs in design and development, and testing with diverse customers at every stage - from sketched-out ideas and prototypes to launch candidates. Anything else is simply guesswork and that is not good enough.
Make no mistake, accessibility is not a marginal issue. Affecting one in four people, it is very much front and centre - and accessible design is also a gateway to more usable, satisfying and convenient digital experiences for customers of all types.
What's more, at a time when consumer decisions are increasingly driven by brands' ethical credentials, accessibility is an issue that no business can afford to ignore - brands' ability to live up to their promises has never been so important to commercial success.
With that in mind, we stand ready to answer your questions. Get in touch to find out how we can help you better understand your customers.
References
[1] https://business.scope.org.uk/article/accessibility-and-disability-facts-and-figures
[2] https://business.scope.org.uk/article/accessibility-and-disability-facts-and-figures
[3] https://www.cfbi.com/inclusivedesign.htm
[4] https://business.scope.org.uk/article/accessibility-and-disability-facts-and-figures
[5] https://business.scope.org.uk/article/inviqa-digital-accessibility-customer-experience-report
Amazon has long been a kind of big shapeless threat hanging over retail, but now this threat is solidifying into something that could compromise the medium term survival of even the most established retail brands.
Already in 2018 we've noticed that 'The Amazon Problem' is now dominating retail conversations more than ever before and we're also seeing a real sea change in the sense of urgency with which brands are responding.
Sea Change in 2018
If 2017 was the year of fixing the basics - such as optimising mobile experiences on responsive sites - then 2018 is the year when everyone is asking "What do we need to do to ensure we are still relevant in five years time?"
The challenge from Amazon and, to a lesser extent, other pureplay brands, is rooted in their competence in really understanding the needs of their customers and then innovating, in order to deliver remarkable (and I use that word deliberately) experiences to meet them.
The result? Innovations such as "Amazon Prime Now" and "ASOS Instant" - services that not only lift their trading performance, but also change customer expectations. Permanently. Thus giving real, tangible shape to the threat from these challenger brands.
One only has to look to what is happening in the US for evidence of that.
Laying Waste in the USA
When big brands like Nike and Calvin Klein throw in the towel, you know big changes are afoot - and both have cut deals with Amazon. No longer just a competitor, it is a distribution channel for these brands - and that spells trouble for retail brands, whose stocks tumbled as a consequence.
In 2017, Amazon took over from Macy's as the biggest online apparel retailer and surpassed Walmart in sales of electricals - putting it second only to Best Buy who, the previous year, saw single digit growth compared to Amazon's 28%.
I could go on, but suffice to say that, by the end of 2017, nearly 7,000 stores had closed in the US, the move to the internet being a chief reason.
The Threat in Europe
In the UK, 90% of retail sales are still in-store, so there is still a massive opportunity for retailers to consolidate their positions and work out how they can live in harmony with the US giant, whatever form this might take. But waiting to see what happens is not an option.
How will Amazon 'Prime Wardrobe' affect fashion retailers? How will "Amazon Go" impact grocery stores? Both are coming, and soon. In November, Amazon opened a 3000 sq ft pop-up shop in Soho. It was open for just three days, but offered an indication of what might be to come.
Perhaps most tellingly, Amazon has quietly expanded its UK warehouse capacity by 4m sq ft - taking up 20% of all new warehouse stock. The writing is on the wall.
The response? - Remarkable Customer Experiences
But innovation doesn't have to be the preserve of Amazon. For any brand, targeted and focused experimentation that ultimately delivers remarkable customer experiences can be the saviour as well as the threat.
What's a remarkable experience? It's something new and appealing that makes customers sit up and take notice - talk to others about. But its impact is tragically transient, as customer quickly see it as the norm and expect it - leaving brands that don't offer it behind.
Remember the first time you ordered something online that arrived just a few hours later that same day? Wasn't that a remarkable experience? Don't we all just expect it now?
Rising to the challenge
I'm pleased to say that retail brands are beginning to rise to this challenge by accelerating the scale of experimentation - the only way to deliver the customer experience innovation to underpin long term relevance, and survival.
This means understanding how their customers interact with them across their entire journey, from their first online session, via store visits to fulfilment and returns and enriching this picture with data and behavioural insight.
The aim? To identify how well they are meeting both the practical and emotional needs of their customers and the opportunities, previously hidden in plain sight, so that improvements in the experience that eliminate pain and increase moments of delight can be tested and rolled-out.
Don't debate it, as Nike says, Just do it, because if you don't then Amazon will (or maybe already is).
To find out more about CX strategy and CXO to increase revenue, get in touch.
Imagine enabling your customers to buy online without even visiting a checkout - or enabling first time visitors to make a purchase without needing to register or enter card and address details.
This is a future that Apple Pay makes possible - but it's also a future that throws up plenty of questions. We've taken a few minutes to answer five of the most common questions here:
It's true that Apple Pay has until now been focused on enabling shoppers to use their iPhones to complete contactless payments in-store (though it can also be used to make in-app purchases without entering card details).
However, last year Apple announced plans to allow shoppers to use Apple Pay - in combination with Touch ID authentication - to pay for online purchases via their Apple accounts. In essence, the service will enable one touch purchasing wherever a website displays a 'Pay with Apple Pay' icon.
Apple Pay is not yet widely available as an online payment option, but it is coming. In fact some stores - notably Apple's own online store - are already offering a slick and seamless purchasing experience for visitors using iPhones or iPads with Touch ID - or those using Safari on a Mac running Sierra.
Apple Pay completely changes the customer journey - and this is good news for anyone wrestling with lower conversion rates from mobile traffic.
The Apple Pay icon can be added anywhere on a website, including product details and listings pages. That spells the end for a linear journey - through listings and product details pages, basket and checkout - that has proven so cumbersome and off-putting for many mobile users.
Instead, iPhone or iPad customers can buy products with a single tap, from any page that features the Apple Pay icon, then authenticate the purchase directly on the same device using Touch ID. It's intuitive, instant and native to the device - basically frictionless and therefore the exact opposite of many existing mobile checkout experiences.
In theory, that simpler journey will help with mobile conversion - but Apple Pay should really help with converting new customers too. Users only have to register their details once - with the app itself, so all those visitors who saw something cool while browsing, but were put off by having to enter their address and card details again, are more likely to purchase.
The signs are good in practice too. Early adopters have reported conversion rates doubling, with mobile traffic benefiting in particular.
Customer experience optimisation involves increasing the motivation to purchase, and simplifying the digital journey. By almost completely removing the barriers to completing payment, Apple Pay offers a huge leap forward for simplification, leaving more time to focus on increasing motivation - by delivering great content and experiences.
Think about it. What would your site look like if resources and time did not have to be committed to designing, maintaining and troubleshooting a checkout process? What new content or fresh user flows could you put in place instead? And, crucially, how much better will it be for shoppers?
The future may not be Apple - after all Android Pay and PayPal One Touch offer similar solutions - but it will certainly be interesting.
For more information on how UX can improve customer experience on mobile, get in touch.
One of the prices online retailers are paying for the increased use of mobile devices to browse their stores is a marked reduction in conversion rate. In most cases mobile conversion rate is roughly half that of desktop.
A nightmare scenario is one in which nothing can be done about this - but the good news is that, by identifying where you stand, you can address the problem and by removing friction from the mobile experience.
At Biglight we have developed a benchmarking tool - the Biglight Benchmark - to help do just that It's a neat, simple way to size your mobile conversion rate problem, and secure the budget required to tackle it.
You'll first need some data and a calculator then:
1. Calculate your mobile traffic mix:
Mobile Traffic divided by total traffic multiplied by 100
2. Calculate mobile conversion rate as a percentage of desktop conversion rate (Relative conversion rate)
Mobile conversion rate divided by desktop conversion rate, multiplied by 100.
3. Plot your position on the quadrant below
The two gold lines represent the weighted average positions on each axis - 50% for the mobile traffic mix, and just over 45% for mobile conversion rate, as a percentage of desktop conversion rate.
This is real data, based on the UK performance of 15 leading retailers of apparel, footwear, homewares and accessories in March and April this year, but the method can be applied to almost any type of retailer.
What does the mobile benchmark tell us?
This is where you uncover the opportunity: a retailer in the top left is in a relatively strong position, mobile users are a lower proportion of the mix but convert well relative to desktop.
Those in the bottom right have a big opportunity - lots of mobile traffic is converting poorly, so some targeted optimisation can deliver rapid returns .
Whilst these are two extremes, opportunities exist for the majority of retailers.
What can I do about it?
The first job is to break the user journey down into stages. Look at 'Browse to Basket' and 'Basket to Conversion' as two broad steps in the journey - then in more detail at micro-conversions (for instance the product detail page to product listing page micro-conversion), to identify the specific parts of the journey that present the biggest optimisation opportunities.
You can then carry out structured usability testing, focusing on priority elements of the journey - along with other behavioural research to identify the why behind the opportunities the data has revealed. That discipline, along with prototyping major changes, A/B testing and rapid deployment, are the final steps towards delivering a step-change in mobile revenue performance.
I'll cover those steps in the process in more detail in my next post. In the meantime, why not benchmark your mobile conversion performance and see how you compare?
For more information on how to increase your mobile conversion rate, speak to one of our team.
Earlier this year, we carried out a massive research project to understand mobile user behaviour across 40 eCommerce sites in 6 countries.
We discovered a simple truth that changed the way we think about designing for mobile users:
Mobile users are shockingly single-minded about getting to product. (And anything that gets in the way of that single-minded journey is a 'conversion killer'.)
As with any research project, this one threw up some lessons we can learn now - by addressing real issues with the mobile experience - and some that have longer term implications for mobile experience design.
In the spirit of sharing, I thought it worth putting up this short blog to detail the short term fixes - in the words of our usability testers, these are the seven conversion killers you can deal with right now:
If menu structure and language are way down your list of priorities, it's time to think again. Shoppers don't want to play 'find the needle', scouring menus for products that should be easy to find. And they won't. They'll go elsewhere.
This was a surprisingly common issue, with sub-menu categorisation and 'in-house' terminology being common culprits.
So think carefully about your menu structures. Are you burying best sellers in obscure sub-menus? Or are you expecting shoppers to understand your internal category shorthands? Make it easy and make it obvious.
Where users encountered simple category signposts on homepage merchandising spots, they used them repeatedly. They were blind to brand and campaign content, only clicking on obvious navigation spots like 'mens' footwear', 'womens' jackets' and so on. In fact, their first act was to scroll to the bottom of the page looking for them.
They resorted to using menus and search if they had to.
All that great brand content isn't a waste of time; it's just in the wrong place. Use your mobile homepage to make it easy for users to navigate.
Filters are a big deal. Users spend ages filtering product listing pages to get a relevant selection of products - along with the product details page, this is the single most important part of the journey and has a bigger impact on overall conversion than you might think.
Users hate it when filters are hard to find, apply and remove, or use terms they don't immediately recognise. Worse still, they simply give up if they can't apply whatever combination of filters they need.
This should be top of the fix list. Quite simply, make sure your filters are easy to use and make sense for users.
In tests we saw users spend a lot of time on the product page. This is where they are prepared to engage with content - but they don't want big blocks of text (and remember a short paragraph on desktop looks massive on mobile). In fact, they simply skip past content that isn't easy to consume, rendering the investment in creating it worthless.
Create product content that's satisfying to read - make it 'snackable' and visually appealing and users will engage. Break text up and use bulleted lists, photography and iconography to highlight features and benefits.
Integrate brand content that's relevant to the product (but otherwise ignored on other pages) and, if you get this right, shoppers will convert 20% more often.
Users found this phone-smashingly annoying. They want to see the product image close up so what do they do? They pinch to zoom (they'll even do this on the PLP). They swipe to the next image. But this rarely works. The pinched image jumps off the page, the swipe takes them 'back' to the previous page. They just don't want to use the zoom, arrow and 360 icons - they're fiddly and it's not instinctive behaviour on a smartphone.
This is a priority optimisation job for lots of mobile sites. If you don't develop a gallery treatment that supports native smartphone gestures you're throwing away sales and not getting the most from your investment in product photography.
So many sites fell at the final hurdle - by making the last leg of the journey, from basket to checkout, just horrible. Forms that are fiddly and repetitive, unnecessarily complicated delivery options, hidden returns messaging, baskets that are hard to update - all these issues and more saw our users abandoning purchases.
There are too many opportunities to optimise the basket and checkout experience to list here - but it's so important, why wouldn't you test and investigate every route to a better user experience? And don't overlook touch payment solutions like Apple Pay, Android Pay and PayPal OneTouch.
Then there are the niggles, the seemingly minor issues that add up to a terrible user experience. Users might battle through them once, but they won't be back any time soon. Our test users hated newsletter pop-ups that are hard to close and cookie messages that take up half the screen. Meanwhile slow page load times and UIs that don't work so well for touch - unless you have child fingers - had them leaving sites in droves.
So, if you haven't tested and optimised every aspect of the user experience - and dealt with the niggles - you're losing sales.
Beyond Responsive?
There's a bigger picture here - the research points to an opportunity to rethink mobile experiences and that, by making things better for users, sustainable revenue growth can be delivered quickly. Consider that mobile is already the dominant device for online shopping - and that the trend away from desktop and tablet is accelerating - and it's obvious that these quick fixes are only the beginning.
For more information on how to increase your mobile conversion rate, speak to one of our team.
Omnichannel. It even sounds techy, like an offshoot of online retail. Maybe that's why, historically, retailers have been so fixated on eCommerce innovation as a means of delivering omnichannel experiences.
But behind the hype, 80% of retail sales are still transacted in-store. That's already the lion's share, but even that 20% attributed to the online channel may not be what it seems. Based on the brands we work with at least, click and collect plays a significant role in this, sometimes accounting for more than 50% of sales. All of this goes to show that offline retail, or the store, is still the powerhouse.
But what does that mean for omnichannel?
Well it means too many retailers are still looking through the wrong end of the telescope - thinking first about how online contributes to omnichannel, when the starting point, logically, must be the store.
Relevance and Survival
It's no secret that these are tough times for retail - but the businesses that survive will be those that find ways to remain relevant. In turn, that means finding sustainable models that allow them to constantly adapt in meeting the needs and expectations of customers - as we can surmise from the continuing importance of physical retail, the most important of those needs must be met in-store.
That includes being masters of instant gratification, so, that when customers want something now, and that's literally now, they can get it straight away. But it also means slick service delivery and the development of compelling in-store experiences and engaging retail theatre.
Don't get me wrong, some stores are already doing exactly that. Halfords is a great example - as a customer, I don't need a replacement bulb for my car headlight, I need my headlight repaired at a time and place that's convenient for me, cost effectively and with minimal hassle.
But the brands that survive in the age of Amazon will do more. They will constantly focus on the unmet needs of their customers and experiment with ways to meet them. In my view, for omnichannel retailers at least, stores will be an essential component of this - and therefore, peak omnichannel can only be achieved by thinking about things from a store perspective.
Brands Starting to Take Note
Again, I'm delighted to say we're starting to see brands thinking beyond the online channel, online sales and click and collect, and developing features to improve the in-store customer experience, not just to promote online ordering and click and collect. I was heartened to discover recently how The Home Depot has been focusing on precisely this kind of innovation with the The Home Depot app.
Alongside the features you would expect, such as the ability to create shopping lists and place orders for delivery or collection, the app has a range of tools specifically to support users once they are in a Home Depot store.
On detecting the user's location, the app switches to 'in-store' mode and offers real-time stock information, precise product location details (specific to each store), access to detailed product information, via barcode scanning, and relevant local offers.
That's just one example of digital transformation in retail and there is a long way to go, but it confirms many of my own beliefs based on conversations with the retailers we work with - Change is indeed in the air and retail businesses are starting to think about the online to offline journey.
Forgotten Fundamentals
In truth, these are not really new concepts, just retail fundamentals that have been lost in the rush to take the store online.
Years ago, when I was Director of Advertising at Dixons Group, we used advertising in newspapers just to get people into stores at the weekends. Why on earth don't we using our digital channels to do exactly that? Still today, most retailer's websites are entirely focused on selling online and treat click and collect as just another fulfilment channel.
The message to customers is not exactly one that epitomises joined up, omnichannel retail: "Not sure what you need, or want to take a look at products first? Here's where your nearest store is and when it's open." That's it.
The good news is that things are starting to change and Home Depot is not the only one thinking about its customers and how to stay relevant.
IKEA's online experience not only tells you which store has the item you want but also offers information on where to find it and stock levels at your chosen store. Evans Cycles online offering tells you which store has stock and encourages customers to visit and check out a bike before they buy.
Businesses are beginning to work out how to use their digital real estate to drive customers into store - and this useful connection from online to offline has to be the beating heart of omnichannel.
It's About User Needs
Not everyone wants to buy everything online, there's pre-consideration, you may want to look at stuff, sit on stuff, try stuff before you buy and meet your friends during the process.
That's what stores do. Added to that, once in-store you will want to understand what's in-stock, find the items you're interested in quickly and easily, get more information or expert advice, then maybe transact there and then on your phone, before walking out with the product. Why not?
Why can't the website provide interesting and compelling reasons to visit a store today (like a print ad used to)? Why can't it provide useful functions and features like The Home Depot?
Imagine a high-ticket purchase item where store colleagues know when you've arrived, know about your recent purchases, the favourites you've selected online before coming in and the questions you're looking to answer - making your trip to the store enjoyable and satisfying. It's not far away and its what omnichannel has to be about - at least as long as the store dominates sales.
Redefine Omnichannel
As I intimated at the outset, I think the term omnichannel obscures its purpose - we've spent so long refining the eCommerce channel and extending this from online sales to click and collect, it has somehow become a branch of online.
Now it's time to redefine omnichannel according to customer need, and that means connecting the journey from online to offline.
Ironically, a huge part of this will be digital.
Technology provides answers to questions like 'How can the transition from online to offline be better?', 'What features and functions should be provided to customers in-store, whether through customers' own devices or provided devices?, 'How can these features be constantly improved and periodically re-invented?', and 'How can store colleagues be supported in the same way, with really useful digital devices and features that are simple to use?'
There's a huge and largely untapped opportunity here, but it is absolutely not about technology for its own sake. We need to take what we've learned from online retail and remember that innovation needs to be about the usefulness of functionality and features for customers, not just 'cool tech'.
Omnichannel Nirvana
It's time to realise that omnichannel is about more than growing online sales and click and collect. It's about a retail experience that encompasses all channels - that's the nirvana of omnichannel.
Those brands that get it and strive relentlessly to deliver remarkable customer experiences, and remember that the store is still where the action is - will be the ones that survive.
For more information on omichannel and a customer expererience strategy to implement it, get in touch.
I recently attended The Delivery Conference (TDC18) in London. If there was one takeaway from a very enlightening event, it was this: The need for brands to accelerate the pace of innovation across every aspect of the customer experience was front and centre stage.
There's a tendency to think that once products are handed over to a courier, the work is done for the retailer, but this event was a reminder that nothing could be further from the truth. The delivery process is, in most ecommerce transactions, the only human interaction the customer experiences in the process.
A colleague described last week how delighted he is when he knows DPD is delivering; the tracking of a named driver on a Google map with a delivery slot and a text to say you're next is hugely reassuring.
On the other hand he said he would not order from a site where he knows they use certain delivery providers who do not keep you updated, knock and run and leave goods in inappropriate places, or not at all.
The delivery customer experience can provide a single point of success or failure in an eCommerce transaction - but it is a bigger issue than that. The fact that some are innovating to deliver remarkable delivery experiences leaves those that are not looking decidedly second rate. That is a retail brand issue and a customer experience issue that, sooner or later, will see shoppers voting with their feet.
As with every aspect of the retail customer experience, retailers need to be sure not just that their choice of carrier understands what shoppers like and don't like about delivery services and how they respond. Perhaps more importantly, they need to be confident that their delivery partner is committed to customer experience innovation and constantly striving to delight customers.
Right now, those that can offer convenient delivery options (including same-day and next-day where this is important), combined with real-time communication and the option of last-minute delivery alternatives are able to provide the convenient and cost effective delivery that consumers expect. But these expectations never stand still for long.
The choice here is between outsourced innovation in delivery, and sub-par experiences that impact on retail brand perception.
As Dino Rocos, Operations Director John Lewis, said at TDC: "It's not just about transacting an order. It's about building a relationship."
For more information on CXO and brand strategy, get in touch.
We're delighted to have been shortlisted for a 2018 Retail Week Tech Award, specifically the The Hermes Excellence in Customer Experience award for our work with Ann Summers.
This is a really exciting award that recognises work right at the cutting edge of retail innovation, by rewarding initiatives focused where it really matters - on the customer experience.
Specifically, the judges are looking for innovations that "made the shopping experience more convenient, rewarding or inspiring."
What's Your Vibe?
Our submission focuses on the work we did to help Ann Summers drive revenues in its sex toys business, by making the whole customer buying experience simple, informative and perhaps more importantly, fun!
Needless to say, given our success in making the Tech Awards shortlist, the initiative was wildly successful in terms of the commercials, but also very popular with users.
The customer experience improvements delivered by the project led to an increase in mobile conversion of 8% and was responsible for 3x the uplift in sex toy revenue that Ann Summers initially set out to achieve, representing an overall ROI of 1000%.
User feedback meanwhile, included "It's different, I've not seen anything like that - not with all the info it gives you", "I like this, it's fun" and "It's really interesting, almost starts to get you in the mood!".
We'll be crossing everything for a successful night at the award show on 13th September. In the meantime, if you want to know more about our work on customer experience strategy, design and optimisation,get in touch.
With the media still awash with tales of retail doom and gloom, it was rather nice to see news of IKEA's 22nd store opening, in Greenwich earlier this year. IKEA is, without doubt, a colossal retail success story and it is heartening to see that success continue - it seems - unaffected by the threat from online (chiefly Amazon, of course).
IKEA has always been an in-store first kind of retailer and maybe that is the key to its ongoing success. That vast store estate complete with restaurants and creches - is after all a considerable advantage over any online furniture retailer.
But IKEA has never stood still. As former global head of eCommerce, Jonas Hessler recently pointed out, constant innovation is in IKEA's DNA, and is crucial to its ongoing success story.
This is a brand that knows more than most: that retail today is about experience - delivering relevant, novel experiences and services that speak directly to customer needs and desires.
The new store in Greenwich is a case in point. For instance, it's not exactly out of town like most IKEA stores, so customers are encouraged to ditch the car and visit by public transport. But lugging flat pack furniture home on the tube would be no fun so customers can simply buy in-store and have their purchases delivered - via a fleet of electric delivery vans and bikes.
That also hints at a sustainability message, which is solidified by the store's solar panels, which will provide 50%-80% of its energy.
Then there is a roof terrace with views across the Thames - available for hire - and 'Learning `Lab' workshop events, some of which will focus not on how to build IKEA furniture, but on how to take it apart. That is aimed directly at London's sizable home rental population - so directly addresses a real customer need.
Of course, those are just a few examples, but there can be no doubt that IKEA's success has always been driven by innovation. As Hessler put it: "Always innovate, especially when you don't need it, and find a way to make more of the talent at your disposal."
He's right of course. After all, in an age of experience innovation, there can be no standing still.
Which leaves me wondering what's next for IKEA. How will it further enhance that in-store experience and will it find ways to usefully connect online and offline experiences - for instance by offering useful online features for customers browsing on mobile while in-store?
For more information on how to improve your omnichannel strategy to optimise customer experience, get in touch.
When customer experience optimisation is concerned, what is practical personalisation, and more importantly, what is it not?
I met the daftest store assistant in the world the other day. Having visited a furniture store to look at beds I popped back for another look, and the conversation went like this:
Fortunately, this was not a real person. It was an online retail brand that had, like most online retailers, totally failed to make any useful connection between my various sessions on the site.
That might seem trivial, but there can be no doubt that annoying 'customer experience glitches' like that hurt sales. On the other hand, had the online store greeted me with a message like 'Welcome back. We have some great deals on beds today', there's no question I'd have enjoyed a better experience.
Had it said "Hey Steve. Those beds you were looking at are now on offer', there's no doubt I'd have been much more likely to buy.
So, what looks at first like a fairly trivial issue can make a difference where it matters.
Clearly, what I am talking about here is 'personalisation'. But not any personalisation - and certainly not personalisation driven by business imperatives like upselling. I'm talking about personalisation driven purely by customer need, or 'practical personalisation' as I call it.
Not New, Just Not Right
Personalisation is not, of course, a new idea. Any number of retail tech providers profess to offer 'eCommerce personalisation' solutions, and you could argue that the A/B testing platforms are now essentially personalisation engines.
The trouble I have with personalisation, as it is currently understood, is the driving force behind it. Most personalisation now is about selling more after a sale - it's not about meeting a real, current user need at all. It's about business need.
Think about it. Just because I bought a pair of black trainers, does it really mean I'm only interested in trainers, or in black shoes?
Is it useful for me if that retailer only shows me black trainers in future? No.
Will I buy more black trainers just because that's what I'm shown? No.
This is an approach to personalisation that essentially follows the kind of linear idea a caveman might have been proud of:
"Man buy black trainer. Man like black trainer. Man buy more black trainer."
To my mind, that is not personalisation.
For information on how to implement personalisation into your customer experience, get in touch.
