A vision for multi channel retail 2010 v1.0

In January, I was asked to deliver a presentation on Multi Channel Retail for 2010. With Christmas 2009 having just passed, many retailers were nervous about trading results what 2010 would bring.

The focus of the presentation was:

- Trends for 2010 in retail and e-commerce

- What can established m/c retailers do to retain competitive advantage when now "everyone is doing it"

- What are the most important things for retailers to get right in the multi-channel word?

- How can pure-play retailers such as amazon compete in a Multi-channel market?

A vision for multi channel retail 2010 v1.0

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The Golden Mile (part 2)

So how do e-tailers claim this elusive pot of Gold?



The golden mile

A service being tested by Shop Direct Group brands that include Littlewoods Direct. Called Drop and Collect, it is a service that enables parcels to be delivered to neighbourhood stores around the UK for collection by customers.

Key benefits
i. Secure delivery of parcels to a trusted and convenient customer location
ii. Customer can be notified by text or e-mail upon delivery of their parcel
iii. Easy pick up for customers in a safe and secure environment
iv. There is no extra cost incurred by the customer
v. Collection of parcels is secure through technology enabled security checks that may include part payment of goods
vi. Collection locations will have extensive opening hours, e.g. local supermarkets and retail footprint. An additional benefit will be the increase in local business
vii. The model can scale to C to C business models, as well as B to C
viii. Returns via the collection point will remain simple and free, with the ability to track online
ix. With customer services being owned by the retailer, customers will experience a fully integrated, seamless brand experience

Improve the multi channel offer

i. Promote collect in store; offer incentives
ii. Promote use of mobile phones in delivery communications
iii. And drive customers to their mobile site

The checkout process needs to provide greater flexibility for the customer.

i. Delivery options must include early mornings, evenings, and weekends.
ii. Delivery locations must be able to accommodate more than 1 delivery address. For example, delivery notes should allow delivery at neighbours residence, or a different secondary address.

Pre-delivery communications must be clear and concise. Whether email or mobiles are used, the customer must be notified as to the location of their parcel and expected time of arrival.

i. Couriers should be able to text a customer prior to delivery and deliver, if required, to where the customer actually is (if not at delivery address). This level of flexibility would provide real service and become a real point of difference.

Post delivery communications should follow immediately after the parcel is in the customers hands. A personalised communication saying thank you, containing all relevant support numbers is required. The actual delivery is the only point of physical customer contact within the entire cycle, therefore making this communication even more critical.

Customer services need to be more proactive and customer centric. If the parcel is delayed in transit and there is a possibility the parcel will be delivered late, inform the customer. If the parcel is likely to be delivered at the start or at the end of the delivery window, inform the customer. If a customer requires some assistance in tracking their parcel, help them. This phone call maybe one of the only times that your brand actually speaks to its customers. Make this experience count for something positive.

Make the returns process easy to understand for customers. A customer must know what the process is, how long it takes, what costs are involved, and when their money will be refunded. This can easily be communicated during the checkout process and all delivery communications.

Dynamic delivery options, where the system automatically picks the best delivery option based on key criteria such as customer location and timescale required. The customer will benefit from the cheapest/quickest carrier.

If you have a great delivery process, shout about it.

The Golden Mile (part 1)

IMRG predict that 820 million parcels will be delivered this year, with 10% failing to reach the internet shopper at the 1st attempt. Out of these 82 million deliveries that have/will fail, I have experienced 10 failed deliveries in the last 3 weeks. Given the fact that I have been at home for the majority of the time and contactable at all times, shows that e-commerce providers are failing their customers at the final point in their purchasing journey.

Key points of failure:

E-Checkout – This critical part of the customer journey needs to clearly state delivery costs, delivery mechanisms and delivery timescales, to provide the customer with 100% confidence that their parcel will arrive when they are in a position to receive it.

E-mail - Needs to provide the customer with specific information relating to their parcel, and not trying to offer additional products and services. Post delivery communications should additionally act as a way of completing the journey and provide an opportunity to maintain the relationship.

Customer services – Service needs to be pro-active, with the customer being the priority, regardless of weather the parcel has been delivered or not. It is frustrating as businesses go out of their way to sell you something, and then seem to forget about you once they have received their money.

Why do so many e-businesses throw good money in the bin?

It appears to be common for businesses to take a customer centric approach to the design and execution of their e-commerce offering, whilst treating the order management element of the process as an internal I.T. service, where often the customer gets forgotten. Recent research by Google concluded that of the 48% of shopping carts abandoned, nearly 70% of these were down to delivery concerns.

With Christmas approaching, success at the front door may well become critical to success.

Leveraging existing multi channel assets

I first published this post on http://charterisplc.blogspot.com/2008/09/leverging-existing-multi-channel-assets.html, having delivered a breakfast briefing at the ARC Retail conference.

Retailers under Pressure 

John Lewis this week announced a 27% fall in first half year profits, largely attributed to price cuts and increased marketing spend. With the uncertainty the credit crunch has created, retailers will increasingly have to innovate to create the seamless Multi Channel experience that we all crave. Without the luxury of profit growth and flexible budgets, retailers need low cost / high benefit customer propositions. 

Use what you have 

Leveraging existing assets is one way retailers can do this. I wonder how many retailers take stock of all their multi channel assets, and attempt to link them together to create value add services for their customers.

One Example

The 3 main channels a retailer uses are the store, web and a call centre. Once a customer has saved their address and credit card details on the web, the checkout process is normally fairly seamless. So why not use this data in the call centre and store so customers only have to enter a password and a PIN number. Thus creating a seamless checkout process through all channels and creating customer value add propositions in the process.

Creating customer centric services are essential as exemplified by recent McKinsey research. They found that only 15% of loyalty is gained from perceived product quality and promotional strategies, leaving 85% to the actual purchasing and post-sales experiences of customers.

Multi-Channel Retailing - ARC Retail Presentation 2008

Alongside some colleagues, I delivered a breakfast briefing to the ARC Retail Conference on Multi-Channel Retailing.

In light of the credit crunch, the theme of the presentation was 'Leveraging your multi channel assets to deliver low cost, high benefit customer propositions.'  We presented and discussed tools and techniques to enable a business to leverage their existing assets, and focused on 3 areas that could really drive a business forward.

The presentation was split into the following areas

1. Three critical challenges for retailers

2. Learning's from an internally produced Multi-Channel Survey

3. Three focus areas

a. Changing to a Cross Channel Culture

b. Doing more with existing assets -Leveraging the Social Web

c. Linking assets together

Arc Presentation Leveraging Multichannel Assets

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10 more reasons not to buy an iPhone

For all the hype surrounding the iPhone, a brand new mobile experience, the great user journey, the applications, the sleek design, I feel that my experience to date has not been a great one.  

I find it extremely hard to comprehend that Apple did not include so much basic mobile phone functionality, that most of us have taken for granted for years.   

A company with a brand synonymous with youth, innovation, and fun must address these issues in the coming months as the competition hots up.

1. Cannot resend and edit a previously written text message
2. No Instant Messaging
3. Cannot lock the iphone immediately, which is a source of constant frustration.
4. No simple mechanism to work with different applications.  You have to constantly go back to the main page to open up a application
5. Predictive texting does not enable the user to freely type in shortcuts
6. Battery is poor
7. Cannot create new photo albums
8. No voice dialling
9. Loud speaker is NOT loud. I have a 4 year old Nokia phone that is louder
10. Sound quality is also poor on loud speaker

10 reasons to not buy an iphone

In a blog post written by Rizwan Tayabali, http://multichannelthinking.blogspot.com/2009/04/pointing-fingers-will-damage-your.html, Rizwan discussed how poor customer experience can damage a brand.  This particular experience was very similar to mine.  Had it not been for the fact that I wanted the product I would have cancelled the order and bought from a different supplier.

The brand in question is O2; the product is the Apple I Phone.  This experience is made even more surprising by the fact that O2 were awarded best customer service for its broadband service.  The negative impact on Apple brand, who pride themselves on Customer Innovation, Customer Experience and Customer Service will need to be understood as Apple maintain their partnership with O2.  Especially as the competition start producing phones that match and beat the I Phone experience.

The apple I phone has additionally received many plaudits since it was launched.  It has been hailed an innovative phone, offering mobile phone users in the UK a brand new experience.  This is to a large extent true; however there are many basic user functions that are not included.  Here are my top 10.

 

1. Cannot send business cards
2. Cannot read e-mails as a widescreen
3. No copy and paste
4. Cannot save web pages for use off line
5. Camera does not have a flash and a zoom
6. No voice recording or video recording
7. The keypad is of limited use if you have big fingers.  An ability to expand the keyboard should be available.
8. The expand and collapse function is poor.  I often open up different web pages, when trying to expand a page.  It would be a lot simpler to just double tap the screen.
9. Cannot send and receive picture messages
10. Cannot forward a text message or add recipients to a text message

There may be software updates in the pipeline that will address these issues, but the majority of these points are basic user requirements for a mobile phone.