3 Main Challenges Of The Retail Industry

We, as customers, are bombarded with options for products, services, and providers. We are also always connected, tech-savvy, and demanding that retailers adapt to our lifestyle preferences. 

It´s very hard for retailers, in the current times, to get customers and even harder to face customer attrition levels.

Below are the 3 main challenges faced by the retail industry. Keep reading to find out how a retail contact center can help overcome these challenges and overtake competition.

Multichannel buying experiences 

Customers move between online and brick and mortar platforms at the click of a finger. Additionally, their online behavior is far from being static. They also move between channels at an unprecedented speed. Retailers need to adapt to the always connected, always on customer and create seamless experiences across all platforms. 

Retail is everywhere. It´s no longer about a location or channel, but about a consistent and joyful experience as customers move across different channels. A retail contact center allows businesses to connect all the touchpoints used by customers in every step of their journey and provide a unified experience.  

As clients are moving between all these touchpoints, they are moving towards retailers that facilitate and support this behavior. To be successful in the retail sector, companies must adapt to this new tendency and create “wow” experiences across all platforms. 

Personalization 

Customers have a wide spectrum of options and they can buy the same product form multiple retailers. Each customer has unique needs and expectations and will be loyal to the one that provides a relevant and tailored relationship and products that are in line with where they are, who they are and what they are doing. How to successfully achieve personalization? 

• Design a customer journey with the question “How can I meet your needs?” in mind. It´s no longer about the retailer’s needs to sell a product but finding out the right offer to accomplish the needs and requirements of each customer. Communication one-on-one is essential to connect to customers at a deeper, more personalized level to make each customer feel special and unique.  
• Use AI technology, to make real time suggestions based on customers’ behavior and intent proactively. Analyze customer history to find cross and upsell opportunities. 
• Record all interactions and conduct surveys for quality monitoring purposes. 

Connecting at a more personalized level sparks emotions and easily turns customers into loyal brand advocates. Customers will recommend the product to their friends, brag about it in Social Media, etc.

In summary, customers are the best, and cheapest, publicity for the business. 

AI and Chatbots 

AI and chatbots are an essential part of the online customer journey. Chatbots improve customer experiences and reduce shopping cart abandonment through proactive, customized solutions. The chatbot can ask the customer a few questions about needs and preferences and use that information to push a set of specific products to the customer. From there, customers just select what they´re interested in an continue to check out. 

Chatbots can help ensure that customers can easily help themselves through self-service and quickly solve problems on their own. For example, chatbots can help with rescheduling deliveries or product returns. 

The retail industry is going through some challenging times. Online sales are skyrocketing, but brick and mortar is not going anywhere either. A retail contact center and AI powered chatbots are the bridge that can connect both sides of the business. 

The retail industry delivers more than just products, it delivers experiences. Delivering great customer experiences requires an equally great technology, making the case for a retail contact center. 

Retail contact centers enable the most successful customer engagement by handling inbound interactions or outbound proactive contacts. In addition to being the best advocates, happy and loyal customers mean higher sales revenues. 

Want to add a retail contact center to your shopping cart? 

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