The holiday shopping season officially kicked off with Black Friday and Cyber Monday recently. And despite the marginal (R157) increase in the average South African online shopping basket value for this year (R1 365), many retailers are optimistic that the November and December period will be the strongest they have seen in recent years.
By Heman Kassan, chief commercial officer of Technodyn
If this is to be realised, they must consider how the ongoing plague of rolling blackouts and the rising popularity of online channels impact the customer experience. As with any new technology, retailers should first examine the systems they already have in place, especially when it comes to the consumer self-service side, and whether Artificial intelligence (AI) is the best way to improve their processes as AI can be used to improve the experience.
The lesson here is not to be tempted by ‘flashy new tech’ as is often the case, but rather how to strengthen customer experience processes that work and where to eliminate the ones that do not. Retailers benefitting the most from AI systems are placing those technologies in the areas across the customer’s journey that are most conducive to self-service.
The hidden trick is to seamlessly enable the customer to connect easily with a live agent at any stage in the process. This agent will have access to the live data, i.e., what is in the customer’s trolley, their purchase history, and the like. This way, the agent will be armed with the correct information to provide relevant assistance while not disrupting the customer experience.
Making engagement relevant
It is this focus on relevance that will help differentiate retailers who are looking at ways to drive online customer experience innovation.
For instance, if agents want to deliver great service to the increasing number of digital-savvy retail customers, they must find a way to provide an experience that meets those customers wherever they may be. Practically, this requires the retailer to embrace more digital service channels like video, SMS, and so on while putting a strategy in place for driving both efficient and effective service models.
The risk is that some retailers view AI as a standalone channel that permeates and enriches the current customer engagement environment. Even though many local retailers might be unsure how to integrate this technology to enhance the customer experience, the focus is not on ripping and replacing their existing investments.
It is about improving the tools already in place with more relevant and advanced technologies that embed AI throughout the customer journey. Throughout this process, the retail can continue to engage agents in solving complex problems while their more mundane requests are automated by AI-powered self-service.
Human-driven
Retailers can create an AI-powered self-service portal that collects customer data and preferences if they have the correct data and understand their existing systems. This can be seen as the first touch point.
From there, as customers start receiving informational emails and other communique, proactive outreach and a personalised quote based on their preferences can go a long way to delivering the personalised service expected of a modern, digitally-driven retailer. This also ensures agents are better-informed and better positioned to deliver a level of service that is best left unautomated.
Through the remainder of the experience, other information can be shared and updated through an app or the self-service portal/channel. The agents will remain responsible for providing the care the customer has come to expect of the retailer.
Simply put, retail agents want AI systems to handle the repetitive tasks that may bog them down while they could be delivering a more strategic level of service to the customer. Moreover, the agents need to know they can always trust AI systems to have the most accurate, up-to-date information.
Fundamentally, agents need context and visibility into the customer’s journey. If the retailer has agents in place who genuinely want to help their customers, not being able to do so through disconnected and inefficient systems becomes frustrating. If customers cannot easily move from AI to human agents, it is the agents who face disgruntled customers while trying to overcome technological and process shortcomings. That just further drives their frustration, dissatisfaction, and lack of engagement.
There is no universal way that retailers can embrace AI to drive a successful online customer engagement experience. It is about carefully considering the needs of their customers and employees, who understand the various touch-points of the customer journey. Once that is done, identifying the best blend of AI and live agents for their unique environment becomes a less challenging proposition.