How to Leverage Best-in-Class Customer Service for Retail Growth

Reinventing the in-store experience starts with enhancing mobility, connectivity and visibility. But to offer best-in-class customer service, retailers must also demonstrate that their core values align with those of shoppers. As interactions between retail brands and their customers increasingly take place as much online as offline, it gets more pressing for brands to be in lock step with the priorities, lifestyle, and even pain points of the customers they want to attract.

Catering to Global Consumers

Offering a high standard of service to consumers who are both local and international is becoming a core requirement for leading labels who cater to a connected and fast-moving clientele.

“The best market for luxury today is travelers,” Remo Ruffini, chairman and CEO of legendary outerwear brand Moncler recently told The Wall Street Journal. “People don’t want to buy anymore where they live.” Beyond a healthy wholesale business, Moncler has more than 200 of its own retail distribution points of sale, including directly operated stores, shops within department stores, concessions, outlets and travel retail stores.

Luxury swimwear and lifestyle label Orlebar Brown has been expanding globally since 2007 and now has 21 stores around the world, all equipped with retail POS from Cegid. “Our customers are truly global travelers, so we want to make sure we make the shopping journey as seamless as possible, delivering a consistent customer experience, no matter which country they are in and in which channel they choose to shop,” Nick Owen, its Head of IT told us. “As a premium brand operating in multiple territories, we needed a robust omnichannel solution that could not only deliver functionality across our markets and sales channels, but also one that could scale internationally too.”

To provide personalized service and consistent omnichannel capabilities regardless of where and when a shopping encounter takes place, retailers need a centralized view of their inventory across channels and the agility to move products quickly to meet demand. It’s also crucial for them to have a holistic view of their customers, and when and where they engage with the brand across channels, to easily add new shoppers into the loyalty fold and come up with innovative ways to serve them.

Engaging Shopper Communities

To seize growth opportunities and build consumer loyalty, retailers are bringing best-in-class customer service to sometimes unusual and unexpected places.

If you stumble upon an outdoor yoga gathering in the middle of a metropolitan park, you might not think “this is retail,” but it could very well be lifestyle brand Lolë catering to its wellness-conscious customers. The Canadian retailer’s White Tour has been on the road since 2016, bringing yoga, live music and meditation to communities globally. Organizing the tour and many other local and international events is an ongoing focus for the brand, as is running its popular retail stores (powered by Cegid POS), e-commerce site and connecting its customer community to experiences and products that promote a healthy lifestyle.

Other retail brands are growing and building communities in equally novel ways, some through out-of-the-box alliances. Consider that e-commerce makeup specialist Birchbox is entering into a pilot program to open 11 shop-in-shop locations within Walgreens drugstores. The retailers expect a whole new demographic of cosmetic consumers to be delighted by Birchbox, and to enjoy personalized shopping experiences such as building their own customized boxes at Build Your Own Birchbox stations.

A Unified Commerce Experience

Whether they’re venturing into a non-traditional channel or offering an innovative brand experience, retailers know modern consumers expect a frictionless journey and personalized service. Whether they are registering to participate in an event, scheduling a makeover or looking to purchase (or return) a new dress, shoppers want to be recognized, rewarded for their loyalty and treated to a convenient, seamless shopping experience. With the right retail technology, it is entirely possible to deliver this unified commerce experience, in the cloud, anytime, everywhere.

Do you want to elevate your customer experience to be best-in-class and tap into new growth opportunities locally and worldwide? Download our new guide for CEOs and Managing Directors, and get in touch with our experts, we are here to help.