Trusting customers and resolving their issues quickly are fundamental aspects of building a loyal relationship with today’s omnichannel shopper, according to Adam Rudy, GM customer experience, Catch Of The Day.
Speaking to Inside Retail ahead of the next Inside Retail Academy event, where he will be presenting on how retailers can improve customer experience across all segments of an organisation, Rudy’s philosophy is simple – ensure the experience is one that makes the customer want to purchase again and tell their family and friends about.
“We’re a pure play online retailer, but our club catch programme offers members exclusive access to certain sales, products and free shipping on orders over $50,” said Rudy. “For all our other customers, we find the best way to gain loyalty is provide quality products at great prices, fast shipping and to look after and trust them when they have an issue and resolve it quickly. That’s how you build trust and have them return shop with confidence.”
Such offers contribute towards gaining and sustaining customer loyalty, said Rudy, with key elements of an engaging online customer experience also including fast fulfilment and an easy returns process. While price is ‘probably a bigger distinguishing factor’ for today’s shopper, Rudy said customer service is “certainly a material distinguishing factor that needs to be done well.”
There are some Aussie retailers that place emphasis on providing a good customer experience, said Rudy, though the sentiment of follow rather than lead from overseas counterparts still held credence. “I think there are some retailers in Australia that are great at the customer experience and others that have a lot of room for improvement. That said, no company is perfect and we can all learn, improve and evolve our processes to better service the customer. We can learn a lot from our American peers but sometimes we innovate and lead in this area as well.”
Rudy will address the topic of how retailers can improve CX from the bottom up at the upcoming event, Customer Experience: Reach, Engage and Convert.
The event is an intensive one day workshop and will feature presentations and interviews from leading Australian and Global Retailers and suppliers to the industry.
At the event you will hear from influential local and global leaders from the retail sector speak about their omnichannel experience and networking and be able to engage with them after presentations finish.
Other speakers at the event include Paul Lacey, co-founder and director of Swedish design brand, kikki.K; and Angus Harris, Co-CEO at Harris Farm Markets where he is responsible for finance, M&A and e-commerce across the group’s companies.
Find out more information about the event here: http://insideretail.com.au/event/customer-experience-reach-engage-convert/
