FEATURE: CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
The onslaught from
e-commerce has meant
that retailers have had
to become smarter and
invest in their customer
experience. Gareth
Hawkey, the CEO of
redPanda Software Group,
tells us more.
T
raditional brick-and-mortar
retailers have no chance of
surviving the onslaught from
e-commerce unless they invest
in their customer experience. If traditional
retailers take on e-commerce providers at
their own game by gathering insights and
learning about their customers and their
behaviour, they will have an ace up their
sleeve, because in addition to capturing the
customer online they can offer the customer
a compelling reason to visit the physical
store – exactly where the e-commerce
retailers cannot compete.
integration between online and physical
retail. This creates a holistic view of the
customer and South African retailers haven’t
yet properly jumped on board.
The only way brick and mortar retailers will
survive is by giving their customers a better
experience online as well as inside their store
– there are tools that can enable them to
know their customers better. All retailers say
they know their customers but imagine a big
grocery store – I can go into their store, shop
and leave, and they won’t know that I was
there or what I personally spent, and on what.
If they were collecting this data, they could
turn it into value for themselves and for me
as the shopper. We have moved away from
needing to know your average shopper to
knowing your specific shopper – it is an
individual experience. Retailers can target
customers specifically around the analytics
the customer has generated.
Retailers must invest in the right technology
to create this kind of integrated customer
experience, and the commitment has to
come from the top. This has to be driven
from executive level.
We find that many retailers have created
an online presence, but they are battling
to convert current customers into online
customers. The problem is that the online
space and physical stores are treated as
separate businesses, if you will, as if the
retailer is just trying to plug a gap. There is
no real omni-channel yet. Companies don’t have to be spending
massive amounts, but there most certainly
should be a research and development
budget in place. Technology, such as facial
recognition software, doesn’t have to be
rolled out at once across all the stores. By
analysing the progress and finding the right
technology to get to know customers better,
retailers are able to start moving in the right
direction. It is less about money and more
about commitment.
Retailers need to provide a true omni-
channel experience where there is seamless South Africa may not have fully embraced
e-commerce yet compared to the pace of
Retailers have
no choice but to chase
customer experience
46
INTELLIGENTCIO
www.intelligentcio.com