Techniques to Improve Customer Experience in Retail

Do you struggle to attract or retain customers in your retail store? With the right techniques, you can turn this around and differentiate your brand from the pool of retailers out there. 

This article will equip you with actionable techniques to improve customer experience in retail. Ready? Here we go!

Main retail categories

Retail describes the process of selling goods or services directly to the consumer. According to The Census Bureau, we can categorize retail sales into 13 categories, but here are the main ones:

Other categories include beauty and personal care, Grocery and food, and so on.

Techniques to improve customer retail experience 

Let's go through a few sure-fire techniques to improve the customer retail experience in your store starting today:

Implementing Self-Service Possibilities

Customer self-service options such as gives patronizers complete control of their own shopping experience. They can go through the whole shopping process easily and at their own pace, totally unguided. 

It also scrapes in benefits on the retailer end of things as you can then redirect adequate manpower and facilities to be used more efficiently through improved customer care services.

Leveraging on Interactive Digital Signage

As a retailer, you can provide the necessary product bio, recommendations, and even promotions for your store, all in an engaging and visually appealing manner, by implementing interactive digital signage tools available to self-service kiosks like AirDroid Business. 

This is made possible through attention-grabbing and interactive features such as touch screens and multimedia content. Customers are drawn into an immersive and exploitative market space, and you (the retailer) are equipped with many customer-retaining possibilities like loyalty programs.

Click-and-Collect Services

These services blend the dynamics of physical and online retail services and create avenues for upsells and personalized retail recommendations on product purchases on the retailer's end. Customers can order and receive purchases on an as-needed basis.

Retailers with a mind for customer convenience and optimum shopping experience can stand out in the competition and maintain long-lasting business relationships using these techniques.

Build Captivating Digital Display Experience with AirDroid Business MDM

Free TrailContact Sales

• Monitor and control digital screens in one place.
• Remotely see signage screen and troubleshoot anytime.
• Turn your Android devices into digital signage.
• Streamline Android app updates and manage multimedia files in bulk.

Customer Engagement in Retail - 3 Phases 

A good understanding of what the customer wants separates the best retailers from the rest. Here are three phases and what customers want or are seeking to do in each:

1Pre-Purchase 

The prepurchase phase is usually when customers are still undecided and need more information to aid their judgment—retailers who provide them with information win.

2During-Purchase 

This refers to when customers are making their purchase decisions. Retailers who make the checkout experience smoother will engage more customers and rake in more profits. This is also your chance to upsell and cross-sell for more profit.

3Post-Purchase

The customer journey doesn't end when they buy; how they are treated after they have purchased a product determines whether they'll be repeat customers or not. Providing excellent customer support at this phase may prove invaluable, and it's sure to leave them with a good impression.

How to optimize the customer experience in retail?

Since retail stores sell directly to customers, knowing how to optimize those customers' experiences is where retail success lies. Here are quick tips on how to improve customer experience in retail stores:

4.1In-store retail experience 

Attracting and retaining customers in a retail store is no accident. Every part of the store should be carefully designed to deliver an unforgettable experience for the customer.

Enhancing offline experience starts with how careful attention is being paid to the store layout and design. 

While a poorly designed store silently loses the store money, a store that is designed to highlight key products and makes navigation easy encourages the customer to explore further and make more purchases.

A major way to make the customer experience memorable is through “visual merchandising”. Whether you incorporate storytelling elements into your store or strategically display products with attractive signage and displays, it goes a long way to ensure they enjoy shopping in your store.

Gone are the days when shopping was a tiresome and time-consuming endeavor. It's slowly becoming an industry standard to have in-store tech that aids the whole shopping process.

Leveraging technologies like self-checkout and digital signage allows your customers to shop efficiently and conveniently while also saving time that would have been lost in long checkout queues or searching for what they want to buy.

Digital signage, for example, can provide your customers with hands-on shopping information on the go. This way, you promote more products while helping them navigate their shopping experience.

If your offline store has an online presence, providing a seamless omnipresence experience is essential. For example, customers should be able to pick up what they paid for online in your offline stores. This closes the gap between how customers interact with your store offline and online.

4.2Online retail experience

E-commerce stores are rising, and the competition is not ending anytime soon. If customers feel your website isn't optimized to meet their needs, they are just one click to another store. This makes it vital for you to optimize your online store to attract and retain your customers.

• There cannot be a positive customer experience without a user-friendly website. A user-friendly website has intuitive navigation, neat product categorization, and optimized search functionality.
• Making the checkout easy is as vital as having the right products. If the checkout is complicated, some customers might be discouraged and refuse to proceed.
• You can look into simplifying and streamlining the checkout process by minimizing the number of steps or even offering a guest checkout option. One thing to also ensure is security. Focusing on these can dramatically reduce your cart abandonment rate.
• There will be some times when your customer will get stuck or have some queries. Having various ways (such as email, chat, or phone) for them to reach out and give them the immediate assistance needed is invaluable to your brand.
• As much as possible, you should incorporate customer reviews and feedback. They are more effective ways of silently advertising your store. Having a good review builds trust and credibility, which influences purchase decisions.
• If you want customers to continue shopping with you, you might want to look into loyalty programs. This strategy helps you foster customer loyalty, create a sense of belonging with your brand, and strengthen the bond.

Three examples of good customer service in retail

Is delivering good customer service as a retailer worth it? Well, here are three real-world customer experience examples in retail who go above and beyond to satisfy their customers:

1Nordstrom

This retail company makes it a duty to empower its employees to go the extra mile to always ensure excellent service for their customers. 

Nordstrom also has a notable return policy. There have even been cases where this retailer accepts returns without receipts. This policy has built confidence in their customers as they shop at Nordstrom.

2Zappos

This online shoe and clothing retailer creates emotional connections with customers. Their customer service representatives are trained to hold friendly conversations with customers.

Zappos makes returns hassle-free by offering free shipping for both purchases and returns. This way, their customers get to try out their products risk-free.

3Apple

There's no way this list will be complete without Apple's iconic in-store experience. They not only meet customer-specific needs through tech-savvy staff who carefully answers customers' questions but they also offer free workshops to help their customers maximize their devices.

Advantages of continuously improving customer experience

Wondering why exactly you should still improve retail customer experience? Here are a few reasons:

Datasheet

AirDroid Business MDM For Retail

Remotely manage, control, and troubleshoot all your retail devices with one MDM solution tailored for your business. Kepp your POS machines, digital signage, self-service kiosks always up and running with timely ITsuport.

Download

FAQs

1. What does customer experience mean in retail?

Maverick

Customer experience in retail refers to the customer's overall perception of a particular retail brand throughout their interaction with that brand. This often includes their interaction from their initial contact down to the post-purchase phase, whether offline or online.

2. Why is customer experience important in retail?

Maverick

Customer experience is a key issue in the competitive world of retail marketing. A retail store that doesn't deliver an outstanding customer experience will quickly get buried in the sea of other retailers.  An outstanding customer experience on the other hand ensures customer loyalty which can lead to repeat sales and even referrals. 

3. How do you create a good customer experience in retail?

Maverick

Creating a good customer experience in retail requires good knowledge of your ideal customer and their needs. Personalizing everything about your retail store to meet those needs as fast as possible is the foundation for delivering an outstanding customer experience.