Customers have more options than ever before. Keep them waiting too long and they’ll take their business elsewhere. VoCoVo uses the power of communication to help you respond to queries in record time. Here’s how.
The end of customer loyalty?
The pandemic shook up the nation’s shopping habits in a big way. As some stores closed and others moved online, customers were forced to try new things. For some, this proved to be a positive experience. Many have chosen to stick with new brands, while others have become more willing to shop around:
- 61% of shoppers say that the pandemic has affected their brand loyalty
- Only 17% plan to return completely to their old shopping habits
- 14% now claim to have no brand loyalty at all
Find out more about the post-pandemic shopper:
As well as trying new stores, customers have also turned to ecommerce in their droves:
- 87% of UK adults made an online purchase in 2020
- Online sales made up 29% of the UK’s total retail market in 2021
- Ecommerce is expected to grow by a further 34% in 2023
It’s not all bad news
These are worrying statistics, but things aren’t as bad as they seem. Declining customer loyalty means that you can’t rely on your old customers to come back, but it also means that thousands of new customers are up for grabs. The shift to ecommerce also has its positives. Working out why customers are moving online allows you to alter the in-store experience to provide the same benefits.
Our research shows that nothing drives customers away like slow response times:
- 26% of customers will leave your store if they haven’t been served within five minutes
- Over a third will leave if they have to wait more than ten minutes
- 54% will go online rather than wait for a colleague to answer their query
Answers at your fingertips
It’s clear what stores need to do. Speeding up response times is the key to retaining customers, and this is where we can help:
- Headsets allow colleagues to check stock and find information for customers without leaving their side. If a colleague can’t answer a question, they can ask another colleague without having to cross the store to find them.
- Call points let customers request help without tracking down a colleague. You can place these in the areas of the store where customers are most likely to need assistance.
- You can create separate conferences for different store departments or areas of expertise. If a customer has a specialised question, the colleague can tune into the relevant conference and ask the most appropriate person.
This has a dramatic effect on response times, not to mention customer satisfaction in general. Whenever we install VoCoVo, we conduct a customer survey afterwards. The results speak for themselves:
- B&Q customers were 62% more satisfied with response times
- B&Q colleagues were 31% more likely to fully resolve customer queries
- Boots customers were three times as confident that colleagues would be able to help them
Speeding up response times is just the beginning. From cutting checkout queues to speeding up Click & Collect, VoCoVo improves every aspect of customer service. Give us a call to find out more.