Another day, another advert – another glass of bubbly promises poured down consumers’ throats. Yup, retail is a dirty word and buyers are covering their ears.
That’s because so many brands & agencies are so busy speaking that they’re not listening to what people want. Please don’t get me wrong. I’ve got nothing against advertising, or bubbly. My point is, we’ve got to start getting more personal. In this information age when we’re drowning in pools of data, physical stores have one clear advantage. As a business owner, when it comes to making personal connections, you already have an “in.” Namely, your store associates.
Sales associates aren’t just ambassadors living out a brand story – importantly, they can really hear and understand your customer as a friend would, connecting them to products or services that they’ll really love. If sales communications miss the mark, your sales associates can step in and translate the “average, generalized message” into the unique- enhancing how each customer experiences your store, and the brands within.
People are complex, each one has different life experience. But one fundamental human truth rules them all: Customers seek engaging experiences.
At the 2019 Unified Retail Conference sponsored by Mi9retail, engagement was named as one of the 4 Es of retail (alongside “Emotion”, “Expertise” and “Exclusivity”). Each of these was emphasized as necessary in providing the caliber of customer experience that today’s shoppers expect.
A fantastic in-store experience can turn a happy customer into a brand advocate. These people can drive repeat business, attract new clients, and generally help a company to thrive.
That’s why organizations need fast, easy and non-stop visibility across all customer touchpoints. The right in-store data analysis system will provide essential insights, so that retailers can make more intuitively human decisions when strategizing, recruiting, training, scheduling and managing staff.
Why? Because the best possible customer experiences are crafted through that personal touch.
Only breakthroughs in personal customer engagement can redefine the world, (and word) of retail. Begin yours here.