One industry to have been pushed into the spotlight recently is the retail sector. Retail is one of the industries set to see many new consumer trends emerge in the short term. More importantly, it’s also a sector where customer loyalty is being put to the test. Customer experience is essential to preserve and increase your market share. In the second half of the year, preserving and nurturing the two foundations of customer loyalty, trust and confidence will be critical to ending the year stronger.
While brick-and-mortar stores won’t cease to exist, there is a growing trend that favors convenience when it comes to shopping. Although this is something ecommerce channels have been capitalizing on for a while now, as more people get used to shopping online, this will put increasing pressure on brands to invest in providing a unique shopping experience.
In the current context, moving an offline business into the online world should not be taken lightly. Though ecommerce offers huge opportunities for brands, when making the move to online it should not come at the cost of good customer experience. For many brands, this will mean translating the offline experience to online by leveraging tech such as artificial intelligence (AI) or augmented reality (AR) to enhance the buying experience.
Recent data shows that in the wake of COVID-19, in which retailers worldwide shut down for months, retailers using AR enjoyed a 19 percent spike in customer engagement, and the customer conversion rate increased by 90 percent for customers engaging with AR versus those that don’t. Additionally, AI solutions can also help significantly improve customer service, automate repetitive tasks and increase productivity.
Read the full article in Independent Retailer.
