This blog completes our Customer Touchpoints series. In our first blog, we introduced a four-part universal model of the Customer Journey. In the second, we contrasted how industry leaders think about the value of customer data integration in comparison to traditional retailers. We then identified four major use cases where retailers can leverage enterprise information while shoppers gain awareness of their wants and needs. In the third blog, we covered the second quadrant of use cases in the customer journey, when shoppers are aware of their needs and wants and explore possibilities for fulfilling them. In Blog Four, we trace the customer touchpoints in the actual shopping experience.
In this last of the series, we highlight the touchpoints between retailers and their shoppers that occur after the items are purchased.
These touchpoints are designed to answer the specific questions the shopper is likely to be asking:
WHY CAN’T I GET IT NOW?
• Delivery
Customer engages with retailer to modify delivery instructions or to learn delivery schedule.
• Pickups
Customer comes to physical location with the intention of item pickup. Here is an opportunity to provide additional services, improve relations, and up/cross-sell.
In these use cases, enterprise tables that play an important role include customer, product, selling transaction, associate, location, and shipment.
HOW DO I GET THIS ITEM TO WORK FOR ME?
• Installation
Customer has questions about how to put the product into use.
• Training
Customer signs up for training or indicates that training is needed.
• Alteration
Product purchased must be customized, initiating a post-purchase workflow.
Enterprise tables that are very useful in these touchpoints include customer, product, and associate.
HOW CAN I GIVE MY FEEDBACK?
• Complaint
• Customer wants to register a complaint about some aspect of customer experience, product, or delivery condition.
• Survey
Customer agrees to a survey designed by the retailer.
• Review
Customer publishes a review of the product or experience.
Feedback use cases are more streamlined with access to enterprise tables such as customer, transaction, product, and associate.
WILL YOU TAKE IT BACK?
• Return
Customer attempts to return the item by carrier or physical location. Retailer wants to exchange or up-sell the item if appropriate.
• Credit voucher
Customer agrees to a credit as a reimbursement for the returned item(s).
Handling the return is a potential pain point for both the retailer and customer. To mitigate pain, enterprise tables such as customer, product, location, associate, transaction, and inventory play an important role.
HOW CAN I BE A FAN?
• Testimonial
Customer wants to post the story of their successful purchase.
• Likes
Customer indicates on social media their pleasure with the retailer.
• Referral
Customer refers the retailer to either a friend or business.
This information should ideally be attached or linked to enterprise tables location, customer, associate, and product.
Progressive retailers do an extraordinary job in each of these 13 post-purchase customer touchpoints. But often they don’t retain the pertinent information needed to do even better in the future.
TAKEAWAY
A winning strategy for retailers of all forms is to fully integrate customer touchpoints into every post-purchase interaction. These interventions, when done well, reinforce loyalty, encourage word of mouth, and build long-term relationships. The best way to accomplish this is to build customer interactions for each use case to exploit up-to-date enterprise information about products, locations, sales transactions, and customers.
