Buying online - the final mystery purchasing step

When using a company website to purchase products you hope for epic customer experience but the reality is you are prepared to settle for straight forward. One of the ultimate fails on this is when you have been through all the pain of buying a product to complete the purchase then unsure if it worked. Did they take my purchase request?  Have they taken the money?  Did they get my size details correct?  By using the website in the first place you are making the lives of companies easier. They don't need a big flashy shop. They don't even need a team of experts on standby in a call centre. So when the online experience is so bad you don't even know it has finished the company has failed and it is lazy in wanting your business. The customer journey should be clearly sign posted with progress tracking. Completion should result in a succinct email with all the right details and the website should leave you in no doubt that you have done everything right and your products will be on their way. Make sure the customer journey ends well otherwise you are just driving traffic to the phone or worse to a competitor.  

Promotional emails with symbols

As Spam filtering in emails becomes increasingly efficient the promotional space in an inbox is critical to grab the attention of the recipient.  This is increased on a mobile where there are a limited number of emails at any given time and attention is reduced further.  Some companies are now resorting to using images such as stars in the title banner to stand out from the crowd and ensure they don't make their way into the waste basket.  But do I want this, is this aiding my customer experience and my perception of your brand and your proposition?  If this becomes mainstream my inbox will become overwhelmed with this imagery.  Presumably it is only a step before I have sneering meerkats animated in my inbox next to talking bulldogs.  My customer experience is challenged enough by poorly crafted emails with incorrectly targeted content it does not now need a visual assault in the process making matters worse.  Stop using the symbols and keep emails to the point minimising wasting any of my time.

Nectar points customer proposition

The loyalty card concept delivers huge value for retailers in customer information. The Big Data opportunities of loyalty card usage are huge in understanding customer behaviour to aid targeted marketing and trends in demand of specific products. There is a fear within the consumer community that this is very Big Brother and a company knowing how much I spend on what is a step too far so resist the opportunity. For those prepared to engage on this then what are the benefits to the customer and how does it aid my customer experience. Tesco seem to be good at promoting what your points can be used for but are the nectar points so well understood?  Could more be done so I know my 5,200 points means I could have bought myself a new iPad?  Beyond this increase in awareness though there is the need for all companies to do more at the point of sale and think through how they can deliver epic customer experience that has been enhanced by the loyalty card. Gamification opportunities are here but as yet untapped. Customer awareness of how much they have and what this could mean are untapped. How about offering the advice that my shopping could be free because I have enough points?  Or pointing out there is a great deal on flights and I have enough right now to go to Italy. More could be done and the opportunities are there if companies consider how these cards could aid the purchase as well and not just a later event when they are at home. 

Priority moments in customer experience

When is it most important to get my customer experience right?  To exceed my expectations as a customer and wow me at that critical moment so I not only become a return customer but a champion of the brand?  At point of sale? At point of complaint should there be a problem?  Browsing before I have decided I want to purchase your goods? Key is to consider at each stage where the experience could be strengthened and deliver that added ingredient. If my product is being delivered I see the delivery agent as an extension of your brand so flexibility and professional service are essential. Wherever the customer touch point is it is a priority and any dip in standards will wipe out all the other good that may have been achieved. Make it count from the first moment to the last and make me into a sales person for you. 

Is there ever too much choice

When searching for a product on a website is having a wealth of choice always best?  Websites such as Amazon provide search facilities and filtering options for results but do we really want a shop front for everything that means even the most unique item delivers 3,567 results?  Even including customer reviews only increases this and leads to further procrastination. A tight well selected product selection certainly has some strong selling points. Epic customer experience can more readily be achieved where stock is closely managed in terms of the range of items. Imagine searching through the 3,567 results and then reading and comparing the customer reviews to then find the colour / size is out of stock. Painful and irritating. Promote what you can sell and make it smarter and faster for customers to find products. Product segmentation with specific "stores" makes shopping simpler. 

Passionate workforce

How does the UK compare globally on our delivery of customer experience?  Epic customer experience?  A true reflection on the UK?  From recent trips to our European neighbours I was struck by how impressive the customer service in other countries is.  In Italy as an example you see passionate people in customer service roles in all sorts of trades, not just premium quality hotels but everywhere. Is the same being felt by tourists flooding to London where a customer facing role seems to be of lower merit?  I see some very passionate people working in customer facing roles as you work your way away from the capital in the UK but how many visitors to the UK see this and how many of them build their opinions based solely on a stay in London?  The passion and energy for these roles is missing and we sell ourselves short. We need to raise the profile of these roles and the importance it has in selling tourism in the UK. 

Are the Marks & Spencer BP Petrol Station branches damaging the brand of their customer experience

With the rapid expansion of the M&S Simply Food Petrol Station proposition they have introduced a 24/7 retail outlet model but has this damaged their positive brand for customer experience.  Sure when you enter your local petrol station branded "M&S" you can find the quality food products you would find in the high street branches but is the customer experience the same.  Petrol station staff rarely understand the products and don't have the same association with the company being a more transient workforce.  So does this expansion risk damaging the reputation of M&S and is the model working?  Epic customer experience appears to no longer be top of the agenda for the company with expansion their primary focus.

M&S Simply Food at BP Connect