Handling Customer Experience During a Pandemic: Data and Personalization - 7/18/20

Introduction

Most things look different these days. How employees work, how we visit the doctor, even how we grocery shop. There’s no doubt the pandemic has reshaped how we operate on a daily basis. Customer experience is no exception to those changes. So how do you handle customer experience when the ultimate unexpected happens? In this second installment of Customer Experience During a Pandemic, we’ll dive into personalization and customer data.

First, here are the latest headlines.

Nike Announces Digitally-Focused Store

Nike just announced a new digitally-focused concept store–Nike Rise. The retailer opened its first location in China, with plans to open more in 2021, according to a press release. The latest concept quote “responds to the pulse of sport in a Member’s city,” end quote. Customers will experience a "Nike By You" personalization bar with this new concept and a new app feature called Nike Experiences, that will turn their city into a quote, “digitally-enabled interactive playground”, end quote.  With digital experiences as the foundation of the new store concept, it’s clear Nike is leaning into the increasing importance of innovative omnichannel experiences. And with digital channels accounting for nearly 30% of total business in the quarter for the retailer and a shift to focus on direct to consumer purchasing in recent years, the emphasis on digital makes sense. 

https://www.retaildive.com/news/nike-opens-latest-store-concept-nike-rise/581404/

Uber Launches Grocery Delivery

Nike’s not the only one making headlines for innovative solutions. Uber is launching U.S. grocery delivery this month, pushing into a booming market while it’s original ride-hailing model has likely taken a hit. The company will launch in Dallas and Miami, where the company recently soft-launched, before expanding to other cities. Deliveries will be handles by Cornershop workers, a grocery app acquired by Uber last year. And speaking of acquisitions, this news came just one day after Uber announced it was buying Postmates in a whopping $2.65 billion dollar deal.

https://www.retaildive.com/news/uber-will-launch-us-grocery-delivery-this-month/581211/

https://www.grocerydive.com/news/uber-buys-postmates-in-265b-deal/581054/

Walmart Reportedly Pushing Ahead with Prime Membership Competitor

It’s no secret that Amazon and Walmart have been battling head to head for quite some time. The two retail and e-comm giants can almost cause whiplash with the back and forth strategy swaps and matches, like with Walmart’s rollout of one-day shipping at an eerily similar time as Amazon. But the competition may have come to a head. According to Recode, Walmart announced its Prime membership competitor back in March but had to delay the launch due to COVID. Now, according to Recode sources, the retail giant plans to push forward this month with Walmart+, a $98 dollar yearly subscription. Members would enjoy perks like same-day delivery of groceries and select merchandise, fuel discounts, and early access to product deals. While it’s too soon to predict how Walmart’s latest pushback against Amazon will fare, especially since so many of Walmart’s highest-paying customers are also Prime members, based on the company’s full-throttle strategic moves to grow its e-commerce business and further claim its authority in the competitive grocery space, I think the program could be a worthy competitor to Prime.

Handling Customer Experience During a Pandemic: Data and Personalization

Customer data. In the digital age where privacy is a concern and transparency is key, it’s easy to go wrong. And in an environment where trust is more important than ever, it’s crucial to get it right. Collecting data is an essential element to superior online customer experiences. So what are the best practices for collecting data that’s useful without violating the trust of the very person you want to create that incredible experience for? 

Find your North Star. This was a golden piece of advice that Patrick Carney, the Director of Customer Service at 4Ocean, shared at the 2020 CXLife Virtual Conference. He explained that identifying your North Star, AKA the end goal or result you want to achieve, is key to knowing what data you should be collecting and how you want to use it. Because, as he puts it quote, “The first step is determining your North Star. From there, you can reverse-engineer all the data you’re trying to acquire and be able to piece that together. Step one is figuring out what is the experience you want and reverse engineering to be able to execute upon that.” end quote.

Onto transparency. You had to know that was coming because any conversation about collecting data is usually followed by this word. But more than a buzz word, this should be a guiding principle when you’re approaching data. Trust is huge when you’re talking about providing a great customer experience. For lack of a better term, being shady will do the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve. Even the best of intentions without that transparent policy can work against you. KC Holiday, the founder of QALO, echoed this when he talked about collecting customer data at the Virtual Conference. He explained that when you start collecting customer data for the sake of collecting it and don’t make it clear to your customers what you’re doing with it and why, that can become a slippery slope. Truly understanding why you’re collecting data and connecting it back to how you’re crafting personalized experiences that stand out is crucial.

KC went on to say that regardless of what you’re collecting now, there’s an opportunity to utilize what you currently have with the team that you already have in place in a way that improves customer experiences. That’s such an important piece of advice to take away and apply to almost everything in life. There’s an opportunity to optimize the processes you already have. You have the potential for improvement at every point in your CX strategy no matter who you are or what company you work for. Dive into what you already have and finetune how it can improve your customer’s experiences.Get creative, get innovative.

Closing

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