Partner Article

Improving customer journey key to high street profit

Jo Coxhill, Group Head of Commercial Operations at Tensator, explains why improving the customer journey is key to driving high street profits.

With uncertainty looming large in the retail market, and following the news that more retail outlets closed in 2011 than were opened¹, there has never been a more important time for offline retailers to increase their bottom-line profits.

Recently released data from the Office for National Statistics shows a continuing increase in online vs. offline retail sales. In January 2012 approximately 11.9 per cent of all retail sales occurred online, compared to approximately 8.9 per cent the previous January².

This 3 per cent rise – reflecting an increase in spend of around £178.3 million – proves that high street branches need to do more if they want to slow down the number of outlets closing and combat the shift to online shopping. One key area for improvement is the in-store experience offered to shoppers. By enhancing the customer journey, retailers can boost customer satisfaction, encourage repeat visits and drive sales.

As a result of the increased awareness shown amongst retailers that the customer journey is crucial to driving sales, Tensator has partnered with many international retail brands – such as New Look, Topshop, H&M, Carrefour, Duane Reade, BP, Tesco and Asda Wal-mart – to provide innovative solutions to improve every customer’s shopping experience, minimise queuing times and maximise sales.

A recent survey by YouGov³ that found that 59 per cent of people would not purchase anything if the queue was too long – meaning effective queue management is essential for busy retailers. High street retailers can implement a number of effective solutions to improve customer engagement and queue flow. Eye-catching in-queue merchandising solutions from impulse boxes through to post top signage, and alluring electronic call forward systems are ideal for use in particularly busy outlets.

Innovation in terms of improving the customer experience will be the key as retailers, particularly on the high street, try and maximise their underlying profits to fight off online competition.

The impact of the recession is still ongoing, with certain areas of retail, like impulse purchases, being hit hard. All potential obstacles have to be removed to encourage the consumer to spend, which is an area that Tensator specialises in. The retail side of our business is growing as retailers are looking for innovative solutions to drive spending by providing a better experience for their customers.

Moving forward, it’s vital that offline retailers look closely at their customers and really understand what they now expect from a shopping experience, because this will impact positively on business profits.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .