The popularity and know-it-all nature of artificial intelligence platforms such as Siri and Alexa have given rise to more sophisticated digital communications, and more retailers are noticing the potential of these capabilities. Within three years, up to 45% of retailers plan to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) — through chatbots or digital assistants — to enhance their customer experiences, according to a survey from Boston Retail Partners (BRP).
While a majority, 55%, of retailers say their top priority is optimizing the customer experience, they also are prioritizing other shopper-related goals:
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50%: Increase customer loyalty;
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45%: Improve mobile shopping experience;
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42%: Create a seamless experience across channels;
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32%: Enhance personalized service/sales assistance; and
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24%: Provide personalized promotions, recommendations and/or offerings.
Additionally, the number of retailers that could be classified as “omnichannel” nearly doubled this year — 63% compared to 33% the previous year — according to the report, titled: The 2017 Customer Experience/Unified Commerce Benchmark Survey.
The ‘5 E’s’ Of The Customer Experience
The survey noted that there are five “E’s” that drive the customer experience:
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Educate — One of the areas of greatest improvement is the offering of social media as a research option for customers to learn more about the brand and products. Overall utilization increased to 92% in 2017, up from 73% last year;
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Engage — Within three years, 59% of retailers plan to use WiFi and 63% plan to use mobile apps to identify customers in their store. The most prevalent technologies retailers currently use to identify customers are mobile web sites (49%) and mobile loyalty programs (40%);
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Execute — Up to 67% of retailers are offering a consistent product assortment across channels; however, many retailers are still struggling with manual processes, as 43% indicate the processes need improvement;
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Enhance — 89% of retailers are now using social media comments as a critical customer satisfaction measurement, up from 59% last year, as more retailers gather customer experience feedback to understand customers’ likes and dislikes, supporting a continuous improvement loop to help empower associates to create a desired customer experience.; and
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Enablers — As many as 76% of retailers plan to enhance or replace their network within the next three years, providing a better platform for connectivity, security and reliability within a technology ecosystem.
