According to McKinsey, more than 75% of consumers have experimented with a different shopping behavior during the pandemic. Whether they have increased their online shopping habits or have switched brands or stores due to convenience or product availability, something has changed.
The Harvard Business Review warns that “Retailers can’t afford to be in a wait-and-see mode. First, they need to reimagine their baseline requirements and then turn their attention to taking their customer experience to the next level.”
Meet Basic Customer Expectations
Customers first need retailers to help relieve their shopping anxiety—70% of consumers are not comfortable going back to “regular” out-of-home activities—and elevate their shopping experience. It’s imperative that retailers give shoppers a reason to venture into stores as well as feel safe and that’s a tall order.
Retailers Must:
- Adapt physical stores and operations to meet health-and-safety mandates
- Ensure masks are worn by both shoppers and employees
- Control the number of shoppers and people in every store
- Foster social distancing with decals and signs
- Offer more touchless or frictionless options
Excite With New Products
One of the easiest ways to excite new and existing customers is by continuing to introduce fresh offerings and products. For example, this summer:
- Trader Joe’s is making vegan fans smile with its new Cheese-less Cheesecake as well as conveniently carrying the popular plant-based brand Impossible Burger.
- Target launched Casaluna, a peaceful and calming bedding and bath collection.
- Dunkin partnered with Post to launch two new caffeinated coffee-flavored cereals.
- Ulta teamed up with Beekman 1802 as part of Ulta’s emerging brand platform, Sparked.
Surprise With Specials While Increasing Loyalty
Keeping customers coming back as well as winning new customers—especially during difficult times—is key. When was the last time you enhanced your loyalty program or upgraded your app?
When COVID-19 first hit the U.S., Starbucks briefly paused some of its loyalty perks but by June hosted several BOGO happy hour events and later launched its Summer Games rewards promotion. This fall, the Seattle-based coffee giant plans on revamping its loyalty program by offering even more ways to pay and rack up rewards.
Wendy’s recently announced its new rewards program while Taco Bell created a special beta test to entice customers to sign up. Huck’s Food & Fuel created a smart social distancing promotion with its SKIP app. The promotion increased brand awareness, touchless payment and loyalty app registration.
How can you win $1,000? LIKE, COMMENT and SHARE this post and most importantly DOWNLOAD the SKIP MOBILE CHECKOUT APP from the play store, and enter promo code Hucks1000 into the app. A random drawing will be held July 17. One winner will receive $1,000 loaded onto their Skip app. pic.twitter.com/oMzterlfCW
— Huck’s Food & Fuel (@GoToHucks) June 29, 2020
Looking to create new and exciting customer experiences? GSP is your one-stop shop for retail marketing, visual merchandising, affordable store remodels, time and money-saving store intelligence technology. Talk to us today.
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