The new Customer Service in Retail: omni-channel and frictionless

According to the Omnichannel Customer Service Index 2022 by Incisiv, offering customers a fluid experience is essential

The study by a company specialized on the subject highlights how Customer Service in 2022 must be omni-channel. Despite growing digitalization, many Retailers, nonetheless, continue to not take full advantage of this opportunity.

The importance of a fluid customer experience

Among the earliest to be released in 2022, the Omnichannel Customer Service Index by Incisiv, company specializing in digital transformation, it is surely among the most interesting. The report observes, in fact, how 90% of consumers begin their purchasing process online, but only 30% say they are satisfied with the experience. The weak link seems to lie in the search phase: companies of all sizes, but particularly small and medium-sized ones, lack personalized services to offer customers.

The study has collected data from more than 60,000 buyers and 2,500 managers from the consumer goods industry. The company has also conducted detailed analyses on more than 500 international Retailers, from e-commerce to physical stores. The result is that less than 20% of them takes advantage of Customer Assistance interactions to increase sales.

“While everyone has been speaking about omni-channel and unified experiences for years, it is surprising to notice how platforms and tools are still so unaligned and how difficult it is for operators, both by phone and through live chat, to quickly provide the right information”, according to Amar Mokha, Chief Operating Officer of Incisiv.

Aligning the channels for a frictionless experience

The consulting company, therefore, notices how the greatest source of friction for consumers lies in the search for the product which must be intuitive and accurate. Only 32% of them are satisfied with the filters and search options available on the Retailers’ websites. On their own end, retailers could, in fact, improve by investing, for example, in video demos and other tools to increase interaction.

Amar Mokha further states, “Those who offer the best customer experience invested early on in these essential elements, adopting an all-round view of Customer Service. To emulate the industry leaders, smaller companies should consider aligning their channels, offering a fluid experience through each channel and, as a result, guaranteeing their visitors, flexibility and convenience”.

VISION BeanStore, Bizeta’s omni-channel answer

Bizeta has for years now made this its strategy, offering a truly omni-channel application like VISION BeanStore. The centralized and international Retail software is designed to manage from the individual cash register to a network of stores distributed throughout the world. Highly capable of integrating with third-party systems already in existence, it is furthermore characterized by its excellent flexibility.

Multi-language, multi-currency, multi-format, multi-channel and multi-OS, BeanStore is the ideal solution for Retailers who need to adopt an omni-channel vision. The perfect product, as we have seen, for an intuitive, accurate and frictionless customer experience.