Retailers re-opening after two months or more due to the COVID-19 pandemic are finding it’s a new realm of retail. From incorporating strict cleaning regimens within the consumer shopping journey to implementing safety protocols for both employees and shoppers, retail, as most know it, is changing dramatically.
Retail Customer Experience reached out to former eBay and Walmart leader Peter Paine, who is now head of retail partnerships at Cover Genuis, to get his insight on tactics retailers should be deploying to build customer loyalty in one of the most unique times in retail.
In his Cover Genuis role Paine is responsible for leading and executing partnerships for some of the biggest retail brands in Americas, while delivering best-in-class user experience. At eBay he led the product warranty and financial services team and was head of product care plan business during his five years at Walmart.com.
Q. This is certainly one of the most challenging times for retailers given shutdowns. What should retailers be doing while the stores are closed besides boosting e-commerce efforts?
A. Undoubtedly, Covid-19 has prompted the e-commerce industry into a new era. We’ve seen fast and dramatic transformations in retail over the last decade, stem from digitalization of our entire lives and technological advancement but there is no doubt that this recent, global-scale, overarching pandemic has, on one hand, caused significant financial losses to many, but on the other, allowed interesting opportunities in the market to rise, such as marketplaces, business optimization and innovative e-commerce subchannels.
Marketplace expansion: Marketplace platforms such as eBay, Sears, Facebook Marketplace, Walmart and Amazon can drive brand awareness and growth. You can find storefronts of the biggest online retailers of the world on eBay marketplace platform, getting way more traffic and consumer exposure. The benefit for retailers to list their stores on a large-scale marketplace is that they can significantly expand their e-commerce presence on such marketplace sites, leveraging online traffic to these big brands gets them more exposure. One of the more interesting examples is that even large marketplace brands such as eBay lists their store on Sears. Think about it – it’s like opening another (very large) online store.
Optimize online business: The best part of e-commerce is the infinite playground to test new businesses. There’s no better time to add services, categories and products to your retail brand and protection products are exactly what your customers are looking for in these times of uncertainty. As insurance attach rates grew 1200% since the pandemic started across different industries, retailers need to make sure they have these offerings at hand to keep their customers feel protected. Concentrate on what your customers are looking for -48% of consumers would buy more if they were offered insurance coverage at checkout. Add-on services such as warranty products , seamlessly offered to your customers at checkout, when they are ready to make that extra investment to protect their purchase will increase brand loyalty and CLTV.
New e-commerce sub-channels Selling online goes beyond the traditional e-commerce storefront with creative ways to grow sales and engage with customers. Companies like #Boost allow all types of retailers to easily sell products through a hashtag and text message. The fact that no hosting, domain or management are required removes the heavy lifting from the retailer who benefits from the added volume of traffic and ease of interaction with new customers. In such challenging times, retailers should be thinking about how to expand their core offering, increase their customer touchpoints, and diversify their distribution channels to reach customers in any way they like to shop and provide value at each interaction. More than ever it is important to listen to the customer and adapt to the changes in their purchase behavior.
Q. How critical is keeping the loyalty factor in play during such challenging times?
A. Times like these really show retailers how loyal their customer base really is and how they are doing earning that loyalty. Retailers who are able to stay engaged in a personalized way and provide a shopping experience with multiple layers of value generally have a loyal customer base that sticks with them when times get tough. A retailer with a loyal customer base will find that their customers are reliant on them for their goods and services and continue to spend even in a downturn. These are difficult times though, so an extra layer of sensitivity is needed when marketing to your customers. Understanding what problems your customers are faced with now and tailoring the right messaging and offerings around exactly that will help them understand what their favorite brands stand for and build deeper, stronger relationships.
Q. Once the pandemic subsides and retailers get a green light to open stores again, any best practices or tips on how to lure in customers again who may now be dealing with economic issues and still a fear of crowded stores?
A. Naturally, people are going to be cautious with their spending after reopening the economy and will slowly ramp up business. The global economy has taken a significant hit during the pandemic and consumer spending will likely change as people grapple with changing working situations and decreased discretionary incomes. Discounts, promotions and other marketing incentives will have to be significant to consumers to open their wallets again. But that’s not the only thing — low cost and free delivery services that offered convenience and value long before the coronavirus will now become a necessity for all retailers to ensure consumers’ peace of mind and maintain spending. Retailers will need to find easy and fast delivery service partnerships such as Shipt, UPS and Uber to enable their customers to shop and get their products quickly and at a low cost. Having been socially distanced for a long period of time, consumers will be reluctant to physically interact. We will continue to see a growing trend of touchless retail, led by technologies such as cashless payments from Apple pay and Amazon Go that will keep consumers engaged with a high level of protection.
Q. What lessons should retailers take from this time in retail and learn from going forward?
A.The past few months have proved that retail must not wait for a global crisis like a health pandemic to prioritize customer experience and loyalty. No retailer can predict what the future holds and the key takeaway should be that retail brands should expand their core offering into multiple layers of value that can appeal to consumers in times of crisis. Make your experiences sticky and trusted: offer your customers convenience and personalized add-on protection services that will provide them with that safety net and reassurance during uncertainty and cement your brand as a safe pair of hands now and into the future.