Page 66 - Retail World March 2021

E-COMMERCE BUILDING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS ONLINE Customer service today is vastly different to that of even just a year ago. By Lucidworks Vice President APJ Scott Ho. efore the pandemic, retailers’ customer service was largely reliant on the smiling faces of employees. However, with those faces now being covered by masks and Perspex screens, other means are needed. With social distancing enforcement a priority for businesses, Australia’s major retailers (including supermarkets) have encouraged the use of online services such as click and collect, and launched new ones, such as direct to boot. The challenge with these services is that they reduce the personal contact employees have with brands, meaning their relationship is dependent on the organisation’s website user experience. As such, if the brand’s e-commerce and online experience is poor, the customer’s overall experience will also be poor, which will negatively impact the relationship. The online shopping trend Online shopping has been trending upward for a number of years, and the pandemic has only increased consumers’ use of it as they seek to reduce time spent in crowded supermarkets, or fulfil their shopping needs from retailers that have been forced to close physical stores. This means businesses must ensure they’re optimising their e-commerce function, as this acts as the primary point of contact for consumers. Failure to do this will result in customers having a poor experience and becoming frustrated. If the organisation is lucky, the customer will at least find a way to complete the sale. However, in many cases the customer will leave the website and go to a competitor’s site to satisfy their shopping needs. If the competitor can offer a seamless and enjoyable experience, the customer could be lost forever. Improve the online experience It’s easy to talk about ‘improving the online experience’, but what does this entail? A number of components play a role in customer satisfaction when shopping online, including load times, site aesthetics, and information availability. However, two factors are of particular importance for businesses to consider: search and e-commerce. Without an effective AI-powered search solution, customers will struggle to find the products they’re looking for, which leads to ‘nearly sales’, ie, sales that almost go ahead. AI-powered search doesn’t just match the search terms input by customers with product names, but also reads and understands them to provide relevant results. For example, if a customer searches for ‘infant food’, an effective AI-powered search will return relevant results that may possibly be listed as ‘baby formula’. Despite the product name not having any matching words for the customer’s search term, the customer is still able to find (and buy) what they want. On the other hand, effective e-commerce solutions must be simple, quick and seamless. They allow shoppers to pay for their products how they want in a hassle-free manner. By perfecting the e-commerce process, customers will remember the simplicity and return. By prioritising AI-powered search and e-commerce, organisations will put themselves in pole position to develop strong relationships with customers via online channels. With online shopping the go-to choice for more shoppers than ever, it’s imperative businesses focus their attention on getting the online experience up to scratch. About Scott Ho Scott Ho is Vice President Asia Pacific and Japan at Lucidworks. Leveraging his 20-plus years in the technology industry, Scott is focused on enabling customers to get the most from their AI-powered search solution. About Lucidworks Lucidworks builds AI-powered search solutions for many of the world’s largest brands. Fusion, Lucidworks’ advanced development platform, provides the enterprise-grade capabilities needed to design, develop, and deploy intelligent search applications at any scale. Companies across all industries, from consumer retail and healthcare to insurance and financial services, rely on Lucidworks every day to power their consumer-facing and enterprise search apps. 64 RETAIL WORLD MAR, 2021