Keep The Noise Down

Buy Cheap, Pay Later (revisited)

Over four years ago I posted ‘Buy Cheap, Pay Later’, which warned of the perils of purchasing from discount retailers that sell cheap and support their low profit margin by a ‘sod you’ customer services policy. After 4 years of mostly positive online shopping experiences, it’s easy to get complacent and drift away from those online retailers with a reputation for premium customer service, being tempted away by the competitive pricing of a discount retailer. Even more so during these economic times.

And then comes the rude reminder as you fall foul of a discount retailers poor customer service! 

The villain this time is Camerabox, an online company set up in 2004, that sells cameras and equipment at competitive prices.  Their online experience is satisfactory, and the order fulfillment is efficient.  All appears well at first.  It's only when there is an issue and you need to contact their customer services team that the cracks appear and you discover that Camerabox doesn’t value their customers or understand the value of customer loyalty and retention through high-quality service. 

Operating on a low profit margin, it’s not surprising that some retailers such as Camerabox are reluctant to invest their profits in customer service. Unfortunately it’s also common during downturn management that some retailers skimp on staffing further impacting their ability to deliver a high level of customer service.

So should I really act surprised when I stray from those retailers that uphold a high-service level, and get burnt by a discount retailer without a reputation for customer experience?

Unfortunately, in most cases the answer is a resounding 'No'. The shocking customer service suffered at the hands of Camerabox is probably at the far end of the 'sod you' scale, but it's a fierce reminder of what buying cheap may cost you.

At the date of the original purchase the cost difference between the item purchased, an Olympus Mju Tough 8000 camera,  at John Lewis and Camerabox was about £30.  As an anecdote to buying cheap and paying later,  here’s a comparison of a recent customer services experience at John Lewis compared to that of Camerabox in resolving a product fault .

 

Response & Resolution Time

The John Lewis process was quick and painless.  From  the time I initially contacted them, a working replacement was with me within 9 working days. 

With Camerabox the story is very different.  When I returned the faulty camera, I was reassured by Gary Smart, Online Response Manager (ORM), that he would ensure a speedy resolution. Every time I contacted Gary Smart he reassured me with the same promise that he'd do everything he could to ensure the speedy resolution.  There was no evidence that he did little more than offer me lip service and he shouldn't make promises unless he intends to deliver upon them.

7 weeks later I received a refurbished replacement that had a further fault.  The camera was returrned a 2nd time. 

A further 9 weeks elapsed, without a single progress update.The only communication I received in this time was in response to a email I sent voicing my frustration at the poor customer service and how long this was taking to resolve. David Carter (Camerabox Returns Manager) again played lip service that he would look in this ongoing issue and be in touch as soon as possible.  I didn't hear back from David.

When the camera was eventually returned it included a note to say that the fault could not be identified.  It took Camerabox 9 weeks to come back with this response!

 

Inconvenience

John Lewis ensured that I suffered minimal inconvenience offering me several options and ensuring a fast resolution   

A different story with Camerabox.  The camera has been faulty from day 1, and spent 30% of the 12 months being investigated and attempting a resolution with Camerabox. In response to my complaint with regards to the ongoing issue, David Carter responded that they were acting within their SLA.  A strange response, that clearly highlights the concerns that they are certainly not a customer-centric retailer.

There was an even more alarming response from David Carter, in response to my request for a refund.  His response stated that they could not offer a refund as the item had just exceeded the 12 months warranty.

 ‘unfortunately due to the fact that your item is just over a year from your original date of order…’ 

However, this was untrue.  I kept the post office proof of when Camerabox received the camera which confirms that they received the camera 10 days before the 12 months had passed.   David Carter, had delayed his response 10 days, so that on the day he responded to me the 12 months had just passed!

 

Cost

The financial cost suffered through my John Lewis experience was negligible.

The costs suffered through Camerabox were significant;  two lots of carriage, to return the original item and the replacement item which was also faulty.  I had to purchase a cheap replacement camera for  £49.99 to cover the lengthy periods that the faulty camera has been in repair.  

Even more important than the financial cost has been the disappointment  of missing out on capturing priceless family moments by being without a working camera. 

 

Communication

John Lewis’s response to my initial query regarding a faulty item was apologetic for the inconvenience.

“I was sorry to hear of the problems that you have experienced with the xxxxx which you purchased..”

Compare this to Camerabox’s response from David Carter, Camerabox Returns Manager, which went on the offensive by raising the question of whether the item is covered under the warranty.

“Please send the item back to us; we will need to investigate to see whether there is a fault, or whether your item has suffered some form of accidental damage, which is not covered under warranty “

John Lewis’s subsequent email was a positive response to resolve this quickly, with a solution that best works for me, the customer.

 ‘I am quite happy to arrange to send you a quantity of xxxxx with my compliments, however this may only prove to be a short-lived solution. Alternatively, I can supply you with xxxxx in the hope that these would prove more satisfactory. if you feel that you have lost confidence in this product I shall be happy to take them back so that you could select an alternative xxxxx. In any event I would be prepared to reimburse you for any subsequent xxxxx fees incurred.’

This is in huge contrast to Camerabox. My first two emails were ignored.  David Carter eventually responded to my 3^rd email, and that wasn't until 2 weeks after they’d received the returned item.

Over the 12 months, I sent a total of 13 emails.On not one occasion did Camerabox proactively contact me.  Any communication was only in response to my emails, and were only to say 'we will look in to this...'

 

What all this worth it for a saving of £30?  Certainly not.

 

A study by Collect+ found that 58% of online shoppers will steer clear of a trader whose delivery or returns service falls short.  The findings also suggest that 30% of customers hold the retailer directly responsible for poor delivery or returns. Mark Lewis, Collect+ chief executive, said, “the hassle and cost of online returns has been the dark secret of retail for too long, with our research showing that shoppers are abandoning outlets that fail to get it right.

So ultimately the retailers loses out, but in the meantime many frustrated customers are caught out by buying cheap and paying later.  Paying more offers no guarantee of a better level of customer service, but often those online retailers that are known for providing a high-level of service don’t compete solely on price as they value the importance and investment in service excellence. 

So when you next make your purchase, consider the retailers service reputation and whether you are willing to take a gamble.  It’s been another costly reminder for me, and probably another 4 years before I stray away from those retailers I trust again!

 

Olympus Mju Tough 8000

Shutl : Redefining eCommerce

It’s three years since I last wrote a post on the importance of a sound ecommerce delivery proposition.  In this time we’ve seen a significant improvement in online delivery propositions; better communication around the proposition, more choice on when the order can be delivered, better delivery pricing etc  Some retailers have listened to their customers and responded to their demand for more convenience. Customer concerns with timings is driven by their increasingly hectic lifestyles – “I need something in time for the party”, “I’m only at home between 1 & 5 as I need to pick the kids up at 5:30”  …

Many online etailers offer more choice to meet the demands and growing expectations of online shoppers with delivery options such as same day, named day, weekend delivery & in store collection. Despite these improved delivery services, surveys regularly show that customers still feel that retailers are not delivering on convenience. Not enough retailers are providing flexible delivery options, and even those that do could offer more. And in many cases delivery choice is regarded as a premium service, accompanied by a hefty price tag.

Along comes an ambitious Start-up, Shutl, that could be a game changer in the way that it offers fast delivery without the price tag.  Shutl is the brainchild of Tom Allason the founder & former CEO of eCourier.co.uk in 2008. Shutl will allow online shoppers to receive their orders within 90 minutes of placing the order as well as 1-hour delivery windows. And the best bit for the customer is that Shutl says that in many cases the cost of a Shutl delivery will be similar to cost of the ecommerce site’s standard delivery.

 
 

How does Shutl work?

Shutl acts as the middleman between retailers and customers, connecting retailers with local courier companies that collect the order and deliver direct to the customer.  The Shutl platform applies a  complex proprietary algorithm to determine the courier and quotes a price to the customer.

When & where does Shutl launch?

Initially this service will be launched in London only.  The plan is to roll out this service to the rest of the UK by end of 2010.

It launches early 2010 with some smaller shops, although a larger store has signed up to use this service.  The first businesses to trail Shutl include StartLondon, Alexandalexa.com, Georginagoodman, Lily and Lionel,  Something and Zuneta.

Redefining eCommerce

It will be interesting to see which retailers can support this as this service is limited to retailers that keep their stock on-site, so more suited to smaller retailers.

Let’s hope Shutl’s vision to ‘redefine commerce’ is realized.  This has the potential to be a real game-changer.  Keep up with announcements by following @shutl

 

Could the challenge of buying that last minute present without paying through the nose for same day delivery soon be a thing of the past?

Consider the entire customer journey before you go blame the checkout...

I’m taking a respite from my recent glut of multi-touch posts and jumping back in to the web paradigm with one of my favorite ecommerce topics – the online checkout process. 

An online retailer has asked me to solve the mystery of why a high number of shoppers are going AWOL during their checkout process. My concern is that I am expected to concentrate all my efforts on identifying and rectifying problems in the checkout itself.  But the full story can only be understood by following the entire user journey from start to finish and reviewing all the site evidence.

A high abandonment rate is an unnecessary evil.  For many online retailers the percentage of people that add an item to their basket but drop out before completing the purchase sits somewhere between 50 and 70 percent. In simple terms over half the people who show intent to buy don't submit their order.  wow - it's easy to understand why the checkout gets so much bad press if it's responsible for so many potential customers saying adieu.

I find 50-70 percent high and expect to see this below 50 percent so most retailers have some way to go before they can sit easy when recounting their abandonment rate. It’s amazing when you think about the large sums of money online retailers invest in driving visitors to the site but then drive them out with an inexcusable checkout faux pas.  Checkout problems are possibly the largest cause of lost revenue for most ecommerce sites.

However...the checkout process is not always guilty, sometimes guilty of little more than being caught napping at the scene of the crime.

An analytics package will track where in the checkout process customers are dropping out.  The analytics show where potential buyers exit but they can't tell you WHY with absolute confidence.  And this point is key.   A guilty verdict must be beyond a reasonable doubt. It is this doubt which should encourage us to explore other lines of investigation.

So before you go and string up the architect of your checkout process you need to take a holistic view of your online proposition.  The checkout process is present at the scene of the crime - yes - but is it the main perpetrator? Maybe not...

The crime against conversion can stick out like a sore thumb but often the reason is far less obvious.  Customers may exit when their goodwill is exhausted. Customers will persevere but everyone has a limit.  For some customers this limit is reached far quicker than others.  Many potential buyers walk wounded as they battle on, with their goodwill slowly being drained. In many cases the checkout process lands the fatal blow but to truly address customer abandonment you need to identify and eliminate the early blows.

Sites that can be proud of their abandonment rate continuously improve their websites.  These impressive conversion rates don't come overnight, by implementing piecemeal enhancements to the checkout process but a broader strategy and commitment to their customer’s experience.  Designing an effective checkout process begins outside of the checkout process.

Someone to talk to – pt I

Momentum is building for self-service technologies in the real world.  Consumers are adopting these self-service interactions and interacting less with in-store customer services.  Online it's a different story as online shoppers want someone to talk to.

In Future Now's 2007 Retail Customer Experience Survey, they recommend implementing a "visible phone number for questions and problems" to improve customer service.

Similarly, e-Consultancy wrote in a recent article that “a visible phone number is absolutely essential for answering any queries, as well as being a mark of trust for any e-commerce site.“

Not being able to contact customer services is regularly cited as the top non-cost related reason for customers abandoning a purchase.  Yet despite customers want for an immediate communication channel many retailers fail to provide either a phone number or a chat applet, and take it for granted that there is customer confidence in an established retailer.

If customers have a product question that they cannot answer online then they will either look for a contact number or shop elsewhere.  The following are all too common user comments:-

“There must be a number for me to call and a person to speak with who can answer my question.”

"I have had issues so looked for a telephone number... those with them got my order where as the majority that only would talk to me by email lost my business to one of their competitors”

“I personally won’t buy from a store that does not have visible contact information.”

 

The jury may be out on whether established mainstream retailers need to pimp credibility indicators to same extent as their lesser established competitors to improve shoppers confidence in their web site.

"The phone number? I've never tried looking for it. But lets face it, you would automatically have consumer confidence in an established site such as Amazon wouldn't you?"

Whatever the verdict retailers should do whatever they can to bolster confidence and create a sense of trust and credibility for consumers.

A survey by PayPal revealed that “16 percent of consumers didn’t pay for items because they could not contact customer support to answer questions.”

Why phone numbers?  Customers want direct and immediate communication channels and slow email responses create customer dissatisfaction.  Email response times are improving but there is still some way to go to restore customer confidence to using other communication channels in favour of the phone.

Customers have questions that need answering.  This could be around product specifications or delivery/ returns.  No matter how much a retailer tries to answer everything in their help pages or frequently answered questions, customers will always have some questions they can’t find an answer to.  If you make them work to contact you then you’ll lose them.

Yet despite what the industry knows about the impact of contact details on abandonment rates many retailers make it hard for customers to contact customer services. Some retailers think customers have nothing better to do than hunt around for a contact number....wrong.  Abandonment rate is the Holy Grail that retailers seek to plug but many shoppers are going AWOL because retailers fail to provide easy access to contact data.

Providing an easily accessible phone number also tells your customers that you are willing to help.  Tucking it away, 5 pages deep tells a very different story.  An alternative or complementary services tool is a chat applet which also offers an immediate communication channel - many retailers are reaping the results of technologies such as Live Person to realise significant improvements to their conversion rate.  

The irony is that many customers don't want to phone customer services but just want to know that there is a real person live to speak to should they need to.

“Personally, I always look for a phone number on a website before purchasing, though would rarely actually call it. I would agree it's a trust thing and that really there's no excuse these days not to have one.”

Online consumers that abandon are potential customers who are willing to buy – don’t give them a reason to abandon.

 

In someone to talk to – pt II I will present a summary of the findings from a study of how the top 50 UK Retailers rank on providing sufficient contact information.  You’ll find out which retailers are getting it right and which retailers don’t mind their customers shopping elsewhere.

 

Listening to: Loveless by My Bloody Valentine

Conchango’s motley crew take on Retail Week 2008

Today is day 1 of the Retail Week Conference 2008.  I arrived in time for the breakfast briefing, sporting a Conchango t-shirt. My trim figure barely made a dent in the XL Conchango t-shirt leaving plenty of room for a couple of colleagues to squeeze in. After a much-needed caffeine injection and over-indulgence in fresh croissants I brushed aside any early morning cobwebs. I was now ready share my retail and user experience wisdom with MD's and CEO's from some of the UK's largest retailers.

With myself, Dan and Justin making up a follicly-challenged trio resembling the Mitchells of the Consultancy world, it took Richard D, Lynne and Nik to make us appear more Dynasty than Eastenders.   

 

Image: Conchango's very own Mitchell family (below)

 

Image: Conchango's more glamorous consultants (below)
 

 

My t-shirt concerns were nothing compared to the horror on Nik’s face when he was presented with a medium slim-cut t-shirt.  His generous frame squeezed inside this tight number made him look like he was heading for a night out at G.A.Y. (again)

 

Image: Nik camps it up (below)

 

So what are we doing at Retail Week and why are we sporting these Conchango branded t-shirts? Conchango is one of the key sponsors at Retail Week 2008.  This event is a great opportunity to hear some of the highest caliber speakers in the UK retail market discuss those issues that retailers are facing in an increasingly competitive marketplace and how best to shape their business strategies. Our very own  CEO, Mike Altendorf,  is talking about the challenges of tomorrow.  Catch his presentation about "Engaging the Facebook generation" on day 2 at  11.55.

Although I am looking forward to hearing Charlie Mayfield, Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, discuss brand loyalty and the closing-day Interview with Sir Stuart Rose, Chief Executive for Marks and Spencer, my challenge for today is to make up a 6-person team manning the Conchango stand and offer delegates an impromptu 30-minute eCommerce assessment . I’m representing the Experience arm of Conchango.

So what can I say about user experience that the delegates haven’t heard before?  Perhaps nothing, but I’m not worried about repeating myself.  If last years must-do experience enhancements are still not being implemented then they're worth saying again and again and again...

Many retailers still force their customers to register, fail to give customers reassurance at key times of their shopping experience or offer poor quality images and a few lines of uninspiring copy so that their customers have insufficient product data to make a purchase decision, and so much more.  The list of barriers that retailers put up is endless and it’s these barriers areas that need to be addressed to rejuvenate flagging conversion rates.

I will repeat my usual mantra of simplifying the checkout process, displaying shipping details upfront, highly visible support options, improving findability, reinforcing trust and credibility before I even discuss the web 2.0 elements such as user generated content.  For many retailers it's still about getting the basics right. My focus isn’t just online.  The customer experience covers the entire end-to-end experience and extends beyond the website. Every single touch point is an opportunity for their customers to experience the brand and to build customer loyalty. So I'll be looking beyond the online experience at fulfillment and multichannel strategies.

So if you are at Retail Week 2008 today or tomorrow and want to discuss your companies eCommerce offering then please come along to our stand for a friendly chat. 

P.S. Conchango are recruiting! If any of my ramblings interest you and you are passionate about User Experience then we'd like to hear from you.  Why not contact me and let's have a chat?

Building customer trust should be taken seriously

A web site I once worked on has recently received a trust overhaul and is now lit up like a Christmas tree with all manner of sparkling trust-builders. Whilst the client must be applauded for their endeavour to reassure their customers and engender trust in their online store, simply littering their web site with a generous dollop of trust-builders shows a naivety and misunderstanding of how to build trust for their target audience.  

3rd party verification logos, customer service contact details, links to privacy statements, returns policies ... are just a few factors that build trustworthiness. Of course, customers also associate trust with the look and feel of the web site.  These and plenty more trust builders now adorn this site and at every step of the shopping experience you can feel these trust-builders breathing down your neck. This clumsy kitchen-sink approach might work for some audiences but the screen clutter creates noise and dilutes the impact of other trust-builders whose purpose at that moment is to allay any concerns and put the customers’ minds at ease.

Create a Trust Strategy Document

As part of the user centric design process I can't understate the value in creating a Trust Strategy Document. 

This is more than industry wisdom and includes trust design principles and guidelines written to meet the needs of your target audience.  This is more than just identifying what factors build trust and reassurance, but when to provide these reassurances, how to deliver them and where to position them.  Building trust is complex and is more than dropping a security seal on every page.  Trust cues vary for a brand and target audience, by industry, over time, and during different stages of their online shopping experience.

The art of serving these cues is like that of a great salesman.  He says the right things at the right time.

Why?

In the early days some customers were reluctant to shop online because of trust issues around the Internet and online transactions.  As the Internet has matured as an online market place the trust issues now faced are around which company to do business with online. It’s important that this is given the attention it deserves and how, when and where we communicate trustworthiness to our audience is carefully crafted.

Why? Well, if you lower a user’s trust in your store then the bottom line is your conversion rate will be hit.

P.S. Conchango are recruiting! If any of my ramblings interest you and you are passionate about User Experience then we'd like to hear from you.  Why not contact me and let's have a chat?

 

Listening to: Club Ska '67: Whine and Grine by Various Artists

Customers patience is running out with retailers who don't walk the walk

There is debate as to who coined the phrase buzzword bingo but Scott Adams undoubtedly took the game global in 1994 when Dilbert was given a buzzword bingo card on his way to a meeting with his boss. The same year that this cartoon was created, the Internet population opened up beyond researchers and academics as the Internet became available to the public.

1999 – 2000 saw the first generation of online stores as many established retailers took their business online, although it was after the dot com bust of 2001 that retailers started to truly embrace the Internet.

In the last 5 years of mainstream eCommerce our vocabulary has become richer to include terms such as Shopping Cart Abandonment, Purchase Momentum and Conversion Rate (to name but a few).  Retailers regularly display eCommerce tourettes, with repeated utterances of these eCommerce catchphrases. 

So as with any technological advancements, the eCommerce revolution brought a new set of buzzwords.

Wikipedia defines a buzzword as "typically intended to impress one's audience with the pretense of knowledge."  5 years is not long for a new business channel to emerge and mature but the underlying principles of commerce have been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. These may be buzzwords for the digital space but they are not new to retail. 

Customers’ expect the online shopping experience to learn from these hundreds of years of retail experience and their patience is running out with those retailers that can't deliver a robust user experience based on these most basic of underlying principles - this pretense of knowledge has no value to the customer, retailers need to follow through with actions.

Take a simple task such as picking up and carrying items in a bricks n’ mortar store. The Piggly-Wiggly supermarket chain introduced the first ever Shopping Trolley back in 1937.  The trolley has evolved since the 30’s but the purpose has remained the same – to allow the customer to conveniently transport items with them as they move around the shop. 

Yet when stores went online these 70 years of shopping experience were forgotten! 

When a customer adds an item to their basket they are taken away from the product page and forced to view the basket.  Why shouldn’t the online customer keep the basket with them at all times, like they do offline? Forcing the user to view the Shopping basket every time a user clicks ‘add to basket’ is slowly being consigned to the web 1.0 history books, but why has it taken retailers so long to implement basic principles that are established in the offline world?

Time is running out for those retailers that continue to talk the talk but don't follow through with actions. Don't frustrate your customers by hiding behind these so-called buzzwords and apply your offline retail knowledge online.

 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

P.S. Conchango are recruiting! If any of my ramblings interest you and you are passionate about User Experience then we'd like to hear from you.  Why not contact me and let's have a chat?

 

Listening to: In Distance by Bitcrush.

Capture those loving ‘ecommerce’ moments

Everyone knows Flickr is a great community platform for sharing digital photos with friends and family. However, Flickr is also a great tool for capturing, organising and sharing Design Patterns or collections of Interface Designs. 

Here are a few examples of people doing this...

• DragonVista’s collection of 500+ ecommerce home pages

• Peter Morville’s (findability.org) Search Patterns

• Factoryjoe’s Design Patterns

 

It's easy to capture screen designs and create your own Flickr collection with Snagit, although there are plenty of other tools which do this including freebies such as TechSmith's Jing. Snagit works for me as it has a ‘scrolling window’ capture profile to capture all the content of a scrolling web page.

 
You can install accessories to extend Snagit further.  There are a number of accessories to take your Snagit screen capture and send directly to a 3rd party service, such as Flickr.

 

 

 

This accessory adds a Flickr button to the Snagit preview window toolbar. 

 

 

 
You can configure your Flickr output options to add default tags to the screengrab being sent to Flickr and specify what collection to add it to.

 

 

With just two clicks I can capture a screen design and upload it to my Flickr account. Easy. 

 

If you're interested in seeing a comprehensive set of Product Details pages then bookmark Wandy's Collection as I'll be adding to this collection daily.

 

 

 

 

P.S. Conchango are recruiting! If any of my ramblings interest you and you are passionate about User Experience the  we'd like to hear from you.  Why not contact me and let's have a chat?
 

Listening to: Let the blind lead those who can see but cannot feel by Atlas Sound

Where is the goddamned phone number?

I walked in to an electrical store this weekend to purchase a Cambridge Audio Azur Receiver but couldn’t find what I was looking for.  There were no sales staff around whatsoever to ask whether they had the item in stock, although a sign read ‘leave us a message and we will try to get back to you within 48 hours’.

Sounds strange!

However this is the scenario still faced by many online shoppers.

Most customers expect an immediate response to product and service queries.  Answers may come from the help and product information displayed on your site but when it doesn't answer their query your customer needs to be able to talk to a Customer Services Representative. Customers also require the reassurance that should they need help there is someone to talk to.

By simply positioning your customer services phone number in a prominent location you can significantly increase customer confidence.  Some users I’ve done research with refuse to shop at any store without a direct line to the stores customer services.  So get your phone numbers up and make them easy to find.

Sounds obvious!

Yet many ecommerce sites still don’t provide a non-premium contact number or make it hard to find.  View your web site as a Virtual Customer Service Representative. The web site is there to help your customers find and purchase your products, as well as to give your customers the confidence to do business with you.  This Virtual Customer Services Representative should be as helpful as possible but when they cannot answer your customers query then there is no substitute for contact with the real thing. Offer your customers reassurance that if they had a problem there is a real person they can talk to.

When we built a content managed ecommerce site for one client I recommended that they place their Customer Support phone number in a generous font at the top centre of every single page. The eCommerce Director was concerned that this would increase the call volume.  I reassured him that there might be an initial 5-8% increase in callthrough rate after their site redesign as customers familiarise themselves with the new site but after that the number of calls would steadily fall below that of the call volume before the site launch. The client listened and the phone number took pride of place in the header (and footer) of every screen.

Post-launch a slightly disgruntled client informed me they had been swamped by calls and the increase was closer to 40%.  I had advised the client that the prominent positioning of a contact number is just a small element of a wider strategy to address customers support needs.  When I reviewed their site I discovered poor product descriptions and product imagery, confusing information around their delivery proposition, almost non-existent FAQs etc  The increase in callthrough was only partly due to the prominent number but more so because they were not addressing their customers’ needs. For example, they had increased their product catalogue ten-fold but not enriched the product data. Most customers tend not to call unless they have a reason - of course there are exceptions and there is no accounting for the actions of some folk who will phone no matter how clear and informative your site is.

You need to give your customers as few reasons as possible to phone.  Building the site experience around your customers needs will reduce callthrough and increase conversion rates. When you provide a contact phone number you must have the support strategy, infrastructure and agents in place to handle the calls, otherwise customers will suffer a negative experience of your customer service. One user went as far to say “I would phone the telephone number to speak to someone to get an idea of whether to do business with them or not.” 

I recently phoned Empire Direct 2 or 3 times a day for 5 consecutive days with a product query and did not get through one.  I finally gave up. If I had a problem with a faulty item I had purchased then I would not be able to resolve it if I couldn’t speak to anyone.  So I shopped elsewhere.

And let's not forget the infamous Kiddicare whose disregard for Customer Services is second to none.  If you are unfortunate to have to return an item to Kiddicare you are likely to find they don't respond by email and the only channel you can get a response from them on is their premium phone line. You'll soon find any savings are rapidly eroded as you are kept talking on their revenue generating premium line.

Webcredible carried out research last year to identify what builds customer trust in a website when buying online. From nearly 1200 responses 'contact phone number readily available' was the 4th most popular reason. Making the number available was rated more important than providing security assurances.

Customer services is regularly viewed by the business as an overhead but the costs can only be reduced by either investing in a user-centric site design and/ or by regularly updating your website to ensure all support content on your site is still relevant and adding stuff to address latest support enquiries. As customers are very cautious when buying online you must go the extra mile to reassure them and build that level of trust. The worst thing you can do is hold back or hide your contact numbers.

P.S. Conchango are recruiting! If any of my ramblings interest you and you are passionate about User Experience the  we'd like to hear from you.  Why not contact me and let's have a chat?

 

Listening to: Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend

that Warm Fuzzy Feeling

Total Customer Experience covers the entire end-to-end experience and not just user interface design. A retailer who understands that every single touch point is an opportunity to strengthen or weaken their customer relationship advances from a transactional model to an interaction model.  A few years back customers were shouting out for improvements to the end-to-end experience but no sooner has the retailer implemented a customer-centric fulfillment strategy, integrated an eService solution or set up regular communication during the order process that the customers' expectations have shifted up a gear.  

In a recent interview a customer, Kelly, told me "I expect more than a number of emails telling me the status of my order, good delivery and fancy packaging."  Kelly continued "I want more than a personalised experience. I want a humanised experience." She wasn't alone in expressing her need for that human element.  This message was delivered loud and clear by a number of the participants in this user research programme.

Is it that technology can alienate some customers, so humanising the user experience enables us to connect more emotionally?  Perhaps all the individual interactions through the end-to-end life cycle contribute towards our emotional feeling but these emotions are more likely to connect with a humanised experience. 

One participant, Jonah, felt this emotional connection was dependent on "there being evidence of a pulse beating behind the online store."

If your company sells a great product your customer might remember you, but the likelihood is they will remember the product.  If you give them a positive emotional feeling then they will remember you.

Another participant, Lucy, referred to these emotional connections as the wonderfully titled "warm fuzzy feelings".  

To illustrate this emotive connection here is my personal experience of this so-called warm fuzzy feeling.

I ordered the Black+BlumTime Square, a multifunctional memo board which features a blackboard, clock and magnet board. When I unpacked it from several layers of protective packaging I revealed some chalk scribbles on the blackboard.  It read 'hi Rich, enjoy'. The fact that someone had carefully unpacked the memo board, scribbled the personal message in chalk, and then meticulously re-packaged it so it still looked brand new gave me plenty of warmth and fuzz. This was a charming touch that gave me an instant emotional connection with the store.  I could provide further examples but it would be good to hear your experiences of what it took to emotionally connect you?

If humanising User Experience becomes a competitive necessity then retailers need to move beyond computer generated personalisation and add that human touch.  Experiences no longer would be cold digital experiences but offer a warmer humanized experience where the human elements feel more dominant than the technology.

P.S. Conchango are recruiting! If any of my ramblings interest you and you are passionate about User Experience the  we'd like to hear from you.  Why not contact me and let's have a chat?

 

Listening to: Kosmischer Pitch by Jan Jelinek