Great Expectations: CX lessons from online shopping in lockdown

The curse of working in the field of experience design is whenever you interact with businesses, you notice (and judge) every touchpoint, user experience, interaction, communication — everything. How easy was it to sign up? Does it have guest checkout? How quickly do they respond to enquiries and solve issues? What delivery service is used and what are the parcel tracking notification options? Frequency and relevance of marketing emails? After relocating to Melbourne in the middle of the second wave and spending a lot of time online shopping for essentials like furniture, household items, coffee and clothing (Brissie girl living in Melbourne for the first time), I want to share a few customer experience lessons I have learnt from the perspective of a customer.

I know what you’re thinking…

‘Why would you even move to Melbourne during a lockdown?’

Yes, I chose to go back into a state of lockdown while the rest of Australia is free to roam around because 1) I didn’t want 2020 to be a complete ride-off for achieving my goals; and 2) YOLO.

Anyone who has relocated interstate before can relate to the overwhelming number of things you need to get done and buy when you arrive. Adding to this headache is stage 4 lockdown in Victoria (i.e. all businesses are closed except for essential services) which has made most things delayed, inconvenient, hassle-prone and anxiety-inducing.

Yet, the ‘half glass full’ optimist inside me was hopeful that those retailers who are still in business and have survived through the first wave of COVID-19 have adapted to the new needs of their customers. I was hopeful that they have lifted their capability in their digital channels, improved supply chain and operations to manage demand, redesigned customer journeys to better onboard and support new customers, and delivered more relevant and valuable communications to their customers.

The silver lining of this pandemic on retailers (and perhaps the most productive effect) is that it has been a catalyst for investment into digital channels, or at least highlighted specific areas of business that needs investment to overcome operational and supply chain inefficiencies. My intention for writing this article is to challenge all businesses to be more customer-led and focus on improving parts of the experience that their customers value the most.

But first, a little bit about my buying behaviour.

I am in my early-30s and prefer in-person retail shopping because this consulting life got me needing some instant gratification and retail therapy (Hah jokes — I love my job!). Having to work from home and be in a state of lockdown since March has made retail shopping into somewhat of an event for me. It’s a reason to go out, to see, hear and touch things. I just missed the human presence. In saying that, I will always choose online channels where:

1. the item is hard to find or not conveniently available in retail (e.g. coffee from a specific roaster)
2. there is an incentive to purchase online (e.g. knowing that I’m saving money from buying directly from a wholesaler)
3. the excellent shopping experience justifies waiting for the delivery time. (e.g. Amazon, especially when buying books because I can read reviews, see a preview and choose the format I want it in: Kindle, Hardcover or Paperback.)

Why is this relevant? Because creating great experiences starts with customer empathy. To do this well, you really need to step in the shoes of your customers and know what triggers or influences their behaviours. In customer experience design we create customer personas, a semi-fictional archetype that represents a core customer segment so that a business can better understand and empathise with their needs, feelings, behaviours and motivations. Each business will have (should have) it’s own unique customer personas that are directly informed by customers through qualitative research, then quantifying them with actionable data such as customer lifetime value, average spend, product mix and other customer data that helps you identify which persona they belong to. These insights can then be used to optimise and personalise the customer’s journey, improve customer experience which in turn, influences churn, retention and loyalty. I also want to iterate the importance of frequently updating and validating your customer personas because your personas are only going to be useful if they are accurate. People are constantly changing their preferences, views and expectations based on their experiences, stage of life, technology, other products and services, and events like a global pandemic. I know that I have a much higher expectation on general hygiene and safety practices on every person and every place since the pandemic!

Lesson 1: Under promise, over deliver.

What’s the worst thing that can happen during stage 4 lockdown? Running out of coffee (ok, second worst thing). It’s not just about the drinking of coffee, but the making of it as part of my daily morning ritual. Making slow coffee is my way of meditation and sets the tone for my day which has been even more important to me since working from home. Life, work and everything in between is all within the confined space of your home so this ritual mentally makes me feel like I’m ‘going’ to work, preparing me for a day of productivity and focus.

My point isn’t so much about coffee itself but the fact that it’s something in my day that has an impact on the way I feel (if coffee isn’t your thing, think of something equivalent in your day that you can’t go without). Every weekend (pre-covid) was spent visiting new cafés and looking out for new beans to try. So before we’re able to go out to hunt for Melbourne’s finest coffee, I did a bit of research and made my first order from Melbourne specialty coffee roaster ST Ali. I ordered at 6 pm on a Friday night and received it by noon the next day. I was delighted that they delivered on their promise of ‘Next Day Delivery’.

But the most exceptional experience was on my second order. After receiving a nice little offer in my email, I made an order at 9 am on Sunday and received it at 3:30 pm on the same day!

Not only did they hire their own delivery drivers, they also expanded their range of products to include curated gourmet food, condiments (gin mayo!), a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and covid essentials. No doubt many small businesses have had to close their doors and sadly, some of them won’t open again. However, ST Ali should be an exemplar for how businesses could thrive by pivoting quickly and over-delivering on customer experience.

Lesson 2: Humanise and personalise.

Automation has created efficiencies everywhere — so much so that personalised, bespoke and human interactions are few and far between. I signed up to online furniture retailer Castlery’s mailing list after seeing “$50 off first purchase” offer on the website as I was browsing around for a new sofa. I joined so that I had it ready in my inbox when I eventually make my decision. About a week after signing up, I receive an email making sure I received the discount code and asking if I had found anything suitable. It was a plain text email and signed off by “Grace T” which led me to believe that it was sent by a real person (or at least it made me imagine a pleasant customer service lady just spent a few minutes in her day writing to me) and I APPRECIATED THAT! This stood out from the other 100 marketing emails, not because of appealing photos and enticing messaging, but from it’s tiny bit of human touch. I’m not saying that every business needs to hire more people to write personal emails to their customers. Rather, I want to encourage businesses to question: what part of the customer’s journey can you add in a human touch? The low hanging fruit is in the customer support channels and tools like Intercom use a combination of automation and live chat to deliver a conversational approach that makes interactions friendly, personal, quick and convenient.

Another opportunity to improve customer experience is in personalisation and customers have grown to expect this everywhere. Salesforce reported that 76% of consumers expect companies to understand and anticipate their needs and expectations. You might not even be aware that you have this superior expectation but if you have ever wondered how Netflix and Amazon make relevant and timely recommendations for your next TV binge or impulse purchase, you will have already come across the ultimate AI-powered recommendation engines that have been built by clever use of customer data.

Unfortunately for many other businesses, I now have a ridiculously high expectation of personalisation. After buying a new bed frame in August from Eliving Furniture, I continued to receive numerous marketing emails showing me their new beds. Yes, it’s just marketing and I could’ve just ignored it. But I thought what a missed opportunity it is for a more personalised message, offer or recommendation. It would have caught my attention if they had recommended their new range of living room furniture (opportunity to upsell) or show me how other customers have styled their products (purchase validation). Businesses collect so much customer data but few are able to use it meaningfully at different points of the customer journey to optimise the experience. You may not have the resources to run 250 A/B tests a year with 100,000 customers like Netflix does, but perhaps it’s more achievable to create personalisation by segmenting customers based on their past purchases, shopping cart and account profile information provided by the customer.

Lesson 3: Be as flexible as you can.

I’ve learnt that being a Victorian now means you must always have a puffer jacket wherever you go and UNIQLO’s Ultra Light Down Jackets are seriously the best out there based on quality and value-for-money (not sponsored*). Before purchasing anything online, I check the delivery and returns policies because this affects my decision to either a) wait until the shops open; b) shop elsewhere with more favourable terms; or c) take the risk for things I’m 99% certain will not need to be returned (e.g. a chopping board and bin from Kmart). I understand for many businesses that it’s not viable to offer free postage on returns. But if I’m only spending $50 but need to pay $10 postage to return it, that’s 20% of the price (or 2 almond flat whites!). This is why I love that UNIQLO allows customers who purchase online to return in-store and even extended the returns period of Victorians who are still under lockdown restrictions. I’ve been a long time happy customer of UNIQLO for years but because of this omnichannel experience, they are my ‘go-to’ for essential clothing items and my spend has increased both in frequency and dollar spend per transaction. I was also delighted that smaller retailers like Melbourne-based clothing brand Australian Stitch were flexible enough to allow returns and exchanges in-store when I emailed them prior to ordering online. How flexible you are can make the difference between making a sale or not.

Empathy is the way.

How a business translates these lessons into actions/improvements/projects/initiatives will undoubtedly differ from one business to another. But what I know for sure is empathy is the way and the world can do with a whole lot more of this right now.

I read this quote in Glennon Doyle’s book Untamed (a MUST-READ memoir that’s hugely empowering and liberating!!) and had a lightbulb moment: empathy + imagination = experience. Empathy is the ability to develop a better understanding and awareness of the emotions and feelings of others. Imagination is the ability to form new ideas and concepts that are not actually present to the senses. So, the more you’re able to empathise, the better your ability to imagine and create a greater experience for customers.

What’s been your online shopping experience since covid? I’m keen to hear how businesses have made an impression on you as a customer — positive and negative!

How do you develop customer empathy in your organisation? Customer-centricity is everyone’s responsibility because every role will either directly or indirectly impact the end customer. I’m curious to know different ways organisations create a customer-led culture.

*Totally open to sponsorship UNIQLO Australia ;)