Every shopper has experienced this scenario before: while talking to a retail assistant, you are given vague, incomplete information about when the next shipment of X product is due or what the next version of Y product might look like. So what is the best way to make concrete information easily obtainable from whomever you ask? We’ve created a three-step guide to getting retail right.
Step 1. Deploying a UC infrastructure that empowers retail
Customers have unpredictable communication preferences and triggers. Retailers of all sizes operating in today’s omnichannel world can benefit from advances in Unified Communications (UC) enables retailers to create valuable, meaningful customer engagements and deliver a better experience while converting more sales. But it doesn’t have to stop there. Advancing the adoption of UC shouldn’t just be limited to your customers. While customers are the core focus of all retail organizations, employees who increase productivity, streamline costs and ultimately promote the brand cannot be ignored. UC is having a broader impact on work practices, especially with IT and business professionals.
Step 2. Embracing an omnichannel experience for your retail employees
Across a retail network of 100+ sites, how do you encourage retail associates or store assistants who have never been to the head office to become in-store brand ambassadors? When each employee is empowered with a mobile communications device, any sense of isolation is removed, wherever they may be in the store. UC technology can enable retailers to provide valuable knowledge to their employees. From including the latest insights on how to support a certain product, to information about new products or a pending promotion, employees can not only have easy access to colleagues, product information and transaction processing, but also to the ‘corporate mothership’. This then trickles down to customers being helped with their purchases, providing them more value. By bringing retail communications together into one UC platform, retailers can inculcate a true sense of ownership and loyalty among employees that goes beyond their store.
Step 3. Using UC to deliver unique value to the customer as well as the employee
With the right UC infrastructure facilitating an omnichannel experience for the employees, all that data can easily be cataloged and developed into reusable content. An evolving latest knowledge resource centre accessible by all employees can be created, which can help develop a competitive edge. When retailers embrace this approach, they find employees:
- Return with useful questions
- Contribute insights
- Establish new templates for success
- Create their own dynamic networks of internal contacts, thus improving productivity
This effectively makes retailers — and their online/offline retail environments — more attractive to customers. And more so, it makes their organizations a place for employees to thrive.
When communications are fortified with UC technology, it ultimately results in a big win for retailers.
For more information on empowering your retail operations:
