Understanding Queuing

Measuring & Improving the IN-STORE EXPERIENCE Whilst Mastering Customer Service leaders in in-store analytics & service performance improvement

Retailers will need to become masters of their surroundings Why is it that some stores are adapting to customer shopping behaviour better than others ? Almost weekly established goliaths are closing stores. We see the advertising of unsustainable sales/reductions leading to a general devaluing of the brand, all in the name of survival. Customer behaviour didn’t happen over night; although it may seem like that to some. Change is an incremental beast that must be watched and treated with sensitivity and sensibility. Those who are surviving and even flourishing in this era of uncertainty are those that are embracing change and adapting to it. This will almost certainly include delivering fantastic customer service, whilst providing a compelling in-store experience & a strong perception of value. 1

Retail is not dead, and physical stores still matter Goldman Sachs analyst Matthew Fassler The store still matters:- Retailers can and should continue to play to the strengths of their physical assets, pick a purpose and better connect with customers to survive and prosper in the e-commerce era. Retail’s future will depend on how physical stores can adjust to, and coexist with their digital counterparts. Recent reports highlight that in the US 92% of all Dollars are still spent in bricks & mortar; and in Europe the number is even higher. 2

Why some retailers are struggling What's the answer? Visitors are just that, until they become customers; and With the observation and ultimately the awareness of change, customers are ever more demanding. They need the whole the question turns not to the WHAT or to the WHEN but more to experience and they want it now. This includes the digital and the question of HOW? Delivering great customer service starts the customer service excellence and the unique warm and with the understanding of the customer experience. friendly interaction only a human can deliver. Retailers need to Tracking and analysing customer traffic patterns can not only master all aspects of their environments, both on & offline; and inform of the volumes of customers but also the subtleties of engage with the customer to create a pleasurable experience. where and how customers spend their time in-store. In addition travel patterns and dwell times are known to corelate directly to Drawing on many years of experience and involvement with sales. global leading clients, these are some of the specific reasons Actionable data such as footfall analytics, waiting and service retailers are struggling to adapt and grow. times can help retailers understand the in-store dynamics to better design-a-fresh “customer engaging” experience as well A high proportion of high street retailers are responding to online as evolving customer service strategies and priorities. demand or perceived competition by lowering margins for online purchases. This is a strategy; “Yes”, but one that can, and has Waiting time 3 backfired for a number of well known brands. This leads to minutes 20 customers browsing the store but ultimately making an online seconds: KPI purchase, leading to cannibalisation of the bricks and mortar is 3 minutes distribution. Customer service excellence has always been and will always be With ready access to online offers; buyers have become one of the critical competitive advantages for any business. increasingly “price sensitive”, which suggests that the bricks and mortar retailer has to provide a more enticing and engaging “The customers perception is your reality”. environment, to capitalise on the “I want it now” buyer. Kate Zabriskie Delivering the whole experience and the expectations that ensue, can fall outside of the retailers core competencies. The more you engage with customers the clearer things become and Delivering the customer journey pushes some retailers into new and sometimes daunting territory, confusing resources, and the easier it is to determine what you should be doing. sometimes the brand itself. John Russell Consumers are seeking more speciality/premium products; They are no longer satisfied to shop at general stores with no You’ll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be recognisable point of difference. easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can’t be copied. Jerry Fritz 3

Inside this Guide INSIGHTS This guide is designed to Understanding the opportunity, the visitor’s in-store experience, the help retailers evolve their queuing experience, empowering store associates, & the strategies to deliver an optimisation of sales revenues extraordinary in-store experience. INFOMATION On how these collected insights impact bricks & mortar retailers SOLUTIONS That address each aspect 4

Overlooked Aspects of the Retail Environment Wisdom dictates, to be successful today and for tomorrow, retailers need to take a truly holistic view at the customer journey. Retailers must identify problem areas (and those of opportunity), finding the potholes on the path to purchase, where the customer experience may fall short, and then upgrade the experience for both the now and the future. A good starting point, is the sometimes-overlooked in-store environment, these can include; empowering store associates to map customer to staffing ratios more closely, the management of queues and traffic flow bottlenecks in real-time, in addition to automating queue related functions and maximising opportunities to capture impulse and linked sales to increase basket size. The Path to Better Performance With global retail shifting so dramatically as it is today, and this is likely to continue for some time, only the agile will survive and prosper; “there is no simple fix”. However there are clear indicators for those who look and measure as to how far on or off target they are. With proven solutions to help retailers evolve, the following pages will highlight areas that will help the business create, measure, maintain and improve customer service, that drives loyalty and increased sales. 5

Reveal new opportunities whilst optimising existing strategies The whole of the industry is changing, evolving. This is the time to integrate all aspects of the business, especially in areas relating to the customer service experience. Just because it appears to be working, does not mean that it cant be optimised and maximised; and replicated in all stores. Anything that is not performing at its optimum needs to be assessed & creatively examined for improvement. By using historical data to discover what is working and what is not; is essential to creating the foundation of excellence. Solution: Footfall Analytics Analytics provide, clear unquestionable data on metrics such as in-store dwell- times, zone performance, basket abandonment and store attractiveness. It is easer to create, measure and then replicate what works across the portfolio when there is hard facts at your fingertips. It gives a clarity of reason, whilst showing what areas of change work best and which areas do not. 6

Optimise service Customer Service delivery & increase conversion ratio’s VS Service has always been an important part of the retail Customer challenge, and a challenge it is. Optimising service is essential in Experience todays retail environment. It also means far more than just having enough associates to push customers through the checkouts. It includes creating a positive service experience that can win browsers over to the final purchase and ultimately build a loyal customer. Without mastery of service optimisation, the bottom line can’t grow. A key to meeting critical KPI’s is having an efficient workforce. Understanding where & when staff can make the biggest impact, in areas such as sales conversion. Solution: Footfall Analytics A quality people traffic analytics solution can deliver real-time data to an online dashboard and mobile devices, thus keeping the whole team informed. Integrated automation can trigger actionable staff alerts and can initiate automated processes based on customer flow and/or programmed KPI events. With mobile integration, it is now possible to seamlessly connect the technology with human resources throughout a location to have the entire customer service system be in sync with your customers. 7

Deliver store associates Great Service a visibility into customer Delivers Loyalty traffic and preferences 8 Consumers today expect convenience and a high level of personalisation. For retailers to be as responsive as customers desire, associates must be empowered to respond directly to customers needs fast. Having information about preferences, or seeing how many people are approaching a service point, staff can offer a much higher level of service than if they are to approach service reactively. Visibility is one way to be a step ahead. Solution: Footfall Analytics Footfall analytics systems can deliver real-time data via text or email alerts and dashboards that store associates can act on. They can be alerted to increases in customer traffic around key areas of the store in order to offer more support. They can help guide customers to areas of the store where queues are less crowded. The possibilities are plentiful; Emotionally engaged customers are 40% more likely to stay brand loyal…….. Loyal customers spend 16% more per visit……. 2018 will see another 12% of online only retailers open bricks & mortar stores

Decrease real & 1 Implement a predictive perceived wait times call forward of associates “Waiting time is the single most important By establishing browsing and factor in customer satisfaction” average in-store dwell times history at specific times of the day and PACO UNDERHILL, Author of WHY WE BUY measuring queues in real-time; an associate call-forward can be Perception of queue length & wait-time is far more powerful than established on a “just-in-time bases”. the true numbers. Many studies have shown that the longer the wait-time the greater the disparate from the truth. Recent studies 2 Display real-time waiting have shown that a 2 minute wait is perceived at 3 minutes and a times 5 minute wait is perceived as almost 10. Reducing wait-time & especially the perception of wait-time is paramount for any Many retailers operate a single queue retailer to create a better customer experience. that feeds into multiple services checkouts, which can often cause The last reference the customer will have, is the checkout. confusion to the customers as they Failure to give great service here tarnishes the customers whole can not gauge the time they are likely perception of the brand and ultimately how that brand is to wait; this often leads to abandoned perceived from that point on. Don’t allow all the energies and baskets. investment in-store to be damaged by poor availability of associates at the checkout. 3 Introduce queue busting based on number of available skilled associates Monitor the queues in real-time and automate a call forward of available cashier skilled associates, and include non-skilled or management to assist before the queue falls outside of the stores KPIs 9

Strike the balance 10 between associates & customers With customer service excellence as one of the leading indicators of success, it is imperative to design a customer service experience matching and even exceeding expectations. Associates need to be available, ready and informed when a shopper needs assistance or even before, to be one step ahead of their needs. The critical consideration is that staffing is typically the largest expense in the financial equation. To achieve a strong, sustainable balance of staffing to customer ratios, information is king. Solution: Customer Traffic Analytics Real-Time customer traffic data allows for business owners to track the number of people entering the store. Systems capture the number of people entering or leaving the store or any given area. Tie back this data to sales data and conversion ratio(s) are readily available. Being able to accurately count people, determine traffic trends, recognise patterns & precisely know how to allocate staffing to meet the needs of the customers in near real-time, helps managers to give great customer service. Immediate attention promotes and creates an experience and quality of service that customers notice, remember and appreciate. Using traffic analytics will quickly transform your retail environment to a higher level of service, a point of excellence.

Valuing the last point a customer remembers of your business 1 Why am I seeing full baskets 2 What times of the day are my abandoned over my store? customers having to queue for unacceptable periods? Is my reputation being damaged, What length of queue or waiting time is acceptable to 3 4as the queue is the last thing my my customers? customers remember? 5 Are all my stores performing 6 What times of the day or week equally or are some streets can we better make use of ahead, or behind? staffing to drive better service? 7 8Is my queue length putting my What times of day can I customers off and driving them organise staffing breaks to my competitors? without detriment to service? 11

Understanding the value of each marketing activity Whether the activity is designed to generate new customers or to reinvigorate the loyal client, or maybe just to understand the changes within following a redesign or new activity generates. 1 2What's my opportunity?: how How long do my customers spend many potential customers are in store and how does if differ passing my door and how many from new to loyal returning are coming into my store? customers? 3 4How are my window displays What percentage of visitors are effecting my traffic into store, are store loyal and brand loyal (shared they attractive enough, and can I custom between stores)? do better? 5 6Understand customer preferred What times of the day or week pathways through the store and see’s the highest dwell time and dwell areas opportunity to cross sell? 7 8Is my marketing attracting new What is customer loyalty and can customers or are they mainly our service influence the number established loyal ones? of visits a customers makes? 12

When your customer feedback matters, and under what circumstances For a consumer to invest their time travelling to a store and then spend their hard-earned monies, a strong relationship must exist, based on trust and value. Maintaining a quality retail environment and addressing any issues that arise is a fundamental way to build trust and express the core values of the company. If products, equipment or the location are not meeting expectations, customers will not return and may even share negatively to others. The most effective way to stay ahead of your competitors is to engage and provide customers with an experiential response mechanism. Using this valuable feed enhances the long term customer experience. Solution: Customer Feedback Satisfaction is achieved when Perception is greater than Expectation. David H Maister Knowing how your customer feels at point of service, enables the retailer to maintain and improve the customer experience. 13

I pen things so that I shalt not forget:- Notes: 14

CountWise’s innovative technology solutions help improve operational efficiency, customer service levels, and business profitability. Whether capturing traffic flows, preventing queue bottlenecks, monitoring zones, customer service activity, or managing data applications. www.countwise.co.uk European offices: Beckerings Business Park, Beckerings Park Farm, Liddlington, Bedfordshire: MK430RD Tel: 01525 288601 leaders in in-store analytics & service performance improvement