Retail a Real Proving Ground of Customer Experience

As an industry, I think English supermarkets get customer experience design, though none are perfect. It isn't the most glamourous industry on earth. And grocery shopping isn't anyone's favourite activity -- but maybe that's what makes the design so effective. Many have created a place where their target audience can feel comfortable doing what is in essence a chore.

A colleague of mine is passionate about Waitrose -- she'll try anything there, even things she doesn't typically like because it is always good quality. When asked whether she ever shops at Tesco, she crinkles her nose. Me? I shop in whatever's closest to the train station I'm in, but I tend to end up at stations with a Marks & Spencer.

So how do you go about designing a great Customer Experience?

• Think like your customers. Hopefully, you've got in-depth knowledge of them -- if not, start there. What are their primary values? Tesco knows that its people want value for money, if not just plain cheap. Waitrose and M&S understand that their customers demand quality above all else -- and they'll pay for it. Sainsbury's brand suggests, to me, that its shoppers are interested more in health and ethical living or maybe that's Jamie Oliver's brand.
• Define your journey end-to-end. Where does the journey start and where does it end? For shoppers it starts and ends in the parking lot -- or before that if there's a busy roundabout on the way in (anybody ever been to Banbury's Tesco?). Don't forget your other channels: Waitrose's online and delivery service sets the gold standard. You need to think of the whole experience to design something customers will engage with.
• Fix the Points of Pain. Every little doesn't always help. You need to fix the right things first. You know what the customer journey is, you know your customers. What sets them off? Is it waiting in a queue at checkout? Make a promise, as Tesco did at one point, to open up a new till if there is more than one person in front of you. Do they demand an all free-range selection? Give it to them. Is it that parking lot or the roundabout? Fix it.
• Add Moments of Delight. This is a real challenge -- finding something that exceeds demanding customers' expectations. Especially hard since what was once a delightful surprise becomes expected over time -- you need to stay on your toes. Tesco's clubcard is a good effort, since it's value-seeking members save money. Personally, I'm always delighted by delicious samples on sticks in lots of US stores.
• Deliver Consistently. You've designed a great experience, removed the pain-points and added some real highlights. But you have hundreds of stores and thousands of employees. You need a customer-focused culture, processes and systems that integrate and enable a consistent experience across your organisation. A subject for future posts, methinks.

(Pic: Infomatique cc2.0)