IKEA | Need a Hex Wrench to fasten Web, Mobile & Store Customer Experience?

As a recent home-buyer, I have spent quite a few hours and dollars at my favorite online and bricks-and-mortar stores... And, as someone who makes his living by improving customer service, I couldn't help but notice the kind and maturity of customer experiences these stores and brands were delivering. In this post, I'd like to share with you some observations from my shopping experience at IKEA.

I have been a loyal customer of IKEA for years. I'm probably one of their typical customers too -- young family that prefers contemporary design at a low cost. Recently, I was interested in ordering a specific floor lamp I had seen on their web site, but unfortunately, my local store did not have the product in stock. I was baffled when I found out that the product was not available for an online purchase. My options were to drive several hundred miles to a store in the nearest state and buy the product there, or wait for several months to buy it at the local store. The very idea of not being able to order something online seemed strange and dated.

Alright... I will admit that I have been totally spoiled by brilliant omnichannel experiences that have surfaced across the retail industry in the last couple of years -- be it the Target mobile app's product locator that keeps my brain from getting fried while wanting to find a spice or baking supply in the store, or the Toys R Us buy-online-pick-up-in-store option which allowed me to cram a 2 hour road trip to visit my nephew, and a last-minute surprise gift which I was able to pick up on my way, while dealing with traffic in LA on a weekday evening.

Nevertheless, these are simple yet profound ways in which these retailers let their customers know that they are interacting with the same retailer regardless of whether they use a mobile app, a web site or walk into a store. This consistency and cohesion mean a lot to the digital consumer today. The differentiated experience also leads to increased revenue and loyalty.

As retailers across the board blur the line between bricks-and-mortar and online channels, the drive to offer a consistent and connected customer experience across channels becomes more of a norm. Interestingly, this perspective is gaining adoption across other industries such as travel, financial services and telecommunications as well. Rather than simply improving the quality of interactions either in the contact center, or in the retail store, or on the web or mobile, businesses are increasingly concerned about the customer experience across these channels. Earlier this year, an HBR article pointed out that the customer journey matters more than the individual interactions, and that firms that strive to provide a consistent and connected experience across interactions will stand to benefit from higher revenues and customer loyalty -- the whole matters more than the sum of the parts.

As consumers, we're getting used to the idea of buying online and picking up items in the store, walking into a store, finding out that a product is not in stock and then ordering using a kiosk to ship the product home, using augmented reality in mobile apps (this one from IKEA, actually) to virtually experience products before purchasing them and more. As this trend continues to emerge and evolve, it's quite likely that the average consumer is going to expect the omnichannel experience as a given.

Question I'd like to raise is whether the price-sensitive customer who is looking for that well-designed furniture might also assume that she should be able to experience "one IKEA and a connected shopping experience", regardless of whether she chooses to go online or walk into a store.

iPads, Curated Computing & Call Center Desktops

Isn't it compelling to keep up with the latest and greatest information on things that matter to you? Well, no wonder so many of us are hooked on to the web; refreshing news feeds, checking email and following conversations. Regardless of how organized you are it is easy to get overwhelmed when there's more information generated in a second, than could be consumed in a lifetime. So, what exactly happens when we get overwhelmed with information? 

This article points out how this information overload could cause cursory reading and distracted thinking ultimately turns you into a "shallow thinker." So, what can we do about it? How can we get organized so that we balance the quantity & variety of information we consume with the quality of attention we provide to the content in return? 

For starters, instead of drinking from the fire hose, we need to take advantage of packaged bottles of water. We need to move away from complex and versatile experiences toward simple and relevant experiences. As this blog post aptly suggests, we need an immersive experience made possible through curated computing. It turns out that this is exactly what Apple accomplishes with its vetting process behind the App Store. Be it an iPhone or an iPad, you get to install only those apps that have been chosen through a vetting process. It is this vetting/curating process that ensures that your experience is simple and relevant. Apple is able to provide richer experiences in exchange for your freedom to install whatever you want. It hands you a bottle, where you may have inadvertently chosen the fire hose. This immersive experience shifts the focus from; "how many things can you do at once?" to "how well can you do the one thing that you've chosen to do?"

Admittedly, an immersive experience may not be the silver bullet for every single information overload scenario. Nevertheless, curated computing presents enormous opportunities to solve some of the key problems that otherwise would require rewiring the brain! If you happen to be running or supporting a call center, for instance, you hear constantly about the challenges agents face in using multiple applications and dealing with complex processes. They either swim or drown in an ocean of data on the desktop and try their best to connect with the customer on the other end of the phone. I'm sure you see the parallels – desktop chaos is the fire hose we need to avoid. Instead of expecting your call center agents to go on a treasure hunt to answer simple billing questions like "Why did my bill go up to $400 last month?", you could present billing related events on a timeline and provide a simple and relevant experience. Not only will your agent share the right information with the customer [improve FCR and AHT], but she'll also be able to serve and provide care with empathy. Now, that's what an immersive experience can do for your call center agents and customers! 

Originally posted at http://www.customerthink.com