The human touch – store staff make or break retail performance
Store colleagues remain key to driving conversions and increasing brand loyalty to enhance bricks-and-mortar performance, research in the latest report from Reflexis reveals.
Original research of more than 1,000 UK consumers in the ‘Stop the Clocks: How to Derive Extra Value from the Labour Hour’ report reveals the value of store colleagues to retailers in delivering customer lifetime value, with 78% of shoppers saying good service from in-store staff drives brand loyalty. The role of store colleagues was also key in driving average order value (AOV), with three-quarters of consumers saying good customer service encourages them to spend more.
In an age when consumers can buy an item in seconds online, shoppers now expect immediacy and speed of service, with 75% of customers indicating they are willing to wait just five minutes on average in-store before they abandon a purchase.
63% of UK consumers consider quick and easy access to store assistants as crucial. Nearly half of all respondents surveyed said a lengthy queue would cause them to abandon a purchase revealing the increasing importance of correct staffing ratios as consumer tolerance of queuing has been eroded by swift online payments.
UK consumers are more likely than European shoppers to abandon a purchase when the service queue is too-long2
- UK 49%
- Sweden 44%
- Germany 31%
- Netherlands 25%
And it’s not just queuing to be served by store staff that can cause purchase abandonment. UK consumers place great value in access to well-informed stores colleagues. Nearly 40% of all shoppers surveyed agreed they would leave a store empty handed if store staff couldn’t answer their questions or didn’t know their products well enough. 87% of respondents said the ability of store associates to guide and advise during the purchasing journey was important to them.
The impact of negative experiences cannot be underestimated. 61% of shoppers using word of mouth to warn friends and family about shops with bad customer experience and 64% vowing never to shop with those retailers again.
David Rogers, VP Sales & Marketing EMEA at Reflexis, said: “In the constantly changing retail industry delivering customer experiences that are deeply personal and distinctively human is more important than ever. We know that businesses who optimise their workforce can unlock value, enhance customer experience and ultimately drive increased conversions and customer lifetime value.”
“Information-rich interactions between customers and staff are key to converting sales and building customer loyalty, but store colleagues need the time and resources to do so. The Reflexis ONE real-time work platform has been proven to increase time on the floor for store leaders by over 30%, allowing retailers to maximise their biggest asset – their workforce,” David Rogers concluded.
For more insights and key takeaways for retailers looking to unleash the power of their store colleagues, download the full report here.
Reflexis will be showcasing their real-time work force and task management solutions at 5C10 at RetailEXPO in London, Olympia, 1 – 2 May 2019.
