An Executive Guide to Improving In-Store Customer Experience
The three fixable gaps between HQ’s vision and store-level execution that quietly ruin in-store customer experience.
Key findings
- Helpful, engaged and educated sales associates who can immediately meet customers’ needs bring in 69% more revenue than those who can’t.
- 78% of shoppers say sales associate knowledge with a deep understanding of the product range is extremely important to them.
- 65% of HQ retail staff said the difficulty store managers have following head office instructions negatively impacts accurate store execution on campaigns.
Summary
Poor in-store experiences and the perception of a retail apocalypse have pushed iconic retailers into administration. Stores fail to deliver on aesthetic appeal, ease of finding things, and making customers feel valued. The real problem is not intent but an execution gap between what HQ envisions and what actually happens in stores.
This guide identifies three fixable gaps behind bad in-store experiences: broken communication between stores and HQ, store visit procedures that don’t help stores, and sales associate training not built for associates. It cites figures from RIS News, CNBC, PwC, and Skipton Building Society, and includes a checklist to diagnose these problems in your own stores.
What you’ll learn
- Identify the three main obstacles that prevent stores from delivering a strong customer experience and why they happen.
- Use a checklist of symptoms to determine whether your stores have these problems.
- Fix and prevent these three issues to empower stores to perform their best.
