“It’s this shop that sells everything, but you can’t see it until you’ve bought it” Wednesday 15th July 2009

When the dust of the recession settles, companies best placed to respond to customer needs of the next 50 years, will be those with the strongest buying power and superior logistical infrastructure, combined with exceptional customer service. Noreen Kinsey (Associate Director with The Oxford Research Agency’s Retail & Shopper Insight team) looks at future-proofing your customer service.

Sean Lock imagines pitching the concept of Argos in the BBC’s Dragons’ Den. Since its inception in the 70s, Argos has continued to evolve to meet the needs of an ever-demanding public – dedicated Home catalogues, quick-pay kiosks in store, home delivery. Today’s consumer expects their shopping experience to be faster, cheaper, smarter and available in every possible colour.

Faced with a two-pronged attack from grocery behemoths and long-tail e-commerce sites, together with the impact of the credit crunch; high street stores must concentrate even more on the ‘social experience’ of shopping and excel in customer service, to maintain sales and avoid the predictions of the early 90’s that online will kill off the high street.

The British Retail Consortium reports that online purchases comprise only 4% of total retail sales; but offline sales are declining, whilst online sales are still growing, albeit at a slower rate than in pre-recession bitten 2007. Analysts are divided about whether online sales will see double digit growth anytime soon. Many operations keep a foot in both camps - Argos’ Direct arm sits alongside its brick and mortar catalogue business – covering all angles.

In the near future, technology is likely to play an increasingly important and dynamic role in offering customers new and diverse services.

It will be interesting to watch Web 2.0 innovations in retail in the next couple of years. Monday saw the launch of Ocado’s iPhone App ‘Ocado on the Go’ that lets time-pressed shoppers fill their basket offline, then checkout when an internet connection is available.

Jason Gissing, Ocado founder, suggests they’ve pioneered smartphone grocery shopping to improve customer service, “this is grocery shopping 2.0 and it’ll offer a huge benefit to many of our busy customers”.

What else is around the corner? Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has so far failed to demonstrate palpable improvements to customer service. At present its use is primarily in stock-control – customers will of course benefit from fewer out-of-stocks – but where are the trolleys with on-board computers registering and keeping a running total of items selected, to speed our shopping missions?

Whilst emerging technologies and Web 2.0 applications continue to be developed, retailers must maintain focus on customer service to keep shoppers on-side. John Lewis.com, for example, offers free UK delivery and achieves consistent positive user reviews for after-sales care and customer service, mirroring the success of its bricks and mortar operation.

The Oxford Research Agency partners retailers in their efforts to stay ahead of the curve and be pro-active, rather than re-active, in meeting customers’ needs.

If you would like to find out more about how The Oxford Research Agency can help you future-proof your retail offer, please speak to our retail and shopper insight team (contact Steve King, steve.king@tora.co.uk or Noreen Kinsey, noreen.kinsey@tora.co.uk or call 01865 728272).