Regardless of the product offering, e-commerce is now a 24/7 customer experience which consumers are taking full advantage of this Christmas. It’s not just consumers who look forward to the festive season, of course, most retailers experience a huge surge in sales during the period.
But at such a busy time, it’s important that retailers remember consumers can make or break their brand and its reputation. All through poor customer service, which in this case revolves around fulfilment.
At such a critical trading period many retailers and brands are still focusing far too much on front-end sales and marketing to promote a positive brand image to ultimately drive sales.
This is important, but an emphasis should also be placed on investment to back-end marketing. Imagine after spending lots of money on an advertising or DM campaign just to see your brand irreparably damaged because you couldn’t fulfil orders at your busiest time of year? While less exciting, it is just as vital to protect your brand at the end of a customer purchasing cycle.
Quality fulfilment can greatly enhance the customer experience, but if not carried out effectively can damage reputations. Successful fulfilment depends on competency, capability and good market insight. At this busy time, retailers need to be prepared for a deluge of activity and have enough resource to cope with the increase in demand, not just before Christmas, but after too.
With the majority of retailers and brands not having the capability or capacity to handle their fulfilment, outsourcing is a one option that many are taking. Ensure the supplier is flexible enough to meet your needs – this is vital, particularly during seasonal busy periods. Also with a need for a continuous dialogue between the brand and the consumer going for an integrated service that includes contact centre and logistics will help.
After all happy customers not only buy from you again and again… they also tell their friends and associates. They will also tell their friends if you get it wrong, which has the potential to break your brand.
Guy Smith is joint managing director of Prolog
