Retail Online and In-Store CX Trends for 2024

Transcript

[00:00:00] Steve MacDonald: Welcome everyone to the Contact Center Perspectives podcast. I’m Steve MacDonald, your host, and today we’ve got a really special guest. We’ve got Chancy Chen on. Now, Chancy, you’re not only the head of omnichannel customer experience for T&T supermarkets all over Canada, and that’s a little indication of what we’re gonna be talking about here.

You’ve got omnichannel in your title, and that’s a big thing that we’re going to be talking about. We’ll discuss some of the challenges and how we address them, especially in a retail environment that’s both in person and online. There are all kinds of channels of opportunity for interaction with customers. It’s going to be a big part of what we talk about, but you are also a board member of the CXP, the customer service organization. Maybe you can tell us a little bit more about that since you’re also a board member of all of Canada. That’s maybe a good way to transition over and have you extend beyond that light introduction and tell us a little bit more about your background.

[00:00:56] Chancy Chen: Thanks, Steve. It’s an honor to be invited to this podcast. Yes, as you just mentioned, I think I can add a little bit about my uniform as a CXPA board member in Canada. This is an amazing journey in this organization. We found that we have a very diversified board members and leadership team council in Canada.

That’s everyone from different vertical industry area leaders, and I am very unique from the retail on behalf of the only in business here, and we do see a lot of other leaders from the financial industry, insurance, and manufacturing. What’s in common is CX. We do see that no matter which industry you are from, no matter what kind of business size you are monitoring, and the interpreter, CX will be fundamental to your business’s sustainable growth.

[00:01:51] Steve MacDonald: What I love about that is that you are constantly talking, discussing, and planning with CX leaders from every single industry. What you’re going to be talking about here is your direct experience and application results of what you’re doing with T&T Supermarket in a retail environment.

There are many overlapping trends, innovations, and insights that you’re going to bring here. All industries are informed by this, and it’s really important as we get into this just to highlight your background. So, the first area that I wanted to talk about is the retail industry, the trends, the challenges, and the opportunities. If you could, start us out from a macro perspective.

[00:02:37] Chancy Chen: Yeah, sure. I think everything starts with the background, that is what we call it. Why do we do these things, and then what should we do, where do we want to go, and how would we get there? If we’re starting with the why, I think we can talk about the retail trends in 2024. The biggest change is the change in consumer behavior.

I think when we talk about the transformation, in stage one, it’s a very traditional brick-and-mortar in-store shopping experience for big giant chain store retailers. Everyone is familiar with the customer going to your store. They pick the product by themselves and go to the cashier line and they are satisfied with a product in store environment, stock availability—everything that’s done. 

I think the pandemic changed a lot of things here. When we talk about digital transformations, who is a digital transformation driver in your organization? Someone said it’s a CEO. Someone said it’s a CTO, but actually in my perspective, it’s a COVID. COVID changed a lot of things.

It’s a huge driver to change consumer behaviors. This means as retailers, we must embrace the change. We must build up our digital capabilities to maintain customer expectations to meet what customers want and to serve customers in different touch points.

The COVID time is version two. Version three is the post-pandemic period. We do see that after COVID, some of the consumers tried online for the first time. I think it’s very convenient, especially in Canada in the wintertime. It’s hard to go outside by yourself, but you can just easily click a button on your app, and your grocery orders just arrived at the door.

For some Gen Z, after the COVID, they want to explore the in-store experience. They want to have this kind of social in-person interaction, so they go to stores. We do see that we have online customers and offline customers, and this time, we have omnichannel customers, which means customers are not staking to specific channels.

They just shift across channels. It’s time for the retailer to build a unified, seamless in-store and online shopping experience. Provide a constant brand experience to your consumers. That is the strategy I want to emphasize here. 

[00:05:06] Steve MacDonald: So, that means you’ve had to rethink what constitutes an omnichannel experience.

A customer can seamlessly transition between online and in-store, depending on what they’re looking for, the days, and the times. What is out of that, the kind of version of the 1 and the 2 and 3 there? What did you have to rethink and what conclusions did you come up with as a result of where we are today in this post-pandemic era?

[00:05:41] Chancy Chen: Yes, it’s a very technical question here. I think for the omnichannel environment, it should be unified. It should be seamless. When we talk about how. I think I want to emphasize is first, we need to have a very clear strategy aligned with all the business owners, like your digital heads, your COO, and your store managers. No matter what hierarchies they are, they need to have a common and the sheer responsibility that we are serving the community. As a CDO, I’m not only serving the online customers. As a store manager, I’m not only serving the in-store customers. As a retailer, we serve the community.

No matter the customer or contact channels, they are coming into your store and your business. As a business owner and as a brand ambassador, you need to provide the service. It’s an opportunity for you to drive yourself. I think it’s a number one from the mindset parts is a transformation journey.

Number two is about building competence. It’s about staff training. How do you make your frontline staff aware and build the entrepreneurship needed to serve consumers? If a customer goes in-store and asks for a home delivery service offer, you cannot push the customer to the online call center. You need to provide the right service the first time. Similarly, the same practice applies to your help center staff.

I think it’s from both the strategic part and the execution part. 

[00:07:23] Steve MacDonald: What is different? How did you think pre-pandemic to how you’re thinking today? What have you implemented? You talked about the importance of training what you’ve implemented what you’ve trained.

Give us an example of a difference in not only the thinking but also the actual execution of the CX organization today. 

[00:07:47] Chancy Chen: Yeah, great question. We do have a lot of examples I can share. I just want to highlight something that I’m very proud of here.

I think the first thing about the first customer experience is that it’s not like a project. It’s not NPS and the CSAT score. It’s a mindset change journey. We do have a lot of transformations and workshops within the whole organization. Firstly, everybody should be aware of what an omnichannel is, and as a T&T supermarket, how do we create this kind of ecosystem to present our brand?

We have different hierarchy workshops for the C-level store manager, and frontline staff to be aware of what omnichannel is all about. The second part is the training staffing. We have different training methods here like e-learning and OJT training.

The call center team and the customer support remote agents, go to the store annually to learn and serve the customer in person with the store staff from my staff on the sales floor together. We also provide this kind of customer service training session to the in-store staff to let them know what is the touch points for T&T supermarket.

What is the component for customer service only? I think all these trainings have empowered and engaged our staff to know that as a brand, we provide an omnichannel environment for our consumers. This will bring more incremental sales and sustainable growth to T&T supermarket.

[00:09:36] Steve MacDonald: I’m interested in digging a little deeper because an omnichannel experience means that if I’m the consumer, I’m treated the same, no matter where I’m choosing to engage, no matter what channel. You have different team members on different portions of the channel. How do you create a seamless brand, a seamless experience across channels from in-store to online?

If different team members are involved, but having it feel like one brand, one experience from the customer’s point of view, that seems like it could be a pretty big challenge.

[00:10:13] Chancy Chen: Yeah, it’s actually a really big challenge for every CX leader. Maybe you have your direct report CX team, but in most scenarios, there’s a dilemma: you don’t have the authority to direct the stakeholders, your IT or your marketing, to just do what you say. You need to engage them. So, as a CX leader in an organization, I think there are two roles for the CX leader.

One role is like a pioneer. Take my department as an example. I transformed my online customer service center into an enterprise-level customer support center, shifting from a cost department to a revenue-driven department. So, I act as a pioneer to show the other departments the benefits and actual contributions we can make for the whole enterprise. That’s number one.

Number two is as a CX leader, you’re not only focusing on your own area. You need to be like a cheerleader. You need to engage your stakeholders and get them on board, all sailing towards the same destination. You need to talk with Operations, for example, to let them know the benefits of omnichannel approaches. Explain the benefits of providing digital channel touchpoints for your community, as it can bring incremental sales. Just like the example I mentioned earlier, some customers don’t want to go out in a snowstorm, but if you have the capability to deliver to their homes, it’s going to help you win in the market.

[00:12:04] Steve MacDonald: You mentioned something twice already in the podcast—direct impact on revenue. It’s actually one of the things that, you know, throughout the industry, is still amazing. I think because contact centers are the biggest overhead cost, they can be seen as overhead cost line items for an organization. 

They’re looked at as cost centers more than value centers, which provide value to the organization by driving revenue. If you could connect the dots for us regarding the CX operation and its impact on bottom-line revenue, how would you tell us the story of how those two are connected?

[00:12:46] Chancy Chen: Yeah, this is a great question. I think, firstly, before we move to the sales part, definitely the call center, the support center itself, is more like a cost center. So, as a call center, we need to focus on productivity, which is AHT. We need to focus on effectiveness, which is FCR (first contact resolution rates). These are all the KPIs we measure to keep elevating the customer experience. This is our fundamental job.

What we add to contribute more to sales is finding the linkage between customer experience metrics and sales metrics. I can give some examples and explain the formula here. Customer satisfaction rates, such as NPS and CSAT, show how satisfied customers are with your brand and their shopping experience. But all these metrics need to be linked with consumer shopping behavior, like shopping frequency, churn rates, and CRV.

As a CX leader, we can have a solid formula to bind your CX metrics with customer shopping frequency metrics. This will build a strong linkage, showing that CX matters in shopping frequency, and will drive incremental sales to the brand.

[00:14:19] Steve MacDonald: You’ve literally shown that increasing our CSAT or NPS scores directly correlates with shopping frequency and purchases. The data tells us you’re not a cost center; you’re actually a driver of bottom-line revenue. Is that what I’m taking away?

[00:14:46] Chancy Chen: Absolutely. I think to emphasize this point, everyone talks about omnichannel and digitalization; data is fundamental. As an enterprise, you need to focus on the data part. When we talk about data, we need systems, programs, and multiple systems. 

As we just mentioned, the call center has customer service tools like Salesforce, Zendesk, and many others in the industry. You can find vendor support here. When we talk about customer data, we need a CRM and a CDP (Customer Data Platform) to manage customer behavior. All these tools give leaders a weapon on the battlefield. Without these tools, you cannot win the battle.

[00:15:31] Steve MacDonald: I’m fascinated by this area of data because you talked about transformation; the entire world of business is going through digital transformation. You can look at studies done by Accenture and some of the biggest consulting firms in the world. They talk about the difference between the business of today and the business of tomorrow being the use of data and informed decision-making leading to various improvements. 

Data leads to better CX experiences. If you could paint that picture, we started from the end, where we’re not a cost center but a revenue-generating center, a value center. You connected the dots showing that better customer experience ratings and scores lead to more shopping frequency and spending. 

But if you could then take one step back and say, what data do you rely on most as indicators of whether we’re heading in the right direction in providing the right CX experiences? What are you looking for in that data?

[00:16:38] Chancy Chen: As I mentioned earlier, data is the key element for business owners. So as a CX leader, when we initiate any CX initiatives to drive NPS or CSAT, your COO, and your CFO might challenge the ROI aspect. 

To answer their questions and align them with our goals, you need to provide solid data and a clear formula. This formula demonstrates that increasing NPS and shopping frequency will lead to incremental business sales. This linkage is crucial, and I emphasize it in my role every day.

[00:17:28] Steve MacDonald: We rely heavily on data, even at the agent level. Typically, agents are evaluated based on metrics like average handle times and efficiency. I’d like your opinion on this because in a scenario where higher CSAT scores lead to increased revenue and customer loyalty, fostering long-term business growth, shouldn’t we prioritize spending more time with customers? Instead of adopting a short-sighted approach of cost containment by reducing customer interaction times to handle more customers per agent? It seems narrow-minded. How does your team use data to make recommendations to the C-suite and the board within the CX organization? What discussions revolve around how the contact center and agents should be assessed? Data can guide decisions in various ways. If we free agents from constraints like fearing repercussions for spending adequate time with customers, it could drastically alter the customer experience they provide. How do you interpret data to ensure it drives customer behavior and revenue?

[00:19:16] Chancy Chen: Yeah, that’s a great question. I think data is fundamental; it’s where everything starts. But data isn’t the destination. As you mentioned, it’s about how we use this data to make the right business decisions. That’s the amazing thing and the power of the CX leader.

Regarding your earlier question about metrics for customer service representatives, KPIs, and scorecards, I want to emphasize one thing: productivity is important. As you mentioned, AI is a buzzword today, and we have many tools to support agents and improve their productivity. For example, chatbots can handle many general customer inquiries. However, as CSRs, we need to provide human interaction and add personality to interactions with shoppers.

From this perspective, in evaluating agents, it’s not just about productivity. We also need to consider agent satisfaction rates, feedback from customers (such as kudos), and how well they represent our brands. These are areas where AI cannot substitute for real agents. I also want to highlight that focusing on these human channels leads to significant increases in employee engagement. For instance, my team achieved a 100% employee engagement survey score over the past 3 years, of which I’m very proud.

[00:21:02] Steve MacDonald: Oh, absolutely, that’s a phenomenal accomplishment. So, what you’re saying is happier, more satisfied agents create happier, more satisfied customers, leading to increased shopping frequency and revenue for the business. If you had to rate the importance of employee satisfaction compared to customer satisfaction, which is more critical? Are they equally important?

[00:21:29] Chancy Chen: I can’t say which one is more important because both customers and employees are people. We need to treat them equally. Your employees today might be your customers tomorrow or future employees. As a brand, we need to focus on people. People are fundamental in retail. As you mentioned, we do see that higher employee satisfaction rates contribute to higher NPS and CSAT scores.

[00:22:07] Steve MacDonald: Now, I know one thing that contributes to agent satisfaction is if they are empowered to make decisions. In other words, it’s not just following scripts like script one, script two, and script three without deviation. 

What is your opinion on trusting and empowering agents to do what’s right? You’ve talked about fostering more human connections and deeper, longer interactions. To me, this signifies higher-quality agents who have more flexibility in how they interact with customers and create experiences. What are your thoughts on this?

[00:22:51] Chancy Chen: As a call center leader, you need to empower your agents every day while also managing team risks and the P&L aspects. My team uses a hierarchical and scenario-based methodology. We link different business scenarios with various packages and employ a hierarchy—CSR, Senior CSR, Supervisor Manager—to empower them and provide a clear career path. This structure allows good performers to make significant decisions and take on more responsibilities. I believe these methodologies are suggestions for all CX leaders.

[00:23:46] Steve MacDonald: We’ve been talking a lot about strategy. Do you have a customer story? We retain information much more when we hear a story, and so I love everything you’ve been talking about in terms of strategy. But is there a story that you can tell us about how this actually happened in the real world? 

[00:24:04] Chancy Chen: Absolutely. Yeah, I could take my team as an example to showcase this story.  Before the pandemic, my team operated as an online customer call center. During the pandemic, we transformed and empowered this team into an enterprise-level customer support center. As we made these changes, we noticed shifts in consumer behavior. Customers in-store began using the app’s live chat to communicate with us. They also started coming into the store to inquire about online service policies. This presented an opportunity for us to build an omnichannel infrastructure and enhance frontline staff knowledge and skills.

The result was remarkable. After conducting workshops and training sessions, we saw a triple increase in FCR (First Contact Resolution) rates. Customers no longer had to go through multiple channels to resolve their queries; we could solve their issues on the first contact. This improvement significantly contributed to our NPS and CSAT scores.

[00:25:24] Steve MacDonald: That’s amazing. It sounds like you put a lot of emphasis on training in the workshops. That’s probably training that’s never completely done. CX isn’t a project. It’s ongoing, for sure. You could take a step back and just say, out of everything that you’ve accomplished, what are you most proud of?

[00:25:47] Chancy Chen: Actually, there are a lot of things that I’m very proud of in the past few years, especially during this pandemic. First, the entire team is still here. No one gave up on this post. I think this is the first thing we need to appreciate as leaders. The second thing is the achievements, all the transformation project programs.

We made it happen. All of the scores, the KPIs we hit, and all the sales budgets we accomplished are barrier front. So, just as you mentioned, I use a lot of time to talk about the training. It’s all because, as a retailer, we need to focus on people. We need to invest in our people. These are the core competitive elements needed to win in the market. 

[00:26:39] Steve MacDonald: We’ve talked about a lot, if there was one takeaway that you wanted people to have, one thought that you wanted them to remember from this podcast episode, what would that be?

[00:26:54] Chancy Chen: If we only have time to go back to one takeaway here, I think as a CX leader, always have an open mind. Always lead change. Don’t stay in your comfort zone. As consumer expectations change rapidly every day, CX leaders need to change at a fast pace, aligning with consumer desires and providing these insights to your business owners. Lead a mindset change journey and act as a cheerleader, engaging everyone to follow the vision and use solid metrics to review business results.

[00:27:38] Steve MacDonald:  There’s so much to take away from our conversation here, Chancy. If people have follow-up questions, would it be appropriate if we provided a link to your LinkedIn profile so they can reach out to you?

[00:27:52] Chancy Chen: Yes, definitely. Love to connect with all the industry leaders here.

[00:27:57] Steve MacDonald: Fantastic. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing all of your insights. I really appreciate it.

[00:28:03] Chancy Chen: Thank you so much for your time, Steve. It’s a great conversation.