Page 11 - AeM_August_2021

BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES

turns sustainably. In response, retailers no longer need Complete transparency is no longer a vol-
to hoard large stocks locally, but can leave them in the untary approach
warehouse, saving retail space and costs.
Particularly regarding customer satisfaction, the focus
Click & Collect probably isn’t the last word is increasingly on seamless transparency for dealers.
of wisdom Customers demand at best real-time transparency of
the logistics chain – both in the delivery and in the re-
Even in times of a pandemic, "click & collect" offers turns process. To be able to guarantee this, however,
retailers the opportunity to open their gates. Unfortu- modern IT platforms must be implemented through
nately, customers often complain about the lack of which these processes can be digitally mapped and
communication and the associated lack of transparen- managed. Conversely, digital returns management re-
cy. The combination of online ordering and stationary sults in better communication with the customer, be-
collection is a step in the direction of omni-channel, but cause all information the shopper needs for a possible
it is not yet fully developed. return are given right away. Not to mention that retail-
ers’ chances to find out whether a return can possibly
The solution would be a hybrid approach in which cus- be averted under changed parameters is much higher
tomers have the choice of how they purchase and re-
ceive their goods and how they want to return them if that way, such as for instance a discount granted on
the items. Transparency and automation in communi-
necessary. However, this requires system updates at
the cash registers on the retailer's side and it must be cation can reduce customer service costs as well and
ensured that the flow of goods can be ordered both contribute to a lower return rate.
locally and online. At least, the employees would con- The combination of brick-and-mortar and online retail in
tinue to work with the same POS system and could still the omni-channel business can therefore have a lasting
handle all processes throughout the entire consumer positive effect on the consumer journey. As a result,
journey. sales are increased in parallel to greater customer loy-

alty. A digital returns platform can be part of this omni-
A hybrid returns management system used in this con- channel, reducing sales losses retailers can only dream
text also allows more leeway: on the one hand, the
consumer experience is positively influenced by better of. ◊
communication and increased transparency, which in By Daniela La Marca
turn guarantees higher customer satisfaction and loyal-
ty; on the other hand, the dealers have more opportuni-
ties to deploy their staff profitably and generate more
sales through higher customer satisfaction.

August 2021: Omnichannel Marketing 11