Retailers are finding themselves squeezed financially more and more these days. With increased costs such as bricks-and-mortar overheads, price of goods increasing, along with staffing costs creeping up, being able to find cost efficiency where possible can make all the difference.
Equally pressing are the financial pressures on the consumer. Many are finding it harder to justify their expenses now, and making sure that an item is perfectly aligned to their needs or desires is getting more and more important.
With both sides feeling the pinch, finding innovative ways to enhance customer satisfaction while reducing costs is crucial.
So what if there was a way that a retailer could provide incredible customer service, increase their levels of customer insight solutions and behavioural data, all while making sure that customers are buying exactly what suits their lifestyle?
Conversity can help retailers achieve that. More than a “questionnaire”, we build bespoke, interactive quizzes founded in retail psychology that help to guide customers to the choices that are right for them. It’s all based on lifestyle and preferences, not about size or specification.
In any situation where a customer feels overwhelmed, or a retailer is seeing lots of abandoned carts on a website, or perhaps if returns are higher than expected, then read on for the reasons why working with Conversity will save both parties time (and money).
1. Provide Data-Driven Insights
Conversity’s quizzes help recommend suitable items to customers, and also gather comprehensive consumer data that avoids many biases. Whenever a potential customer goes through a bespoke quiz, the retailer is able to gather deep insights, which can be put to work. This is helped in part by our data scientists that sift through the reporting looking for valuable insights.This rich data pool enables fast, informed decision-making for any business, which means less time and resources spent on external market research and analysis (which can involve a lengthy process). A retailer then has the ability to quickly adapt to a changing marketplace, staying ahead of customer preferences, and bolstering any other additional external research they have as well.
Some examples of this include a mobile phone brand that works with Conversity were able to discover that new customers to their brand spent on average 50% more than returning customers. Another interesting insight found that the more expensive the handset, the less a choice of colour influenced the conversion rate. These are the types of insights that are able to help drive future strategies and marketing decisions.
2. Give More Accurate Personalised Recommendations
These bespoke conversations replicate your very best in store staff. The data that is input into the questionnaire process while based on consumer psychology and algorithmic process, draws inspiration from the approaches used by the very best in store staff. The conversational dynamic approach ensures that only the most appropriate questions are asked and that we are able to offer just a couple of highly tailored recommendations. This prevents the customer from being overwhelmed with choice, guarantees that the results truly are tailored, and brings increased customer satisfaction and loyalty as a result.
3. Enable A Much More Proactive Customer Engagement
The data collected from the quizzes allows a retailer to engage with their customers more effectively, and even more specifically when creating marketing campaigns and strategies in a compelling virtuous circle. From being able to target more effectively, identifying trends and customer behaviours that provide more specific niche concepts, and ultimately being able to reduce the time spent trying to work out what customers want. This level of insight reduces time, effort, and money, on broader campaigns that may not hit the mark.
4. Help Implement and Maintain Efficient Inventory Management
If the insights from the on-site quiz are identifying a trend for a particular product, or brand, then a retailer has the ability to forecast this when it comes to inventory management. This also means that no customer will end up finding their “perfect” item, only to find that it’s not in stock (and even potentially buying it from elsewhere).
On the other hand, it also prevents overstock. A hypothetical example of this could be a high street retailer that sells camping stoves. If campers using the bespoke quiz are predominantly travelling solo and packing light, then items like an Aeropress or Jetboil will be far more likely to sell than a larger camping barbeque for four people plus. The retailer is able to get ahead and put in a larger order of these items, at a better price and taking up less space in their warehouse, than if they had assumed that they were buying larger units.
Logic can also be aligned to inventory so that customers can be incentivised through the journey to buy products hit by a high inventory.
6. Targeted Product Launches
This same logic applies to creating, buying in and launching new products. Having a large, from-the-source, level of insight into the likes and preferences of customers who buy from you directly, allows a more accurate idea of what will appeal to them. This can also be implemented really effectively if you sell via third party retailers as well, with a unique quiz offering the opportunity to both your business and the retailer to gather insights and learn more about the end consumer. Retailers can then be more strategic with their future plans and directly ask their consumers about what is important to them For example, a makeup website notices a lot of customers are being recommended a particular brand of lip gloss that is vegan over an alternative. The retailer can then use that insight to put their procurement and launch efforts into predominantly vegan brands and items. This then services the clientele that have made their preferences clear, but also gives them an idea (based on the collated answers given) that plant-based products are the main priority for their customer over say packaging aesthetics, making the promotion and presentation of these items easier as well.
7. Enhanced Online Experience
Another huge benefit of implementing a Conversity quiz onto a retail website is that it enhances the overall experience of shopping for customers. By guiding customers directly to the products that meet their specific needs and preferences, the quiz reduces the time they spend searching and comparing items. This not only makes shopping more enjoyable and less stressful for customers but also decreases the likelihood of cart abandonment due to frustration or indecision. The smooth, personalised experience can lead to increased conversion rates and higher average order values, ultimately benefiting the retailer’s bottom line.
The Future of Efficient Retail
These seven ways are just on the surface of time saving for both sides of any retail transaction. In addition to the time saved, there are cost savings, resource savings, and general bandwidth gains to be had as well.
Shopping can become either super swift, efficient, with customers able to get in and get out with just a few clicks. Equally, for those who prefer a slower, more leisurely, shopping experience they can get personalised recommendations designed for them. In a modern age, where so much of retail consumption is driven by social media, recommendations from influencers and the media, being able to go to a company’s website and ascertain whether that particular product suits their needs is a very powerful practice in a busy marketplace.
Contact Conversity today to create seamless, targeted, and informed sales processes that delight your customers and boost your bottom line. Alternatively, check out our Product Finder and experience it for yourself.