Woolworths Marketing: Online Customer Service and Consumer Loyalty Enhancement
- Poor online customer service
Upgraded online customer service remains a very crucial tool that has been used by various businesses and companies to facilitate their growth. Poor online customer service for Woolworths business compared to its competitor Amazon has led to the failure of the business. Furthermore, Woolworths has lived to the fact that its customers have less desire to engage in its online customer services hence limiting its ability to attract new customers or respond to the current ones. A majority of the Australian population, however, utilizes online platforms like messaging apps, texts, and notifications and live chats amongst others, which Woolworths lacks hence likely to result in its failure.
Amazon company, on the other hand, has a well-designed online customer service encompassing all the mentioned online customer service platforms, which have remarkably improved its customer service strategy hence drawing vast numbers of customers to it. The business has further engaged in a very comprehensive approach to customer engagement through a variety of channels. This is in tandem with the fact that most of its customers do their shopping online, either through laptops or mobile devices(Ishii &Markman,2016). However, Woolworths company has continued adhering to the traditional model of customer service, which entails the business relaxing while waiting for their customers to contact them. The use of upgraded online customer service is, therefore, very crucial for Woolworths to remain competitive in the Australian business world.
1.1 Solutions
1.1.1’Email and text notifications
Woolworth supermarket should emulate Amazon’s strategy of notifying its customers by automatically emailing or texting them upon the shipping of their orders, back ordering of their product, or availability of their pre-ordered or back-ordered products (Cao et al.,2018). Similarly, Woolworth business should send text messages to mobile phones of their customers, providing them with the ability of confirming, changing, or canceling the appointments(Razak et al.,2017).
1.1.2 Social service of customers
Woolworth should adopt the use of social media like Twitter, Facebook, and even Instagram for their general customer service, including response to their questions and handling support issues. In one of his statements, Andrew Caravella, who is the Vice president of marketing at Sprout Social, confirms an immense increase in the number of questions posted by customers on various business operations, which needs a response. Social media like Facebook and twitter presents very golden opportunities for a business-like Woolworth to instill happiness in its customers at the watch of their friends. However, it is not just enough for the business to be present in social media. To achieve greater success, Woolworth should adopt the management and development of proactive, reactive and preemptive programs for social customer care (Gamboa &Goncalves,2014).
Moreover, Woolworths should ensure that the managers of its social channels are both properly and adequately trained, and the business should equally track vital metrics such as time and response rate. The business should similarly embark on a daily program of telling its stories through a steadily flowing stream of posts, articles, comments, videos, and images. It should hold social media contests for the attraction of consumer-generated content while rewarding the best pieces. Woolworths should also use tools such as Awario, Mentions, and Falcon for purposes of social listening to the customers (Gamboa &Goncalves,2014).
1.1.3 Live chat
This is a chat software that enhances the immediate connection of the customers to their service representatives. This kind of conversation should be adopted by Woolworths business as it offers personalized, instant, and online communication with their customers. Moreover, Woolworth can utilize the Smart look, which is a one- way video that enables customers to request and acquire assistance within the product at their exact point of need(Stevens et al.,2018). Furthermore, through a smart look, customer care agents can view the customers’ screen in the tax filing process, and this aids in faster resolution to their problems. The agents are also able to freely respond to customers’ questions in real-time while equally highlighting the essential fields and subsequent steps to facilitate their completion of returns with confidence.
1.1.4 Online-self service
Woolworths business should adopt the expansion of channels for customer self-service through websites, SMS and mobile phones. This is because most customers of recent times are always busy and mobile, and they, therefore, require things to be done at their convenience, hence necessitating the ability to get quick and preferably independent solutions to their problems(Ishii &Markman,2016). This includes personalized- predictive technologies that allow customers to get instant answers to their webpage views, just at the click of a mouse.
2.0 Poor consumer loyalty
Customer loyalty is an essential component of business success that Amazon business seems to have appropriately mastered hence outdoing other businesses like Woolworths. Customer loyalty refers to a consumer’s willingness to buy goods from a particular business brand repeatedly. Amazon company has positioned itself as a loyal business to its customers because they are the most critical participants in any business set up, and their absence implies no business. The more loyal consumers Amazon has created have increased their chances of further recommendations to other people like friends and relatives of their consumers, hence widening their business operations in the entire Australia.
Woolworths business, on the other hand, has a serious difficulty with customer loyalty. When a business increases customer loyalty, it is an implication that it has increased the customers lifetime value for it. Furthermore, research has shown that it is seven times more costly to get a new customer than to retain the existing ones. It is, therefore, of great essence for Woolworth business to adopt very fruitful customer loyalty programs as outlined below to acquire a competitive capacity in Australia.
2.1Solutions
2.1.1Prioritise customer service
Majority of consumers do believe that a business’s consumer service is the true reflection of the extent to which they value their customers. Customers evaluate any single interaction they have with the corporate staff, after which they make judgement calls about the business service. Therefore, for Woolworth’s success in the business, it must offer fantastic customer services. Woolworths in-store staff must maintain high efficiency, friendliness, and helpfulness in dealing with customers(Goodman,2019). Moreover, Woolworths support team should be easily accessible at all times to their customers by displaying its accurate contact details. Consequently, it should be able to provide solutions to customers’ problems in a very timely fashion, besides quickly responding to their questions on social media such as Twitter and Facebook(Stevens et al.,2018).
Since a majority of consumers expect to get a reaction from business brands in a matter of four hours. Woolworths business should implement the use of chatbots to its social channels and websites, which is a crucial tactic to ponder. Chatbots are digital helpers that improve business response rates by offering 24-hour service to all hence boosting customer satisfaction and curbing negative mouth comments from them (Goodman,2019). Furthermore, chatbots can help in the conversion of unhappy customers to become loyal ones.
2.1.2 Rewarding customers
Providing rewards to loyal customers is one of the best ways to keep them coming back. It is a precise shortcut to achieving customer loyalty since most customers love gifts and surprises in all forms. According to Crowd Twist, a majority of consumers are more likely to shop at businesses that offer them loyalty programs. Woolworths business should, therefore, establish a loyalty program that gives gifts, discounts, and exclusive offers to its customers. In addition to these, Woolworths should offer personalized thank you cards, accessibility to special events, and increased loyalty points as a show of loyalty to its customers (Singh & Khan,2012). Loyalty programs work efficiently because customers always want to get appreciated by their businesses. Therefore, since the customers can choose Woolworths instead of spending their money elsewhere, it is prudent for the business to return the favor to its customers by providing loyalty programs to win back their loyalty to it.
2.1.3 Garnering social proof
This is one of the best tools to reinforce business brands credibility and authority. Social proof refers to the positive influences exerted by a specific business on social media. Firstly, Woolworth business can begin sharing infographics and statics that have been published about it by highly reputable sources(Goodman,2019). Secondly, the business can launch enticing programs for its customers to write their testimonials and reviews on websites such as Yelp. Through Feedier solution, Woolworth is equally able to gather testimonials and reviews from happy consumers after knowing their feelings. This is based on maintaining relevance and asking them the right questions. Through this, there exists a possibility of scoring some celebrity endorsements and creating connections with very prominent influential people in their market niche.
2.1.4 Making a relationship with customers beyond just focusing on money
It is serious trouble in keeping customers around for businesses that only connect with their customers when they need them to buy some products. On this note, Woolworths business should organize customer appreciation events for showing them gratitude while equally inquiring about both their likes and dislikes (Singh & Khan,2012). Moreover, the business should send links to helpful articles on its blog to its customers. In addition to this, Woolworths should display a local charity that it is supporting in its monthly newsletter. This will help it achieve a connection with its customers on regular basis, without just asking for money hence acquire great loyalty from them.
References
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Cao, Y., Ajjan, H., & Hong, P. (2018). Post-purchase shipping and customer service experiences in online shopping and their impact on customer satisfaction. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
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