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It's All About The Journey
The Purchase Journey in the Age of Instant Gratification
It's All About The Journey
The Purchase Journey in the Age of Instant Gratification
May 16, 2018

I
had the pleasure of attending the 2nd annual Pitney Bowes “Retail Revolution” Conference in Orlando, Florida. Retail Revolution was held at the Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes and approximately 120 retail professionals attended. There was a range of people there, everyone from partners like myself to customers of Pitney Bowes in the retail space. The opening presentation, “It all comes back to the Experience,” was delivered by Lila Snyder, EVP and President, Commerce Services, Pitney Bowes. Lila’s discussion centered around the topic of the customer experience and the journey from purchase to purchase. The journey begins with the purchase, then moves to fulfillment, shipping, tracking, possibly a return, and finally engagement. Her question to the audience?

“What do you think your customer will remember about their experience with you during this journey?”


She also discussed the three focus areas surrounding the customer experience which begins with building meaningful relationships with the customer. You need to understand your customer and what it is they hope to get out of their experience with you. Sixty-eight percent of customers expect free shipping on items under $50; 60% of customers think that anything over 2-day shipping isn’t fast enough. According to a McKinsey & Company® study, digital personalization is a key component in delivering a full cross-channel experience and retailers are seeing as much as a 30% lift in conversion.

Second, reach more customers from anywhere to everywhere.

Going mobile. Customers are using their mobile devices along the journey from purchase to purchase. As a retailer, have you created an easily accessible and user-friendly way for your customer to connect and purchase with their mobile device?

Going global. Have you as a retailer implemented a successful cross-border experience? Globally, 89% of retailers are already operating cross-border.

Marketplaces are the market in Asia. Shoppers in that region are making at least half of their online purchases on marketplaces. Broken out by region, 93% in China shop via marketplaces –and in the rest of the region the numbers look like this: 93% in India, 79% in South Korea, and 84% in Japan.

Third, champion your brand in every moment from purchase to purchase.

Consider these findings from eMarketer 2017, Newgistics Customer Experience and Market Surveys:

67% of shoppers review the returns policy before purchasing.

57% of retailers have a complete returns policy on their site.

66% of shippers believe free return shipping is key to a great returns experience.

33% of retailers offer free return shipping.

70% of shippers are likely to buy again if a refund is received in 24 hours.

46% of retailers have a refund target greater than 6 days.

It’s all about the customer experience. How will you be remembered?

Miranda Gerken
Senior Operations Manager ~ ConnectShip | iShip
Miranda is the Senior Operations Manager at ConnectShip | iShip. She has been in the shipping technology space for 13 years in various capacities including, sales, marketing, channel management, partner relations, tech support, and business development. Miranda currently leads the business development and marketing teams at ConnectShip | iShip.