Market experts say the retail industry and consumer behavior will never return to pre-pandemic levels. Since COVID-19, customers got used to the comfort of shopping without leaving their homes. On the other hand, being practically ordered to stay inside for their personal safety, some users started to go out to shop to change their scenery. As a result, customers now are likely to look up needed products online and then come to a shop to check them out and buy on the spot.
These new shopping patterns are urging businesses to set up phygital customer experience that is not only forming but will also determine the future of customer needs. What is it, and how can businesses and support teams implement it?
In this article, we'll cover:
What Is Phygital Customer Experience?
Physical + digital = phygital.
Phygital is a seamless convergence of physical and digital customer experiences. It is very close to omnichannel, as it also embraces all possible communication channels.
Why Do Businesses Need to Go Phygital?
It Will Enhance Customer Experience
72% of users shop online. They haven’t sworn brick-and-mortar shops off. They want to shop on their own terms and without being disturbed by, for example, other shoppers or shopping consultants. Apart from this, there are several other things that annoy customers and buyers:
- Wares being out of stock
- Loyalty offerings being not available
- Return or exchange processes being too difficult
- Support or shopping consultants being too busy to give quality answers
Combining digital and physical experience can allow companies to provide top-notch service across all touchpoints and deliver the most convenient buying solutions.
It Will Improve Personalization
Providing personalized services online is easy because e-commerce businesses usually have CRM systems that store all the required information about their customers. Such data as names, dates of birth, all available loyalty programs and bonuses, the history of purchases, and so on are right in front of a support consultant’s eyes at all times. They can tailor each call, email, and chat message as befits every customer.
Is this available for brick-and-mortar stores? Of course. Businesses can set up a CRM system that will be shared by online support teams and salespeople, who will be able to look up all the necessary information about their customers and tailor their in-store experience to perfection on the spot.
It Boosts Engagement and Helps Build Loyalty
56% of customers say their brand loyalty is based on the quality of customer service. Delivering superb physical and online service can help a company stand out from its competitors.
Loyal customers are usually more engaged than those who are still waiting to be wooed. It also works vice versa — the more a business engages its customers with the help of meaningful services, push notifications, leaflets, video support, co-browsing, and personalized in-store experience, the faster they will turn loyal.
Businesses going phygital are more likely to cover all touchpoints their customers prefer, and thus will have a more loyal customer base.
How to Implement Phygital Experience?
Step #1: Cultivating a Customer-Centric Approach
When it comes to customer communication and experience, everything should be built with a customer-centric approach in mind. It becomes especially important while implementing something new into a business’ services and offers. Any support team should know what their phygital approach should look like and what steps of the customer journey it should embrace.
There are several steps a business should take to become truly customer-centric:
- Collect and process customer feedback. Make changes according to customers’ preferences and requirements
- Provide proactive in-person and online support
- Utilize all available customer communication tools
- Monitor all customer interactions and transactions and base their future experience on them
- Turn to a professional Support-as-a-Service provider to set up and maintain an efficient support system
Making the entire business and its team customer-centric is the first step on the way to conquering phygital customer experience.
Step #2: Forming a Deep Understanding of a Customer Base
After a business goes customer-centric, it is a good time to form a better understanding of whom a business revolves around. How much do they shop online, and how often do they shop in person? What are their communication preferences? How tech-savvy are they? How much information are they willing to share to receive a personalized experience?
There are a lot of questions that go into setting up a perfectly-working system that allows a business to understand its customers and their preferences. Gathering and analyzing all required information will provide a business with invaluable insights and will help it set up a good phygital customer experience.
Step #3: Offering More Self-Service
75% of users say they find self-service options convenient for resolving their issues.
A good thing about self-service is that it can be implemented both in physical locations and online. Combined with self-checkout kiosks and location maps on-site, FAQ website sections and chatbots that can process the easiest questions without involving support agents can become a deciding factor in the ‘To return or not to return?’ question every customer asks themselves after the first purchase.
Plus, an all-embracing self-service system is a perfect demonstration of phygital in customer success.
Step #4: Embracing Every Touchpoint Imaginable
This is Phygital 101. The approach should be completely omnichannel and give customers the possibility to reach a business whichever way they like.
This step is impossible without a tailored CRM system that will cater specifically to a support team’s and all customers’ needs. It is also crucial not to forget that omnichannel embraces ALL communication channels — from phone and in-store visits to elaborate chatbots and co-browsing sessions.
This system requires a lot of effort and knowledge. Once set up, it will work to a business’ advantage.
Step #5: Turning to Professional Support-as-a-Service Provider
With the resources needed to set up a phygital system, turning to a professional support provider that can help build everything in the shortest time without losing any quality or focus is a must. It will save resources and provide a business with an unmatched level of expertise and experience.
If you want to set up a phygital customer experience, contact us at [email protected], and our team will get back to you as soon as possible 💛
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Anna started out in financial markets, diving into daily research on bonds and stocks. A passionate reader with a love for historical literature and international cuisine, she’s now all about mastering customer communication. She writes in-depth about customer support, backed by extensive research, and has become an expert on the topic.
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