The retail sector is going through a delicate moment of transition. First, the pandemic and then the growing international tensions significantly impacted purchasing behavior. The price increase is only one of the most obvious consequences. It is, therefore, necessary to rely on innovative solutions to differentiate oneself in one’s reference market. One of the most critical aspects from which to start is analyzing how the company interacts with its customers along the Customer Journey. In this post, we identify the critical issues that retail usually has to deal with and explain why WhatsApp Business for retail can be the solution.
Analyze The Criticality Of The Current Touchpoints Outdated Marketing Channels
Consumer preferences are changing dramatically and are no longer leaning towards email. The stats bear it out: mobile boasts a 98% open rate versus a low 20% of emails, and the response rate is 20% versus a measly 6%. Furthermore, although it is possible to create and send multimedia and captivating content with emails, increasingly advanced anti-spam filters sometimes make using this channel unproductive.
Customer Service That Manages Repetitive Tasks
Customer Service is often forced to manage repetitive tasks, such as goods return procedures, instead of focusing on more complex operations. This is not a problem to be underestimated. For this reason, process automation should be considered, which is an excellent solution to reduce costs and increase the productivity of the customer assistance team.
No Differentiation From The Competition
No one wants to fall behind while their competitors succeed. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to have a different and innovative mindset, both to manage a highly successful marketing campaign and to offer top-quality customer service. Adopting new technologies in the field of communication offers the opportunity to always be at the forefront, differentiate oneself, and confirm oneself as a leader in one’s reference market. Here is an example:
Why Is WhatsApp The Answer?
WhatsApp Business can represent the solution to our identified critical touchpoints. Here are some essential facts about WhatsApp:
- Brand relevance and presence: Over 33 million users have installed the app on their mobile phones.
- Customers prefer WhatsApp: 67 % of mobile messaging app users said they expect to use chat more to communicate with businesses in the next two years. Customers are more likely to shop at a company that offers WhatsApp as a communication channel. 53 % of respondents say they are more likely to shop with a company they can directly message.
- Sending advanced and branded messages: In addition to creating a business profile, the app can be used as a channel to send images, videos, and personalized content. A small virtual showcase, in short.
Using WhatsApp Business Platform to communicate with customers, you can have more prosperous, enjoyable, and personalized conversations. And thanks to additional features such as buttons, images, videos, and quick replies suggested by the system, conversations with customers can take on engaging and natural ways.
Three Ways To Use WhatsApp Business For Retail:
Convey Promotions In Real-Time
As we anticipated above. Retail customers love to receive engaging content. However, the probability that they will read them in real time when they receive them via email could be much higher. With WhatsApp, on the other hand, you ensure that messages sent to your customers are received and read in real-time. The company can use this to send flash offers, promotional messages, and upsell/cross-sell messages following an initial purchase. Or purchase recommendations based on customer behavior or previous purchases (using the power of bots in this case).
One-To-One Chat With Customer Service
When we talk about customer service, we immediately think of the classic call center, which no longer brings benefits to the company or even less to the customer. The business must employ a dedicated team to answer the phone, and the single operator often finds himself managing seemingly endless queues of inbound calls.
In the same way, the customer is faced with long and nerve-wracking waiting times, accompanied by a message inviting him to wait for his turn. With WhatsApp, immediate communications take place via message, increasing customer satisfaction and perception of a quality service. On the other hand, the customer care team can manage multiple requests at the same time, and, as an added value, bots can be implemented that interact with customers by providing automatic answers to the most frequently asked questions.
Sending Advanced Content, Alerts, And Reminders
WhatsApp is the perfect channel to convey all the information relating to your business. Sending messages relating to orders and deliveries, payment processing, reminders, customer satisfaction surveys, and much more can be customized and made more engaging with multimedia content, taking advantage of push notifications integrated into the app.
Also Read: Microsoft: Bing And Edge Will Help With Purchases Thanks To AI
