Prioritising customer experience and efficiency in a challenging retail climate
The Australian retail industry is constantly changing. Emerging technology and shifting consumer expectations are raising industry standards and compelling businesses to innovate at an accelerated rate, Hayley Fisher, country manager - Australia and New Zealand at Adyen, investigates.
In the Australian retail industry, change is the only constant. Emerging technology and shifting consumer expectations are raising industry standards and compelling businesses to innovate at an accelerated rate.
However, current economic conditions can make it harder for retailers to focus on innovation. Recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate that retail turnover has stagnated. In this challenging climate, retailers must focus outwardly on engagement and inwardly on operational efficiency. Consider the insights below as a roadmap to level up customer experiences while improving business efficiency.
Prioritising customer preferences
Businesses should view customer experience as a journey, not a destination. At the heart of this journey lies the checkout process, where every detail can make or break the experience for customers.
The need for speed is prevalent. Adyen’s 2024 Retail Index found that shoppers expect fast and easy checkout experiences, both online and in person and that nearly 3 in 10 Australians want retailers to utilise technology to make in-store shopping faster.
However, businesses are lagging behind, as only 24% are carrying mobile point of sale (mPOS) solutions to serve customers more efficiently. Online payment experiences are also falling short, with just 20% of retailers supporting one-click checkouts.
To elevate the shopping journey, optimising the checkout experience and understanding customer payment preferences are paramount. Retailers must adapt to changing consumer behaviours and strive to deliver customer experiences to the highest degree. However, the pursuit of excellence should never come at the expense of operational efficiency.
Balancing business operations and customer experience
Striking the balance between business operations and customer experience can be challenging. Customers demand seamless shopping experiences, while businesses increasingly turn to integrated solutions to meet these evolving expectations.
To best optimise, businesses should look to adopt a strategy that addresses these pain points — one comprehensive approach that unifies all touchpoints, including backend systems and real-time data. When this is in place, reconciliation, for example, becomes much faster and the business will get a clear view of the business at any given moment.
It’s worth noting that Australian businesses adopting a unified retail strategy are already reaping its benefits. Adyen’s Index found that organisations that adopted the approach recorded 11% more revenue growth, 33% experienced increased sales, and 45% reported higher customer loyalty.
However, embracing a unified retail approach is a gradual process, rather than a quick fix. It requires integrating departments, connecting systems, and navigating significant change management efforts, with payments, serving as a key starting point. By consolidating all payment processes across channels and regions, businesses can simplify operations for their teams and unlock invaluable data insights – paving the way for customer satisfaction and enhanced personalisation.
The role of personalisation
Highly personalised experiences were once exclusive for luxury retail, where seasoned sales assistants kept a ‘black book’ of loyal customers, complete with personal details and preferences. Today, thanks to technology, retailers can capture data and deliver tailored experiences efficiently and at scale.
Despite this potential, Adyen found that retailers still face plenty of challenges. For instance, 25% of businesses say they lack customer data and the technology infrastructure to truly understand their customers and just 18% of businesses know the majority of their customers well enough to personalise offerings.
Now is the time for retailers to deepen their understanding of their customers. Payment data, facilitated by tokenisation to secure private information, is one-way retailers can gain insights into their customers without requesting additional information to power loyalty programs. This method is gaining popularity amongst consumers and retailers, with 46% of businesses powering their loyalty programs through their payment provider and 32% of consumers preferring this form of loyalty.
Thriving in today’s retail landscape requires constant adaptation – meeting consumer expectations, navigating economic challenges, and keeping a close eye on operations and profitability.
Having the right technology and tools in place can be the lifeline a business needs. By harnessing payment data to gain customer insights and streamline loyalty programs, businesses can build stronger connections with their customerswhile improving business efficiencies. This not only enhances satisfaction and loyalty but also drives revenue growth in a competitive market.
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