When I ask retail CEOs about their top objectives, I often hear them say: “we want to put the customer at the center of everything we do.” This sounds easy, but it is increasingly difficult. Years ago, when I was a merchant for a retailer with a small chain of stores, I could walk the selling floor and ask our loyal customers for feedback. With 500 or 1000 stores, a rapidly growing e-commerce channel, and millions of customers, this is no longer possible.
An entire category of Voice of the Customer (VoC) tools has arisen to address this challenge, and these tools can help retailers shape their in-store experience, pricing strategies, and product offerings. However, even with the vast amount of data and analytical tools at an executive’s fingertips, there are still enormous missed opportunities. While many retailers in the fashion, apparel and footwear industry have embraced them, other industries are far behind the curve. There is a misconception that these tools are best applied to fashion, whereas in reality they can be applied to virtually every product sector.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregpetro/2019/02/22/excluding-the-voice-of-the-customer-a-curable-epidemic/
In this ever more discerning world, software needs to stand out. Choices are greater than ever before, and the winners in the race to success will likely be those that truly solve customers’ problems. On the other side of all software is a practitioner looking for ways to do something faster, more easily or better than before.
In order for engineers to create valuable products, they should put themselves in the shoes of their customers to understand their wants and needs. I've been developing consumer-facing digital products for the last 30 years and have worked in both startups and in large organizations. For me, focusing development on what matters most to the customer is often the single most valuable action taken during the development cycle. I've been on both the successful side when doing this and unsuccessful side when not doing this.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/02/01/stop-trying-to-outthink-your-customers-the-pursuit-of-software-stickiness/#2751c1f04e42/
Customer experience is the new battleground for consumer-facing organisations (yes – retailers and shopping centres) as the industry fights for loyalty and customer needs increase.
Recently Forbes indicated 75% of companies report their top objective as improving customer experience and those companies who do it well will reap the financial benefits according to the ASX company financial results.
https://www.shoppingcentrenews.com.au/shopping-centre-news/industry-news/amplifying-cx-customer-experience-and-retail-trends/
Managing a better user experience is critical to almost every business. After all, it is part of the way that a customer engages with your company and/or your brand. It's important to get it right so that the customer has a positive experience. Without a good experience, you can lose customers and that can hurt your bottom line in the long run.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/07/24/12-ways-to-improve-a-customers-user-experience/#60b4adac1fc7/
Market research used to rely primarily upon asking questions. The tools of the trade were surveys, in-depth interviews, focus groups, in-store shop-alongs and some observational techniques derived from academic ethnographies. Of course, there were also occasions when it was possible to work directly with purchase data or with passively-measured media exposure data, but the lion’s share of research involved asking people direct questions about their behavior and attitudes. The best research practitioners refined their questions through experimentation to improve accuracy and reduce potential biases.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmcdonald1/2018/05/29/the-voice-of-customer-still-matters/#753a04807481/
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