Coronavirus has changed the way the UK population shops – perhaps for forever. When Boris Johnson announced all non-essential stores must close on the 23rd March, the UK’s bricks and mortar retail spend disappeared overnight. Many retailers who traditionally relied heavily on their offline stores for revenue were forced instantly to attract their customers online.
One that experienced this was Shoe Zone, a retailer who offers footwear for all ages. They immediately launched a ‘buy one get the cheapest free’ offer on their website to attract customers to continue purchasing from them online.
In addition, they added a banner on their homepage linking
to a message from their CEO about their response to Coronavirus. Delivery
estimates were also updated so that customers knew to expect longer wait-times
than usual. The page also reassures customers that they have 12 months to
return items.
Turning browsers into loyal customers during a crisis
Unlike many UK retailers, Shoe Zone had previously invested
heavily in their e-commerce site so it was in good shape to handle an increase
in orders and this shift from offline to online.
A partnership with operations experience (OX) specialists, parcelLab, had been agreed last year. Shoe Zone was already communicating proactively with their online customers during shipping, through an integrated track & trace page and branded, up-to-date delivery communications.
WISMO enquiries now make up 70% of calls for retailers
Reports suggest that WISMO (Where is my order?) enquiries are accounting for over 70% of queries for retailers’ customer service centres. The crisis is creating uncertain customers who want to know when their parcel will arrive or if it will at all?
Through the proactive communication Shoe Zone had implemented with the help of parcelLab, they actually saw a decrease in WISMO calls during March. Their customers are being kept in the loop and informed proactively about any delays, meaning they don’t need to contact customer service to ask. This frees up valuable time for the team to answer more critical issues.
Branded delivery communication is a marketer’s dream
Usually marketing emails attract open rates of around 15-25% and click-through rates of around 2.5%. By taking control back of their post-purchase communications and seeing these emails as an additional marketing channel, Shoe Zone is seeing engagement rates of 74%, unique open rates of 68% and click-through rates of 27% as a result of these additional emails specifically.
These engagement rates are unheard of in usual marketing tactics. By communicating with their customers when they are most engaged (during delivery) and creating a pleasant experience during the most stressful part of the customer journey, more customers will become loyal to Shoe Zone.
The future is bright
Both Shoe Zone and parcelLab are excited for what the future holds for the partnership. Without a doubt, Shoe Zone’s customers will be experiencing better customer experiences, leaving them happy and more likely to become brand ambassadors.
During these difficult times it is especially important that we offer our customers the best possible customer experience. Thanks to parcelLab we are able to keep them up-to-date on the status of their order at all times and provide them with important updates (i.e. delays). This means we can avoid stressful shopping experiences for our customers and keep customer service enquiries as low as possible. We are very happy to have our partnership with parcelLab, especially during these hard times. A spokesperson for Shoe Zone
Would you like to learn more about how parcelLab can help retailers deliver positive experiences? Contact us – we would be happy to help!
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