As part of our recent series on benchmarking the customer experience of Europe’s retailers, we sat down with Peter Andersson, Head of Retail at NetOnNet, to find out more about how this successful electronics company handles the challenge of providing great customer experiences in an omni-channel world.
Electronics retailer NetOnNet have been providing an omni-channel experience for almost two decades, serving customers across both an ecommerce site and a growing number of Warehouse stores. In our benchmarking study, NetOnNet scored highly on reducing friction between channels, so we asked Peter Andersson, Head of Retail, to talk us through their strategy.
What do customers expect nowadays in your stores and online? What has changed over the last few years?
Peter Andersson: Customers expect that interactions will be fast and smooth, and that they’ll have all the information they need to compare products. Over the last year we’ve been working on improving our in-store experience by simplifying the signage in our Warehouse shops, adding kiosks along the customer route and strengthening our Self Service options. At the same time development has been applied to our popular online-sites as well, adding cutting edge technology as well as options to enhance the customer experience online as offline.
What has been the impact on your business of recent changes in customer behavior and technology?
Everything the customer needs is now easily accessible on their smartphones, so they expect their mobile customer experience to be just as smooth and simple. In addition, we also believe that customers want the ability to do things more themselves, which is what inspired our Self Service concept. People are more knowledgeable than ever, so we make product information, guides and comparisons easily accessible, as we know that the customer journey will often begin long before someone decides to visit a specific retailer.
What are some of the things you did as a business to create a seamless and consistent experience for customer across the online and offline channels?
We have always offered the same low price in all sales channels, regardless of whether you choose to buy from our online shop or one of our Warehouse stores. More recently, we have added options for customers to choose how they prefer to make a purchase, offering different options for delivery and pickup, including ordering online with pickup in store, paying online or in store, home delivery, or even delivery direct to your car! We’re always looking at the customer’s needs today and trying to anticipate what they might be tomorrow - giving us the best chance of staying one step ahead.
How do you measure the success of your efforts to create seamless and consistent experiences across the online and offline channels?
We look at internal tools like Google Analytics, but we also use surveys where customers score us on various aspects of our offering. These are always very insightful. In addition to that, we analyse as much of our business performance as we can, including omni-channel aspects such as the popularity of our various payment and delivery options.
What markets or industries do you look at for inspiration?
Everything starts and ends with our customers. We have a very outspoken customer view internally and always aim to see everything from a customer point-of-view rather than thinking about other retailers. Of course, we also look at different markets and industries to see what they’re doing well, but for us it will always come down to optimising the customer’s experience.
What can customers expect from you over the next few years?
Easier and more efficient customer journeys where everything is possible through Self Service – always with the same great customer treatment, low prices and services throughout all our sales channels.
