Consumers these days have an abundance of choice, and if they do not like the service a retailer delivers, they can easily find another retailer with similar offerings but with a better service delivery.

Customer Experience (CX) has now become a key differentiator for top brands and can make all the difference between a retailer’s success and failure. Businesses are now recognisning the need to increase their efforts across various customer touch-points and pay more attention to localising customer-management initiatives.

Here are 7 tips on improving the CX for retailers.

• Respond to feedback

Do not ignore customers. Consumers hold responses on their feedbacks to the company in high regard. They are unlikely to support retailers that do not respond to their feedback.

• Fix it the first time

One of the top frustrationsconsumers have are when they have to ask for the same information multiple times, and not having issues resolved the first time.Retailers need to prioritise and minimise the amount of effort customers need to go through to have their issues resolved. This can involve additional training and the empowerment of frontline staff in resolving customers.

• Make customers believe

Be sure to let your consumers know you are listening and acting on their feedback. This makes customers feel valued and the service delivery personalised.

• Invest in the online experience

Online processes and offerings help retailers become more efficient. Social media platforms must also be maintained and attended to as the platforms are now a popular medium where customers interact with businesses.

• Be one easy call away

While customers are more open to online channels for services and feedback, brands should still make it a point to have their phone numbers readily available in case customers feel they need to contact the organisation.

• Put security first

Customers do not always “see” your security, but want to know it is there. Walk the fine line of having publicly accessible information about the company’s security measures without revealing too much information to potential data thieves.

• Balance technology and the human touch

While technologies offer efficiency, companies need to understand that the human touch is still important to customer experience. Companies must balance appropriately make use of technology or the traditional human touch across all their touch points.

With these 7 tips in mind, retailerscan avoid being caught in the “experience gap” – the gap between the experience brands believe they are delivering and the experience their customers actually receive. Creating a positive experience for consumers is the key to customer acquisition, retention and even promotes their brand through word-of-mouth.