As 2013 trading performances emerge from the latest retailer quarterly updates, it’s time to celebrate the customer centric success stories of last year and embrace the unique and creative businesses that are looking to make a buzz on the High Street in 2014.
Two such businesses are Halfords, who came to my attention in May 2013, with their new initiatives and customer service focus; and Loaf the quirky online furniture store who aspire to become a household name in the UK.
HALFORDS
This week Halfords announced that it has pedalled it’s way to a 6.6% growth in the third quarter on the back of strong cycling sales. With the success of the Olympics road races, and two Brit Tour de France winners on the trot, cycling seems to have gripped the nation with even the least athletic individuals taking to their bikes. Back in the spring Halfords announced their customer service campaign and 3-Gears staff training programme and this attention on customer care is getting results. Just before Christmas I paid a trip to my local Halfords to replace a car headlight bulb. The whole process took less than 10 minutes and the service I received both at check out and from the cycling enthusiast who replaced the bulb – was superb. The whole experience was speedy, stress free, and reasonably priced.
LOAF
Customer Experience is an area that soon-to-be bricks and mortar retailer Loaf will need to translate from their online experience. Last week Retail Week reported that Monsoon and Accessorise founder Peter Simon has taken a significant minority stake in the furniture etailer with the intention of supporting them in their ambitions on the High Street. Their plan is to open retail destinations ‘Loaf Shacks’ selling their laid back furniture to complement their evolving ecommerce business. It’s going to be fascinating watching how they do it and refreshing to have a new retailer in town. Will the customer journey translate effectively in-store? Time will tell…
Get in touch if you’re thinking of evolving your business model, or want to know how best to improve the customer experience and maximise the customer journey in your business.