Customer-centricity at your core

“The customer is at the heart of the business” is a phrase that you will hear from almost every retailer operating in today’s economy. And this isn’t just talk — according to Accenture’s report “Customer 2020: Are You Future-Ready Or Reliving The Past?” the revenue loss caused by customers switching brands due to “confusing websites, staggering call centre wait times and difficulty solving their problems no matter which channel they use” adds up to an estimated $6 trillion globally.

There are several layers to being customer-centric and retailers need to manage the cost-benefit ratio of investing in becoming customer centric at their core. Customer centricity can span from personalised product recommendations or social media engagement to a supply chain that is completely agile and adaptive to the demands of customers on a day-to-day, or even hour-to-hour, basis. Achieving a deep and engrained level of customer centricity requires long-term investment, hierarchical upheavals, long-term dedication by staff both on the front and back end of the business, as well as have decision-maker buy-in. The hurdles of achieving genuine customer-centricity have to be overcome within budget, technology, capabilities and timeframe constraints, and this is a mammoth task.

If you’d like to learn how leading retailers in Europe are tackling the challenge of customer-centricity, and what benefits they are reaping from turning into truly customer-centric organisations, you can check out our digital roundtables.