By Tony DeMasi, editor
s too much service bad service? Could be. A survey from NCR shows that
customers in general are too short of time and patience to be pampered by
salespeople, or to wait in line to be helped by a salesperson. The solution
is the ever-growing trend toward self-service. According to the study, 64 percent
of consumers feel shopping would be a better experience if they could take
the merchandise from the shelves and, in come cases, ring it up themselves. It
is basically online shopping in person.
When asked to identify the self-service options that could help alleviate shopping
frustrations, product locator kiosks topped the list at 68 percent. Not far
behind was self-service return of gifts or purchases (66 percent), followed by selfservice
gift card kiosks (63 percent), Internet purchasing (59 percent) and selfservice
checkout (57 percent).
The survey found that 57 percent of consumers are interested in visiting retail
stores that offer self-service for improving customer service. This trend is likely to
increase, as indicated by the 72 percent of young adult consumers (aged 18 to 24)
who in particular look to self-service to improve the shopping experience.
Gift return is also a top concern among shoppers, with 64 percent of consumers
citing the ease of returns as somewhat or very important. In fact, over
half of consumers (57 percent) noted that they would prefer to shop at stores
that offer a self-service solution to handle returns.
When asked what frustrates them the most, the majority of consumers (52
percent) cited long checkout lines. Other top frustrations include the time it
takes to locate items (14 percent), poor staff service (10 percent) and inadequately
stocked shelves (9 percent).
Mass merchandising stores are home to the most frustrating shopping experiences
during the holidays (38 percent), followed by clothing stores (20 percent),
toy stores (15 percent), grocery stores (14 percent) and specialty shops (6
percent).
Gift cards are popular, providing flexibility to both the gift giver and receiver.
Consumers on average will buy more than seven gift cards per year. However,
shoppers find they still have to wait in the same long lines to purchase and load
gift cards. This survey shows that the majority of consumers believe self-service
gift card kiosks can alleviate holiday shopping frustrations. Retailers who listen
will benefit from providing the speed and convenience this service affords.
When asked which factors influenced the decision to purchase a gift card as
opposed to another item from a store, shoppers cite not knowing what gift to
purchase (71 percent). Nearly half of all consumers also reported purchasing gift
cards to avoid returns (47 percent), and another 45 percent purchased gift cards
because it takes less time than selecting a gift.
Expanding self-service sites can save you a lot of money on staffing while saving
your customers a lot of time and frustration. Of course, you will have to have
some salespeople on site to take care of customers that still prefer the personal
touch, and to answer questions from people who prefer self-service.
Self-service is not the end-all to your woes but it may be good start in that
direction.
Another path to take to smooth your operations is
to talk to your employees. The American workforce
finds a lack of communication from managers more
annoying than dealing with nosy colleagues, says
Opinion Research Corporation’s “Ouch Point” study.
Seventeen percent of respondents cite senior managers
who fail to communicate company news as their
chief complaint, versus 6 percent who consider meddling
co-workers to be their greatest source of aggravation
in the workplace. The study also indicates that the
need for political correctness at work has become one
of the biggest frustrations for nearly one in 10
Americans. (Interestingly, more males (11 percent)
than females (6 percent) cite this as their greatest workplace
irritant).
Despite buzz about corporations monitoring
employees’ electronic activity, the majority of employees
are not bothered by this lack of privacy. Only 4 percent
of respondents list corporate monitoring of email
and/or telephone calls as their greatest annoyance.
Respondents in the 18 – 24 year age group who
are beginning their careers have a different slant on
ranking workplace frustrations. This group cites lack
of teamwork (26 percent) as their major irritant.
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