Consumer 2021: Customers value community and the personal touch

Retailers including Never Fully Dressed and Lovehoney took part in the panel discussion ‘The 2020 Consumer Trends That Are Here To Stay’ as part of RWRC’s Consumer 2021, a full week of multichannel content about how to serve the future consumer, delivered across in-depth analyses and virtual events.

The retailers on the panel said they hoped that the elevated level of interaction and a resulting feeling of community between companies and customers were here to stay.

Debbie Bond, chief commercial officer at Lovehoney, said: “We saw a much larger take-up on live chat.

“The channel is really great for asking questions people might feel embarrassed to ask on the telephone, given its anonymous nature, [without] having to wait for an email response, for example.”

“We are lucky that we’ve got a really great social presence, so at a time when people felt a bit lost maybe they were looking to that community”

Lucy Aylen, Never Fully Dressed  

She added that the data gleaned during these interactions is “absolutely invaluable”, with the retailer using insight to optimise FAQs on its website and improve its how-to videos. 

“Live chat has been a real success story through lockdown and we’ve gained a lot of insight through it,” said Bond.

Womenswear etailer Never Fully Dressed also has a very active online community, which it strongly benefited from as lockdown hit. 

Founder Lucy Aylen said: “We are lucky that we’ve got a really great social presence, so at a time when people felt a bit lost maybe they were looking to that community, and we have a strong community among our customers.”

Aylen added that Instagram helps provide instant feedback on new products, which is much harder to gain via emails or surveys, allowing the business to listen to what shoppers want and make tweaks quickly.

“Agility is the main word that has come out of Covid for us,” she added. “The bigger the wheel, the harder it is to change, but we’re at that nice point where we can make little changes quickly.”

“Right now our focus is more on retention, nurturing and supporting, and the wellbeing of our existing customers, rather than being laser-focused on going after more and more new people”

Debbie Bond, Lovehoney 

 

Lovehoney is also using its social channels to try to optimise its personalised messaging and to reach a new audience through influencers and ambassadors.

“We’ve evolved our strategy to deliver a much more blended and balanced mix,” said Bond. “That’s been working really well for us.”

Bond continued: “New customer acquisition is always going to be really important for any business, but this year, more than any, I think it’s going to be really important that we really look after our customers. 

“Right now our focus is more on retention, nurturing and supporting, and the wellbeing of our existing customers, rather than just being laser-focused on going after more and more new people.”

Anthony Gaskell, managing director EMEA at Reputation.com, said this year consumers have been looking for confidence and “digital trust”, and this should therefore be at the forefront of retailers’ ongoing strategies. 

“The way in which we interact with consumers forever becomes more challenging with all the different communications channels that we have coming at us today,” said Gaskell. 

He said it is therefore key to establish which platforms are important to your consumer and interact with them there. 

“The traditional businesses that have always taken the time to listen to the consumer and understand things, and been able to make changes on the back of the insight, have benefited.”

Gaskell added: “The data is only as important as the action you can take on it.”