Studies conducted by J.D. Power and Associates, mentioned in Marketing Daily, show that overall customer satisfaction with the wireless retail sales experiences has steadily decreased since 2006 and has reached its lowest level since 2005. Power’s measured overall customer satisfaction based on four factors: sales staff, store display, store facility, and price/promotion. Approximately 51% of those surveyed said sales staff was the most important factor of overall customer satisfaction. Those surveyed felt that sales associates did not posses enough knowledge about the products being offered.

With highly technical products, customers look to sales associates for guidance and recommendations therefore it is extremely important in the wireless retail industry for sales associates to stay up to date with product offerings.

A recent study by Mindset Media and Nielsen Online found that organic buyers are 153% more open to new experiences such as trying new foreign foods. The study also found out that affluence was not a major factor when it came to buying organic. It seems that buying organic is more a state of mind, not a “state of wallet”. Read more about this study here.

As mentioned in the WSJ article, The War on Returns, the U.S. electronics industry spent $13.8 billion to re-box, restock, and resell returned products in 2007. Only 5% of returns were due to defective products. The remaining 95% of products returned were due to reasons such as buyer’s remorse or not understanding how the product worked. With the economy slowing down, retailers and manufacturers are paying closer attention to decrease customer returns.

How are retailers decreasing returns?

Simple Instruction Booklets: Rather than providing lengthy information packets, manufacturers are offering simpler guides which help consumers get up and running faster with less hassle and confusion.

Personalize Products: Manufacturers such as Sony offer engraving services which makes it harder for consumers to bring back the product.

Extra Service: Retailers such as Best Buy’s Geek Squad offer in-home technical service. Rather than customers returning a product due to installation frustration, they can utilize a service such as Geek Squad.

Returns & Customer Lifetime Value

Studies show that a quarter of people who return an item do not buy that same brand again. Moreover, 14% of such people will unlikely buy from the retailer again. With the current economic state, manufacturers & retailers need to pay closer attention to returns as reducing product returns will help improve the bottom line; however, studies show that returns do impact future sales as well. Reducing return rates now can have long term positive effects as well.

When was the last time you had a negative experience with someone who was servicing you? How were you feeling at the moment? Did you make a vow never to return there again? On other hand, when was the last time you had a positive experience with an employee? The connection between employee attitude and customer satisfaction is very important. If employees mistreat customers, then customers might not return. However, if customers have positive, memorable experiences, then customers will keep coming back. They might even recommend your store to their friends. It all starts with the employee.

BlueShirtNation.com

So, what exactly is BlueShirtNation.com? BlueShirt Nation, which is named for the polo shirts worn by store staff, is the employee social network of Best Buy. Best Buy executives first introduced the social network because they wanted to tap into their store employees for marketing ideas. Instead, they have seen higher participation in Best Buy’s 401(k) plan, lower employee turnover, and even photos of staffers’ pets.

Employee turnover at retail stores can reach double digits; however, employees utilizing BlueShirtNation.com are likely to stick with the company. The employee turnover for BluShirtNation.com users is slightly more than 8 percent.

Sears is trying to move from a product-and store-focused company to a more
customer-focused company. The retailer will be investing money to improve
shopper’s experiences from the moment they consider a purchase until after items
are installed in the home. Sears will also be looking into adopting new customer
behavior which focuses mainly on the internet.

According to the American Foundation for the Blind, there are approximately 10 million blind and visually impaired people in the United States. Retailers such as Rite Aid are paying closer attention to this market segment’s special needs and their in-store experience. Rite Aid is hoping to provide more convenience and improve the customer experience of blind and visually impaired individuals with their new POS system. Rite Aid’s new POS will have tactile keypads to help shoppers who experience difficulty entering PIN numbers on the traditional flat screen.