MULTICHANNEL
providing customers with an expert view on a product which is easy to understand. In the online setting, we can take this customer
advice one step further with guest blog posts, videos and demos, all designed to help consumers build a better picture of the products and services that QVC offers. Not only does this content support shoppers in their purchasing decisions as they weigh up the pros and cons of certain models, it’s easily sharable on our social channels – giving us a social personality in keeping with our other platforms. The most successful retailers today are those
that make shopping engaging across all channels, especially when we see a huge amount of dual- screening; that is, when our audience is watching the QVC channel while also looking at the website from a smartphone or tablet. Indeed, mobile is a massive opportunity for us,
which might seem surprising when our average customer is between 45-65 years old – mobile shopping is evidently not just something for Generation Y! With 35% of all our orders coming through a digital platform, 50% of those are on mobile and so making our mobile offering suitable and engaging for shoppers is especially important. Working with technologies such as
Never.no,
we are able to deliver an even more immersive environment by aggregating social information from core platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, with additional digital information to be displayed in the TV graphics package. For example, if someone has written a blog,
texted in, posted a review online, or even asked a direct question, this will be scooped up and displayed on TV for those watching. With the central aim of maintaining dialogue with customers, this technology opens up many doors to crowdsource our audience’s opinions on products and we’re now looking into including voting in this. These kind of real-time conversations are the
best way to gather feedback from our audience and put their needs and wants at the heart of everything we do. With thousands of retail innovations on the market, staying ahead of our competitors means investing in cutting-edge technology to develop with modern trends, while maintaining a presence on multiple platforms. For example, we’re using
Fits.me’s virtual fitting
room solutions to power QVC Fit; a service that shows our shoppers not just the size of an item, but how it will fit on their exact body shape. According to recent research from
Fits.me, 31% of respondents
28 Spring/Summer 2014
admit buying multiple sizes at least once to find a size that fits. The virtual fitting room helps us address the significant proportion of returns that are down to reasons of fit. The benefits of this technology are two-fold. First,
QVC enjoys increased conversions online with fewer items returned and meanwhile, the customer enjoys a more interactive online shopping experience. While this is effective as a standalone solution, the next step for us is using this technology in an omnichannel environment so that, when our TV presenters are showing garments on a model, we can extend the experience for TV viewers and encourage them to virtually ‘try on’ the clothes being showcased on our website. With so many of our shoppers engaging via dual-screening, this seemed a logical development to drive further sales for QVC. It might seem obvious, but all retailers essentially want the same thing: to give customers a better experience in order to ensure long-term loyalty. But that’s no easy feat when customers are moving more frequently between retailers they like to shop with and increasingly distracted by the many different digital channels at their fingertips. Developing an omnichannel, rather than a
multichannel, experience ultimately hinges on a retailer’s ability to stay true to core brand values, no matter the digital platform or device. Remember the brand is the sum of all your channels, rather than multiple channels as sub-divisions of the brand.
www.retailtechnology.co.uk
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