Anthropologie, Sugared & Spiced Holiday 2015 Window, Portland Oregon | Source: Facebook
According to Gartner by 2016, 89% of companies expect to compete mostly on the basis of customer experience.
So what is ‘Customer Experience’?
Customer Experience CX, is the total sum of all customer interactions, at all touch points – both online and offline, through the customer lifecycle. Every brand provides a Customer Experience, regardless of whether it was created consciously. The experience might be good, bad or neutral. Humans have emotions that can’t be fully anticipated. This leads to less control of the customer experience. Brands can only aim for the best and plan for the worst.
Anthropologie Customer Experience
Clothing retailer, Anthropologie is a great example of a company that places top priority on creating unique online and offline customer experiences.
In a time where companies are closing brick-and-mortar locations and investing in the digital experience, Anthropologie has created an in-store retail atmosphere that appeals to the senses and attracts loyal customers. Handcrafted art pieces and window displays make the store feel warm and inviting. Dreamy music, a signature candle scent and mood lighting are all apart of the company’s customer experience strategy.
Anthropologie mobile app.
Having a customer experience strategy in place requires marketers to think differently about how digital is incorporated into the customer’s overall journey with the brand.
Anthropologie’s focus on the customer experience isn’t limited to in-store offline efforts. The company clearly understands that the digital experience is no longer a stand alone channel. They ensure that the in-store and online experiences are connected.
This is reflected online through social channels such as Instagram, the mobile app and responsive website.
A customer’s experience online impacts their engagement in-store. Research shows that 4 out of 5 local searches on mobile devices end in a purchase and 73% of these purchases are in brick-and-mortar stores.
And mobile search isn’t limited to search engines – it’s also incorporated into every social media platform. Anthropologie has adopted social consumption as the norm. They recognize that their customers utilize social to decide whether or not to make a purchase.
Anthropologie’s In-Store Signage promoting local Sarasota Instagram account.
Anthropologie isn’t only represented at the corporate level. Each store branch manages their own Instagram channel. Empowering employees to have social representation at the local level is a carefully executed strategy. This helps personalize and connect the online experience to the local in-store experience for the customer.
While many companies are quick to setup social media accounts, the reality is that many are immature when it comes to executing a digital customer experience strategy.
Not Anthropologie. For example, customers who follow the retail store on Instagram are able to shop the feed through Like2Buy. This is a huge improvement to the social and mobile customer experience. With Instagram alone, brands can put a link in their profile, but can’t relate that link to any one post. Like2Buy changes that by allowing brands to add a link in their profile that brings followers to a shoppable page.
Left to Right: 1. Anthropologie’s Instagram, 2. Like2Buy links Instagram posts to ecommerce 3. Selected post linked through
By incorporating social into your holistic customer journey, brands can develop a strong customer experience strategy. Creating a frictionless omnichannel experience for the customer.
Starting to think of ways you can focus on improving your Customer Experience? Check out my post on 10 Steps to Kickstart Your Customer Experience Strategy.
