As restaurants and businesses reopen and consumers go back to work, grocery shopping will change again. The surges will slow, but certain behaviors are here to stay. In fact, 68% of U.S. shoppers say they expect to buy essential goods online after the threats of COVID-19 subside. Consumers will continue to rely on digital-first shopping and will expect special in-store considerations. Only this time, they will be less forgiving about subpar experiences.

These are the five lessons grocers can apply to their businesses going forward.

Lesson 1: Personalize shopping experiences

What someone buys during a pandemic may not reflect their typical buying habits. Between March 13-15, 44% of U.S. household grocery shoppers stocked up on essential supplies. Post-pandemic, normal purchasing habits will likely resume. Grocery shopping will go from a long-term play — in which consumers plan for groceries weeks or months in advance — back to a routine task for in-the-moment purchases.

As purchasing habits shift back, grocers will need to deliver personalized experiences to move more shoppers past transactions and build increased loyalty.

There are three ways grocery retailers can do this:

1. Artificial intelligence (AI): AI learns from customer data to suggest relevant items based on past and recurring purchases. Connect AI to your customer relationship management (CRM) system to build tailored customer journeys across marketing, commerce, and service.

2. Customer surveys: Surveys and quizzes let customers tell you exactly what they want — and when they need it. Create email surveys and a section on your site for feedback. Include questions on lifestyle and dietary restrictions to deliver new product options.

3. Chatbots: Chatbot usage increased since COVID-19. Besides helping service teams scale, bots can provide curated information for customers. Use bots to set up order subscriptions and recommend products. Bonus: Bots make service agents more efficient because they free them up to focus on higher-value cases.

Lesson 2: Increase pickup options

Consumers will still want flexibility after shelter-in-place orders lift. Continue special considerations and services, including special pickup times and delivery options.

Take curbside pickup a step further. Reserve a certain number of spaces in your parking lot for pickup. Enable customers with an app to schedule their pickups and match them with a time and zone. Let them add their phone numbers to receive text updates. Text ahead of time with a pickup reminder and special instructions. You can also add staff to assist with curbside pickup zones by maximizing self-checkout lanes inside the store. Lastly, be sure to embed service so customers can connect with an associate and ask any questions.

Third-party delivery partners will continue to play an integral role. Find ways to evolve the partnership to continue to offer at-home delivery options. For example, make it easier for customers to receive items through subscription-based delivery from the store. Or explore automated vehicles for in-town deliveries.

Lesson 3: Partner with restaurants for wider reach

Restaurants were hit hard during COVID-19 and were quick to collaborate to create new revenue streams. Offer support to the industry by using your business as a platform for change. Create strategic partnerships with restaurants to make a positive impact.

To do this, consider offering ready-made or heat-and-serve restaurant meals. Then cross-promote to both restaurant and grocery customers for maximum reach. If there’s a bundled meal for Taco Tuesday, customers could click one button and add the ingredients to their cart. This expedites the service and creates a seamless experience.

Another approach is to co-create digital content such as recipes, how-tos, and blogs to increase consumer engagement between purchases. For example, a restaurant that features recipe content on its website can link to online grocery ordering.

Lesson 4: Empower associates to reduce contact risks

During the pandemic, store associates, warehouse workers, and delivery drivers became frontline heroes. Consumers trust and respect companies that recognize and fairly compensate these employees. According to a recent survey, after discounts, safety of employees was the top influencer for shopper purchases and loyalty.

When states reopen, frontline employees will be tasked with even more safety measures. Empower associates to handle customer questions while reducing contact and risk. For smaller grocers, this may mean scheduling appointments for at-risk in-store shoppers. For larger grocers, formalizing training on proper safety and social distancing protocol is key for one-to-one interactions.

Many grocers are implementing ways to reduce employee contact with customers such as encouraging shoppers to pay by card and use self-checkout. Safety screens and increased sanitizing can also protect workers.

Lesson 5: Change how you track inventory

Long delivery times and order substitutions marred the COVID-19 shopping experience. Post-crisis, consumers will have less patience for delays and inconsistencies.

To get ahead of expectations, track inventory the day of the order, not the day of delivery. Remove ordered items from the inventory system and keep them in the back of the store or in a dedicated section of your warehouse. If a customer tried to order an item but it was out-of-stock, notify them if it becomes available before their delivery time, so they can add it.

Evaluate order management capabilities as well. Ingest orders from online and route them to the correct store locations.

Prepare for new shopping habits, future disruptions

While the future is uncertain, digital commerce will be increasingly important for both large grocers and small shops. Small grocers may actually have an agility advantage without disparate, legacy systems.

Grocery retailers will begin to focus on transformational projects to prepare for future disruptions. Such projects don’t have to take months or even years. For example, the Salesforce Commerce Cloud Quick Start for Grocery and Food Service is a tailored, out-of-the-box solution has everything you need to offer buy online, pickup curbside experiences.

Get more tips, thought leadership, and resources with our Leading Through Change series.

The post Post-Pandemic Grocery Shoppers Will Want Personalization, Options Galore appeared first on Salesforce.

Remember when retail associates chatted with shoppers, helped them select merchandise, adjusted fit, and assisted customers with slipping their feet into shoes? Those niceties may represent a bygone era of retail. It’s possible store associates will eventually go back to supporting some of those things, but it’s clear their role has been profoundly and irrevocably changed for now, and retailers need to adjust.

Many retail store associates, who are just now getting back to work, are navigating a retail environment that’s nothing like the one they left behind in March. New customer expectations, regulations and CDC-recommended healthcare protocols have collided with retailers’ urgent need to begin recovering revenue lost to store closures.

As a result, store associates are now wearing more hats than ever. They’re facilitating curbside pickup and delivery, maintaining traffic flow in the store, picking and packing online orders, ensuring routine cleaning, managing in-store appointments and more. More strategically, some will likely start to engage with customers online using video apps like Hero, which allows consumers to ask questions to store associates or customer service agents in real time, utilizing a chat function for personalized service and guidance when shopping. That said, retailers will need to extend the associates’ ability to maintain customer relationships outside the four walls of a store.

Here are four defining traits of the COVID-era retail associate:

1. Evolved and agile

As an alum of the retail sales floor and having dabbled in all roles of the store, I know the evolution of the associate will be challenging because they genuinely like working with people. Unfortunately, store employees will not be there solely to engage with shoppers and help them explore the store. They will have many other roles to play and a need to be agile in how they work through their shift to not create a disjointed experience for the shoppers.

Associates are now on the front lines for your brand in ways they haven’t been before. Where they were once brand ambassadors helping to find the perfect item, they now play a role more similar to a flight attendant with charters of safety, sanitization, and serving, in that order.

In the past, associates may have juggled multiple shoppers but now will manage multiple activities throughout their shift. They may be turning people away at the door based on store capacity, cleaning, and sanitizing areas of the store or helping to fulfill orders.

A new tenant of success will be the associates’ ability to multitask, respond to change with agility, and understand that the landscape of the store and their role will continue to evolve.

2. Trained with new skills

Retailers need to train associates to meet new workplace demands and safety procedures. They also need to equip them with a new level of digital fluency. Associates will play a key part in integrating the store into the brand’s web presence. For example, some staff may be dedicated to picking and packing online orders, responding to online inquiries, or scheduling online appointments for in-store shopping.

In the store, retailers can reduce associates’ face-to-face time with shoppers by equipping them with mobile devices that recommend personalized products based on their specific shopping history. Associates could then, for example, use the mobile device to look up a loyal shopper’s profile to recommend a green sweater that compliments the skirt the customer recently bought online.

Ashley Renzi, Director of Global Direct to Consumer Strategy at New Balance, sees the need to elevate the associate’s role by using technology to connect the digital and in-store experiences. “Our expectation is that our sales associates are the storytellers, the experts on our products, their design and end use. They are service experts. And we will enable them with more robust information sets and tools such as data intelligence on the retail floor to assist the shoppers experience from product recommendations to fit and styling.”

New skills in digital fluency can also help associates get onboarded faster and help them stay up to date with new products, promotions, and protocol. Many shoppers believe they know more than the average associate (and in fact sometimes they do), so it will be imperative to equip teams with tools to access data in the moment so they won’t have to go to the cash register or back room to investigate a customer inquiry.

According to McKinsey, retailers with fully integrated online and in-store selling models could reward store associates for influencing online sales in local zip codes.

Further, as technology automates legacy or manual tasks like shift scheduling and checkout, brands should train associates to focus on higher value activities like guided selling that require interpersonal skills and will help drive sales.

3. Empowered and informed

As stores reopen and shoppers return, we all know the store is going to feel different. Once a fun place to browse, stores may feel more sterile, less personal, and maybe even rushed. These changes can have a negative impact on the shopping experience and frustrate those who don’t know what to expect, and even cause tension between associates and shoppers.

It is crucial that all store-based employees understand safety protocols and can answer shopper’s questions and address concerns with confidence and empathy.

According to Deloitte, key considerations for empowering store leadership include: access to information to help prioritize decisions and act with speed, a single place (likely a portal) to drive central coordination with other stores around risk identification and resolution, and the ability to navigate and enact change needed for their specific store and circumstance.

Store associates and managers should also be able to participate in a feedback loop to regional managers or higher, to communicate what’s happening on the ground and to help inform reopening strategies in other stores.

To empower your associates, ensure they have the information they need (local health guidelines, company policies, etcetera) to serve customers with confidence, de-escalate situations as needed, and the ability to speak up if they feel the need to report concerns or as they also navigate returning to work.

4. Ambassadors of joy

Associates have always been stewards and ambassadors of the brand. Now, as physical stores are under pressure to deliver great experiences despite the pandemic, they will need to deliver what Kearney calls a “distinctly positive human experience, one that lifts people out of their gloom.” That experience, they say, is joy.

“Retailers that continue to cultivate transactional and temporary employee mindsets will struggle to deliver a compelling and differentiated shopping experience,” Kearney writes. “In contrast, retailers that assertively recruit, cultivate and retain employees prepared to deliver joy will be a magnet to anxious and disheartened shoppers.”

Indeed, the ability to create a joyful shopping experience is something that is very difficult if not impossible online. So how can retailers help associates impart joy? It starts with rethinking talent. That is, training and developing associates not just to sell products but to focus on customer needs, being problem solvers and enthusiastic about the product or service being sold. In this way, they become customer champions rather than product sellers.

There’s no question COVID-19 has accelerated dramatic shifts that have been happening in fits and starts in retail stores for years. The crisis presents an opportunity to reimagine the shopping experience and, more importantly, the interpersonal experience shoppers have with associates.

Learn how to evolve the role of the associate, and help them feel safe and supported.

The post The Profoundly and Permanently Altered Role of the Retail Associate appeared first on Salesforce.

Now that all 50 states have relaxed stay-at-home measures, retailers large and small are reopening physical stores. But when they do, little in retail will seem familiar to shoppers or store associates. The pandemic forced stores to redesign, rethink, and reimagine the entire experience around new health regulations and new customer expectations.

Of course there are the “basics” of shopping in the age of COVID-19: signage asking shoppers to wear masks, plexiglass barriers, hand sanitizer and wipes, conspicuous cleaning, and primitive people-spacers like duct tape floor markers.

But, according to Big Red Rooster (BRR), a brand experience firm, retailers need to replace those temporary fixes with long-term solutions around safety and sanitation. “Retailers are just now moving beyond band-aids and are thinking about how to implement permanent changes,” says Emily Miller, VP of Strategy and Insights at BRR. This could include everything from fitting room restrictions to the amount of merchandise on the floor to checkout solutions like pay on your own device. According to research, 54% of consumers expect to see “significant” change in stores when they return to shop, anyway.

In an interview (paywall) American Eagle chief commercial officer Andrew McLean said, “From the moment you walk into our store we want you to see something that’s new. It’s many new protocols,” he said, “all are triggers in the customer’s mind that things are different now.” These fundamental alterations translate to a feeling of safety for customers, so they need to be visible and clear.

“Ship-from-store”

Even before COVID-19, I’ve watched retailers like PetSmart, Vineyard Vines, Bath & Body Works and Adidas start to use their stores as distribution points for ecommerce sales. These “ship-from-store” efforts reduce the time and cost of delivering goods to local customers from central distribution centers. Expect more of this as stores look to accommodate more and more online orders. But this is really just the beginning.

If shoppers perceive browsing as unsafe (hint: they do), they’ll visit a store on a purposeful and quick mission to acquire specific items — to get in and get out. In order to support this new behavior, retailers need to have order management and inventory systems in place to provide a real-time reflection of the stock they have in a specific store. Say an online customer wants to purchase two glass end tables from a furniture store for curbside pickup. If the store has the proper systems in place, that customer would be able to check online to make sure the tables are in stock before they bother to trek to the store to purchase them.

Some retailers may also pare down their portfolio of stores, using one or two in a particular region as a “ghost” location for inventory overflow or a pickup location for items that customers buy online. Other locations would be reserved for actual shopping and branded experiences.

Stores as … marketing channels?

That said, Doug Stephens, founder of retail industry consultancy Retail Prophet, feels stores’ core post-COVID purpose will be more about marketing and service than distribution. That means increased usage of storefronts as showrooms, event spaces, or venues for VIP and loyalty members. Store rents, he posits, will become a more economical avenue for customer acquisition than some of the legacy methods of drawing customers, such as advertising, digital marketing, paid search targeting, or offering discounts for new customers.

In line with their new function, these spaces may only display one of each item of merchandise, (despite some reports that clothing fibers are a lower risk carrier of the virus). The rest of the inventory will sit in the back of the store, perhaps sealed in protective plastic, and accessible only to associates.

“There is still a very relevant role for physical retail when it comes to learning about a brand,” says Ashley Renzi, Director of Global Direct to Consumer Strategy at New Balance. “It’s enormously important to clearly communicate the reasons for people to come to the store. What is it about the space that makes the experience special?”

The answer to that question, largely, remains to be seen.

Smart doors, smart mirrors (so much smart)

Shoppers will be able to pick up on these profound differences even before they enter stores. For starters, there will be only one dedicated door for entry and one for exit, in order to reduce congestion and the associated potential for virus transmission. And those doors? Many will become automatic to eliminate the need to touch them. If dedicated doors are not possible, store associates may serve double duty as gatekeeper, letting one person in and out at a time and keeping track of the number of people in the store.

Once inside, shoppers will find new one-way traffic patterns designed to help them avoid face-to-face interactions. Miller says some of her retail clients are even considering smart lighting to direct shoppers in a specified direction around the store. One layout option is a racetrack design in which shoppers move in one direction around merchandise displayed in the middle and around the edges of the store.

Stores will have less clutter and may even appear sparse. For example, consultancy firm Kearney advises that areas of a store “designed to increase dwell time” like couches, fixtures, and impulse buy displays, need to be removed. And get ready for smart mirrors, which take hands-free browsing to the next level, allowing you to envision yourself in a new dress or hat without ever placing it on your body. All of these measures enable social distancing, less touching of things, and moving merchandise off the floor.

Renzi adds “We’re presenting customers with relevant items in the least amount of time, moving them through the in-store journey so we can serve the next group of customers.”

Sanitation takes center stage

In the past, professional cleaning of retail stores was done in the wee hours, well out of view. Now, because research shows shoppers want assurances that the environment is clean, retailers can’t show off their cleaning practices too much. Stores will implement new CDC protocols that call for continuous wipe downs and sanitation of all areas, which may include UV lighting. Even something viewed in the past as benign, like a disorganized shelf, is a cue to shoppers that retailers aren’t bringing their sanitation A-game.

And what about common areas like fitting rooms? Some major retailers have said they won’t open them due to sanitation concerns. Where they are open, employees will clean them after each use. Miller says customers may have the option to reserve a clean fitting room ahead of time online. In a similar vein, many are considering appointment-based shopping models.

Some of the ways in which the store is changing in response to the pandemic, like contactless checkout may be permanent. Some, like hands-off browsing, may not. The crisis will impact consumer behavior in ways that perhaps we haven’t even considered yet and when it does, retailers will need to step in line with those new behaviors or risk irrelevance. All told, the crisis is asking customers and retailers to be more flexible and agile. In the words of Miller, “We can’t unlive this experience.”

Learn how to build trust with today’s shoppers with The New Retail Playbook.

The post Say Goodbye to Browsing: Retail Shopping in 2020 Gets a Total Makeover appeared first on Salesforce.

Make digital commerce more “in-person”

We are hurting for the day-to-day interactions that used to lift us up, like a laugh with our hairdresser or favorite barista. People are turning to digital experiences – like meeting friends for coffee online. Commerce brands can join the trend with online forums and other digital experiences that help everyone feel more connected right now. How can you play a role in fostering these connections?

While it might seem too difficult to build digital experiences from scratch right now, creating a commerce portal is relatively easy. It also boosts customer engagement while getting them the information they need. A commerce portal is simply an authenticated digital doorway to interactions and content that you tailor to your customers. Look for tools with out-of-the-box (OOTB) components to speed the creation of engaging digital experiences. OOTB components are ready-to-use building blocks that let you deploy experiences like the ones listed below faster.

Here are five digital ways to use portals to go beyond the transaction while working from home:

1. Make loyalty programs digital-friendly

Ensure your best members have an easy way to manage and redeem rewards online. Revisit your rewards experience, ensuring it doesn’t require an in-person interaction. You may find customers who usually shop in stores need a little explanation of how to take advantage of your loyalty program digitally.

Beer and beverage company Mahou San Miguel created a personalized loyalty portal. Fans of Mahou San Miguel brands sign up for the program online. They get points when they enter product codes from cans and bottles online. Redeeming points is as easy as selecting a gift or experience. Based on the members’ stated interests and locations, the company matches members with experiences they might enjoy.

2. Personalize your portal content

Initial content efforts should focus on delivering fast access to information about crisis-driven changes to policies and hours. Personalize that content by region and customer using the data in your CRM. Some content management systems connect to CRM data readily, making personalization simple. But don’t stop there.

Once you’ve handled crisis communication, focus on connecting customers to information they may find useful or interesting in their current situation, while hunkered down during a pandemic. For example, pizza lovers might be interested in trying to make dough from scratch for the first time. So if you’re a grocer, your portal could offer instructions along with a recipe and related shopping list.

3. Promote (or launch) community forums

This is also the perfect time to let the world know about the community or forum you already use to connect with your biggest fans. Now that access is limited to in-person events, people who aren’t usually “forum types” may be surprisingly eager to join your community, share tips, and give and get advice.

Financial technology provider nCino does a nice job offering added benefits for its online community members. Within the community, members share ideas, interact with subject matter experts, and vote for future product developments. The digital experience keeps people up to date and adds value in an environment that’s also social. nCino also highlights their community on its COVID-19 response page, helping users take advantage of this interactive resource.

4. Reimagine VIP experiences

Use data-driven personalization to help customers find and schedule in-person product pick-up options in their areas. Consider ways to offer an online version of the VIP shopping experience you may provide to your best customers. A portal can help you stand up these VIP experiences quickly. For instance, an exercise retailer might offer VIPs access to a coaching tool or goal tracker.

5. Streamline post-purchase transactions

Make it easy for customers to register warranties, schedule deliveries, and apply for credit – without having to start an assisted interaction. These types of interactions don’t need to feel like contacting customer service. For example, you can make scheduling (and rescheduling) a delivery more seamless by finding ways to reduce the number of clicks required. Easy post-purchase management goes a long way toward making customers happier. That’s because you’re providing customers with processes that they control.

Outerwear-maker Canada Goose stands behind its products with a warranty covering materials and craftsmanship – for the lifetime of the product. And the company provides a simple and digital way to connect to warranty information and registration. An online warranty experience can be as simple as a digital form that lets customers register their product no matter where they bought it. But what if you sell products covered by a variety of warranty terms? Retailer Mattress Firm sells products from multiple manufacturers, each with their own warranty. To simplify this, Mattress Firm offers a portal that guides customers through the warranty process for the many products they sell.

Upgrading digital experiences can have a big impact on customer loyalty during this unprecedented time. Commerce businesses can use this as an opportunity to create new experiences for their customers and think beyond the transaction.

Learn more about building your own portal

To learn more about how to implement the advice above, watch “Reimagine How You Digitize the Customer Lifecycle as You Work from Home.” You’ll hear from portal experts and explore how you can forge deeper relationships with customers – even if you’re working from home. Watch it now.

To get more tips on navigating change, read other articles in our Leading Through Change series. Find thought leadership, tips, and resources to help business leaders manage through crisis.

The post 5 Fast Ways to Take Consumer Experiences Beyond Transactions appeared first on Salesforce.

Though customers will gradually be allowed to visit physical stores as the outbreak is contained, the exact timeline may vary considerably from one province to another.

Much of the demand for products and services can only be fulfilled through e-commerce in the meantime, but how will spending patterns change?

What kind of experience — whether it’s contactless payments, curbside pickup or direct delivery — will consumers need and expect?

How should retailers maintain and nurture their existing relationships with customers when digital channels might be the primary option for weeks, or even months to come?

Fortunately, plenty of retailers had given themselves a good head start on combating many of these challenges, even if they never suspected something as transformative as the novel Coronavirus.

Digital transformation was already in progress across many parts of the retail sector in response to new ways consumers have been researching, deciding upon and purchasing their favourite products.

A big part of digital transformation is not merely using tools to manage operations, but moving to data-driven decision making as part of your strategy.

The problem in this case is having the right data, given the pandemic represents something unprecedented for most Canadian retailers.

This is where it’s helpful to look at outside sources of data such as the Salesforce Q1 Shopping Index. Powered by Commerce Cloud, it analyzes data from the activity of more than one billion global shoppers and shows a dramatic shift from physical to digital browsing and buying.

While the full Q1 Index is worth exploring in its entirety for a global perspective, we’ll call out some Canada-specific numbers in this post to help provide the most actionable insights:

The Stats: Commerce revenue grew 24% in Q1 in Canada compared to 16% growth in Q1 2019. Shopper Spend (the per-visit amount spent by shoppers) rose 10 cents YoY.

The Insight: Canada’s e-commerce growth was even higher than in the U.S., which may reflect the fact that our population is more spread out geographically. Regardless of the reason, the data makes it clear that customers continue to want to shop, even if they are sheltering-in-place.

The Action: Besides ensuring you have e-commerce capabilities in place, now is the time to develop a digital marketing strategy that makes consumers aware of what’s in stock, what they might need but haven’t thought of, and any way to ease the fulfillment side to align with social distancing guidelines.

The Stats: Sites offering buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) grew digital revenue by 27% in Q1, compared with 13% for sites not offering BOPIS. Between March 10-20 specifically, digital revenue for sites offering BOPIS — via curbside, car, drive through, or store pickup — grew by 92% compared to 19% for sites not offering BOPIS over the same time period.

The Insight: While shoppers might have been content to wait for items to be shipped by physical mail before the pandemic, many now have the time to fetch what they’ve bought and are anxious to do so. This could become a competitive differentiator for the foreseeable future, if not table stakes across the retail sector in general.

The Action: Even though BOPIS seems to put the emphasis on the physical aspect of the experience, retailers need to continue thinking “omnichannel.” Be ready to answer questions from consumers about the status of their order and the time of the pickup by phone, email, text message or any other means the shopper prefers.

The Stats: The rate of online shoppers abandoning carts in Canada is much higher than in the U.S. It rose from 88% to 90% over the course of Q1, with the highest rate of abandonment happening on mobile devices (93%), compared to tablets (89%) and computers (86%).

The Insight: While we do tend to see increases in cart abandonment as traffic grows, there could be more to the story. Even if they’re rarely going outside their homes, don’t expect shoppers to be sitting in front of a desktop, where there’s plenty of room to navigate through a site. If mobile users aren’t finalizing a purchase, there’s likely some kind of friction in the experience that needs to be addressed.

The Action: Play “mystery shopper” for your own store using a mobile device. Even if you know the steps like the back of your hand, see if there are ways you could provide a more guided experience. Also think about how much data you’re collecting via e-commerce. It should be clear that any information you ask for will only improve what shoppers see, think and feel when they come back or hear from you afterwards.

The Stats: Although discount rates in the U.S. surged to 34% in mid-March, discount rates in Canada fell slightly between the end of Q4 and Q1, from 29% to 28%.

The Insight: Given we’re a smaller country with fewer shoppers, it might be understandable if retailers here felt they couldn’t offer as much in the way of discounts. That’s not the only alternative to galvanizing sales, however. Exclusive or limited-time collections of products or more personalized recommendations might be worth pursuing.

The Action: Study your own purchase data from previous quarters. Now is the time to jump on cross-sell or upsell opportunities that were on your “to-do” list before the pandemic. This is when demonstrating your ability to have a one-to-one relationship with your most valuable customers will really pay off.

The Stats: While purchases of essential goods grew globally by 200% in Q1, digital revenue grew by 51% for the Home Goods industry (like home decor and crafts), 31% YoY increase for Active Apparel (like athleisure), and a 34% YoY increase for Toys and Games.

The Insight: People can’t (and don’t want to) spend all their time working from home and watching or reading the news. They still need to be diverted and entertained, so don’t assume non-essential category sales will flatline. It may be time to think about a content strategy that complements those non-essential items.

The Action: Consider whether you could offer virtual consultations on non-essential products via videoconferencing or related tools. Maybe you could offer ideas and inspiration on how to have more fun with certain products through an Instagram Live or Facebook Live event. Even your blog and newsletter could offer customers ways to make the best of a challenging situation.

Data-driven thinking can be key to business success at any time, but for retailers it’s more powerful than ever before. Continue exploring the Q1 Shopping Index yourself to develop a unique strategy to stay agile and grow, even during COVID-19.

The post Salesforce Q1 Shopping Index: Insights And Action Items For Canadian Retailers appeared first on Salesforce.

According to the Salesforce Q1 Shopping Index, social traffic on tablet devices has doubled since the third quarter of last year. You can imagine shoppers using the larger screen real estate of a tablet to answer critical questions such as: “Can I get what I need?”and more importantly, “Can I get it safely?”

Retailers are responding with agility and resilience as they navigate dramatic shifts in category preferences, channel preferences, and consumer shopping behavior. Here’s what every retailer can do to address the challenges and build trust:

Improve merchandise agility and visibility

Shoppers have cleared store shelves of items like hand sanitizer, bottled water, and toilet paper. Even bread and canned goods have been scarce. In fact, a recent report from Statistics Canada revealed 63% of Canadians are stocking up on essentials.

This included bathroom tissue, which skyrocketed up 241% compared with the same time last year, and overall 16% higher grocery sales during the week of March 11 compared with the busiest shopping week of the year in 2019.

Consider the following best practices as you shift into overdrive to address sudden, unexpected shifts in product preferences:

• Ramp up efforts to replenish. As stockroom inventory dwindles, stores seek to bring in more product as fast as possible. In an interview with the Globe and Mail, the president of food distributor Sysco Canada said his firm was pivoting from restaurant and hospitality customers to to help grocers keep their inventories high. Other distributors, like Gordon Food Service and Flanagan Foodservice, are doing the same thing.

• Ensure every shopper has access to essentials. Some retailers have implemented purchase limits on high-demand items, from paper products to canned goods to baby supplies. Price gouging is another threat, and Amazon is cracking down on sellers setting outrageous price points for high-need items.

• Refactor manufacturing and supply chain. Brands such as Crocs, Canada Goose, and New Balance have taken advantage of their scale, leverage, and agility to provide safety and protective products to healthcare and other professionals on the front line.Others, such as Nobis and Knix, are donating or raising funds to procure PPE to fight COVID-19.

• Communicate your efforts to shoppers. Retailers added notices to their websites, or to their doors, to reassure customers supplies would continue to arrive and to explain any other new policies, such as Amazon’s prioritizing shipments of essentials over less-necessary items.

Adopt contactless engagement

As shoppers try to stay home, demand for delivery has skyrocketed. Instacart, Walmart Grocery, and Shipt saw 218%, 160%, and 124% increases, respectively, in average daily downloads compared to the previous month. And, generations traditionally not used to shopping this way, such as the elderly, are also getting on board with new technology.

Expand contactless payment and delivery services as well as other ways for shoppers to get groceries or other purchases without having to navigate store aisles or come into close contact with people. Indigo Books & Music, for example, has shut down its retail stores but is offering contactless curbside pickup for all online purchases.

• Provide contactless payment. Montreal-based Mobeewave recently introduced new features to its service that will allow retailers to process contactless payments by tapping a card or online wallet onto the back of an NFC-enabled mobile device. The need for special card readers or other speciality hardware can create more frustration for consumers who are already inconvenienced.

• Offer more delivery options. The CBC noted that many local Canadian farmers have taken money they would have normally allocated towards trade shows and expanded home delivery of everything from milk to fresh meat. This has meant hiring not only delivery drivers but more packers in some cases. Companies can also add delivery times to meet increased demand.

• Accelerate Buy Online Pickup in Store (BOPIS). Shoppers who need items fast can see if they are available in a nearby store, claim them and pay online, and pick up the items at the store. Just look at Loblaw Inc., which is building an automated picking facility to support its PC Express BOPIS service. This eliminates in-person visits to multiple stores in search of a hard-to-find item and unnecessary contact at the store. Shoppers simply walk in and pick up their orders or can even take advantage of curbside delivery.

• Update customers on new options. Clearly communicate available services. Grocery stores managing online delivery services can keep customers informed and respond to inquiries quickly using Salesforce Care for Employee and Customer Support.

Set new policies to ensure shopper — and employee — safety

The unprecedented threat to health and safety calls for never-before-needed measures in brick-and-mortar stores. To protect the most vulnerable, consider the following practices:

• Institute specific shopping times for the elderly or immunocompromised. Welcome these individuals in when the store first opens in the morning, when it is cleanest and fully stocked.

• Implement safety protocols. Limit the number of people in the store at one time and instruct shoppers to remain six feet apart. Some grocery stores have put tape on the ground to mark where shoppers should stand while waiting to enter or check out.

• Step up cleaning efforts. Modify open hours to facilitate regular deep cleaning. Install hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the store and encourage shoppers and employees to use them.

Respond with empathy and creativity

Grocery and pharmacy workers have become frontline heroes in this pandemic, especially those who come into contact with the public, such as cashiers and stockers. Warehouse workers also put their health on the line. Leaders can support them in multiple ways:

• Increase compensation for hourly employees. Acknowledge their hard work, and their risk of exposure, with a tangible raise in pay. Sobeys, for instance, has launched what it calls its Heroes Pay Program, which will provide an extra $50 a week to all employees. Those working more than 20 hours a week will get a $2 per hour premium.

• Prioritize worker health and safety. Increase the cleaning cadence for warehouses and other workspaces and provide protective equipment if possible. Bolster leave policies to encourage sick workers to stay home and fully recover. Learn other ways to enhance employee wellbeing with Camp B-Well (Trailhead).

• Be transparent as your response evolves. Leverage Quip to establish a crisis strategy and craft templates for communications. Share changes in policy to all stakeholders and encourage feedback. H-E-B established a coronavirus hotline for employees in need of information or assistance.

• Pledge no layoffs like RBC and Chubb Insurance. Give employees peace of mind by committing to no significant layoffs for 90 days for salaried, non-salaried, and hourly employees alike, in order to show dedication to your workforce.

Next steps and resources

These are challenging times for the retail industry. While digital has seen very healthy growth in the first quarter, it won’t come close to offsetting the seismic drop in physical foot traffic. Those leaders who adapt to the challenges created by the health crisis are attracting new customers and cementing lifelong relationships. Learn more about the Salesforce Care Solution, which helps you communicate with customers and employees directly or on social media.

Our Leading Through Change series provides thought leadership, tips, and resources to help business leaders manage through crisis. Check out some of our most recent articles:

• Find out how retailers are connecting with digital-only customers

• Get five tips to update your site faster in a time of crisis

• See five ways we’re helping our employees navigate work now

For more Leading Through Change, click here.

The post How Canadian Retailers Are Supporting Shoppers Amidst the New Normal appeared first on Salesforce.

Content agility in action

Commerce companies are doing an amazing job of delivering needed content to customers.

For example, the cosmetics retailer Lush provides prominent links to COVID-19 information on its homepage. Plus, it connects customers with a handwashing how-to article from its homepage. The article even includes an overview of how soap works.

Clothing retailer Hot Topic uses a homepage banner to link to COVID-19 FAQs about store closings, refunds, and more. Digging into product pages, you’ll find available sizes along with the number of times people purchased hot items. For example, this Animal Crossing hoodie is selling fast according to the site. Retailer Madewell takes a similar approach, with store closure information along with shipping and return links featured on its homepage. Customers used to an in-person experience get fast information about the retailer’s online shopping experience.

Content workflows under new pressure

Behind the scenes, many commerce teams that contribute content are struggling to keep up. Marketers, PR, and merchandisers all have more to share than ever. And executive approvers have more to review. They’re facing an unprecedented need to keep customers connected to the latest product, shipping, and return information.

Getting content published – even a straightforward return policy update – can take many steps and approvals. During a time of crisis, are you trying to carry out too many steps at a faster pace than ever before? Streamline some of the CMS-based processes you use to create and share content, especially product and other customer-facing content. Use these five tips as a starting point:

1. Empower the right people to update content

The people who create content should be able to update it. Train them to update content themselves with your CMS, and align approvals and workflows to support them. Cut back on the number of people who need to approve minor changes. Do you have a copyeditor proof the content on your staging site before going live? Keep that — it adds value by catching errors without taking much time.

2. Simplify product page design and update workflows

Look at your product page design and update workflows. You might find it’s a multi-stage back-and-forth between merchandisers and frontend developers. Look for opportunities to remove handoffs. If possible, let product teams update templated pages or page components themselves in the CMS.

3. Reuse content across channels

Your CMS may support publication to multiple channels, and you may not be taking full advantage of that capability. Being able to reuse content like banners across your storefront and in emails can be a huge time-saver, especially when you need to communicate with customers quickly.

4. Keep employee-facing content up to date

Your team needs to keep up with the latest developments too. That means empowering your HR and training teams to update content themselves. This example from NOW TV shows how simplifying training content creation processes boost internal engagement.

5. Share timely stories and expertise that’s relevant to your customers

As Party City does in this collection of at-home family fun ideas, you may want to share information that’s not transaction-related. Your blog is the perfect place to do that, especially if you’ve trained the right people to update content. Consider giving in-store staff who are now at home an online tutorial in blog writing. Your empowered content editors can help polish and publish insights from people eager to keep contributing from home.

Overcoming too much CMS complexity

If your content flows through more than one CMS or requires a frontend developer to publish, you might be thinking the above steps don’t apply. They do – you just might need to tweak them to your systems and capabilities. Just reducing one approval cycle or increasing the reuse of content (even if you have to cut and paste between systems) can save days.

Content is the conversation you’re having with customers. Understanding your CMS can help you make the conversion smoother and allow updates to happen in near real-time.

Do you want to learn more about how CMS technology evolved? Read What Is a CMS?

To get more tips on navigating change, read other articles in our Leading Through Change series. Find thought leadership, tips, and resources to help business leaders manage through crisis.

• Connect with your customers better with a crisis communication plan

• Get insight into how to keep your website up and running

• See what you can do in one hour to improve your self-service

• Weather uncertainty with a reimagined digital customer experience

The post How to Update Your Site Faster in Times of Crisis: 5 Tips appeared first on Salesforce.

As consumers continue to self-isolate and go all-digital, companies have new opportunities to connect with customers and reimagine their business models. Regardless of your organization’s size, location, or industry, this crisis offers the opportunity for innovation.

Let’s take a look at best practices for pivoting your retail experiences to digital — and how brands are already tackling traffic challenges head-on.

1. Offer flexibility in payment, loyalty, and delivery options

As the new norm of social distancing sets in, we’re beginning to see the economic effects of this pandemic. Experts predict real global GDP could contract as much as 1% around the world, and all avenues of business will feel the pinch. As a result, consumers will likely need new and innovative ways to pay for purchases.

Companies can help by multiplying loyalty offerings, issuing gift card expiration extensions, and rolling out longer payment cycles. For instance, Canadian car companies including Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Canada, Nissan Canada and Mitsubishi are debuting loan relief, payment rescheduling and in some cases 90-day payment deferrals during the pandemic.

If payment flexibility isn’t an option, here are other ways to offer relief:

• Give customers additional payment and shipping options, like the one Canada Post introduced to receive parcels that do not require signatures or contact upon delivery, or Mastercard’s decision to increase contactless payment limits across Canada.

• Follow companies like Swiss Chalet’s lead and connect commerce and service so customers can place orders by phone as well as online and arrange for contactless delivery. This is especially relevant for consumers who may want to discuss purchases before buying but are unable to go into a store.

• Offer emergency services like eSupply Canada. The company is supporting Canada’s Indigenous community by providing office supplies at cost to anyone who has to work from home due to the pandemic.

2. Create new digital and social media experiences

Now with an all-digital customer base, retailers can no longer rely on tried-and-true physical experiences. This is the time to use your entire workforce to think in new ways about connecting with customers.

For example, Toys R’ Us Canada developed an initiative called ‘Stay-at-Home Play” which included ideas for kids to have fun via YouTube videos, a ‘Wash Your Hands Challenge” that featured a dance-and-scrub-along song on TikTok and play packs that could be ordered online.

Here are three other ways to engage beyond your four walls:

1. Extend your retail staff’s expertise on social media. Edmonton specialty flower shop Cory Christopher has already held a ‘virtual flower party” live on Instagram and is developing a service where customers can have a kit delivered to their home with supplies, then participate in online flower-arranging workshops.

2. Offer a unique service. Shoppers Drug Mart’s physical locations are still open but it has extended the value it provides customers by partnering with SilverCloud Health to deliver a virtual stress management program on any mobile device for those whose mental wellness has been affected by COVID-19.

3. Create 1:1 experiences using video. One example we love: Canada’s Wonderland, which might not open in May as planned, is already helping those wishing they could enjoy the theme park by offering 30 different virtual roller coaster rides.

3. Use your best assets to contribute to the greater good

According to Forbes, 88% of shoppers believe brands have the power to make the world better. And now more than ever, we have an opportunity to do good in our communities. Whether that’s making charitable donations, supporting employees and customers in need, or stepping up with more sustainable practices, customers are looking at their favorite brands to do what’s right.

Beyond monetary donations, companies are using their pre-COVID assets to assist during the pandemic. Here are three examples of how companies are contributing more than money right now:

1. Use specialized technologies for charity. Corby Spirit & Wine, Top Shelf, Dillons and other distilleries are now making hand sanitizer.

2. Use marketing dollars as a force for public good. Fast-food chain Mary Brown’s Chicken & Taters recognized the need to make news more accessible to all Canadians by paying newspapers to take down their paywalls.

3. Repurpose factories, warehouses, and distribution centers. For example, luxury apparel maker Canada Goose is using its facilities to manufacture scrubs and patient gowns, and Quebec hockey equipment firm Bauer is creating face shields for medical professionals.

In this unprecedented time, much is unknown — and things change quickly. But retailers all over the world have already stepped up to meet these trying times.

Through it all, the ones who weather this challenge will be the ones who stay closest to their customers.

The post Weathering Uncertainty: How Retailers Can Connect With Digital-Only Customers appeared first on Salesforce.

As CEO of Commerce Cloud, I have had the chance to speak with many of you this week. And as expected, the conversation around commerce is changing. The main thing on your mind is the continuity of our service. You’re seeing traffic and transactions spike. Your order management systems are in constant flux. And you’re using your website to communicate with customers in almost real-time. You need flexibility and reliability. And we understand that.

Commerce Cloud is committed to supporting companies — of all sizes, locations, and industries — through this crisis and beyond. In fact, we’re meeting continually to ensure you can maintain business as usual. But we’re hearing from you that the recent disruption to traditional ways of working is giving you concern for your site’s reliability.

Here’s how to maintain business operations for your commerce site during unpredictable times:

1. Reassess critical workflows: Develop a daily standup meeting of critical cross-functional partners. For ours, we include leadership, technical, product, support, and customer success teams. This team should work to identify any risks and assign out the necessary adjustments and changes in real-time as the situation evolves.

2. Ensure VPN reliability: We normally support flexible working arrangements throughout our workforce, so on any given day, approximately 25% – 50% of our employees work remotely and securely away from our office locations. But that’s not the case for all companies, and this may be the first time your corporate VPN is tested. Meet with providers, request additional support, and restrict employee sign-ins to critical site operations personnel if needing to problem solve quickly.

3. Maximize site coverage: Many of our customer service and technology functions are based in multiple global locations which provide operational resilience during any disruption — no matter the time of day. If you have employees in different timezones, strategize about how you can provide maximum site support with the team you have. Or allow flexible working hours so coverage extends beyond the traditional workday.

4. Develop business continuity plans: These are protocols to guide you through major events such as this. Start with a variety of scenarios and work through with your technical, business planning, and PR teams how you might respond both internally with workflow adjustments and externally with customer communications. To help get you started, see how your service is performing with 100% visibility.

Even as your site is running full-steam, we understand your employees may experience stress as a result of the global health crisis. Use our Employee Mindfulness resources to help your team members overcome anxiety by building a practice of mindfulness for your company. This Trail includes tips on how to work from home and maintain personal well-being during this time.

The entire Commerce Cloud team is a committed partner to you and your business. We know the role of ecommerce is more important and urgent than ever, and we are steadfast in our commitment to maintaining your operations. Over the next few weeks, we’ll also continue to share best practices, resources, and innovations on a regular basis — on this blog and on Twitter.

As always, Salesforce Help is available 24 hours a day, providing access to documentation and videos, Trailhead training, and our Trailblazer Community. Additionally, case submission is operating as normal, and our Support agents are actively working cases. Together, we’ll get through this.

Our Leading Through Change content series provides thought leadership, tips, and resources to help business leaders manage through crisis. Check out some of our most recent articles:

• Here are five ways we help our employees navigate work now

• Read the ways we help businesses manage through crisis

• See how we pivoted a live event into an online experience

The post How to Keep Your Commerce Site Running in a Time of Crisis appeared first on Salesforce.