Brands encourage customer feedback through user-friendly technology
Implications - Sites like Yelp have made feedback unavoidable for restaurants and retailers, but for brands who don't regularly hear from their customers, getting honest feedback can be a challenge. To combat this, brands are implementing apps and tech kiosks that not only make the process easy, but in some cases incentivize customer engagement. This is consistent with an increasingly customized, consumer-driven approach to customer service.
Workshop Question - How does your brand ensure its consumers feel heard and valued?
Trend Themes
1. Incentivizing Feedback - Businesses are implementing apps and tech kiosks that incentivize customer engagement, like reward-based apps and surveys that offer free products and cash.
2. Digital Communication - Businesses are incorporating digital receipts and feedback systems that allow customers to rate their purchasing experience and engage in direct communication with merchants through apps and tablets.
3. Crowdsourcing Feedback - Businesses are utilizing crowdsourcing and artificial intelligence to collect customer feedback and complaints in real-time, like anonymous complaint platforms and menu-ranking apps that allow customers to vote for their favorite dishes.
Industry Implications
1. Retail Industry - The retail industry can integrate incentivizing feedback apps and analytical retail beacons that provide customers with instant promotions while collecting feedback from their shopping experience.
2. Food and Beverage Industry - Food and beverage businesses can utilize crowdsourcing feedback and experience-rating payment systems like digital reviews and menu-ranking apps, which offer customers the opportunity to vote for their favorite dishes and provide feedback anonymously.
3. Mobile App Development Industry - Mobile app developers can create responsive digital receipt and feedback systems that allow customers to rate and engage in direct communication with merchants, while offering the businesses instant access to customer feedback and complaints.
