Why it’s Time Retailers Diagnose Feedback Fatigue

In the multichannel world of modern retail, the voice of the customer has never been louder. Amplified by social media, customers have become an authority that no retailer can afford to underestimate. Aware of this reality, most retailers have already turned their attention to customer feedback activities. Yet only a small proportion have taken the time to ask the question, do these methods really work?

To give an example, we’ve all experienced that post-purchase scenario when you receive an email asking what you think about a service. Often, these automated emails arrive before you’ve even had a chance to leave the store or use the product. Alternatively, it hides in your junk folder or arrives three-days later. Irrespective, the truth is that most of us don’t engage with these emails anyway. In fact, studies suggest that just one in 11 emails gets click-through at all.

In isolation, this scenario may seem of little concern. Unfortunately, inundated with surveys, questionnaires and emails, customers are now tuning out to mitigate the feedback fatigue. This has left retailers with a dilemma: How do they gather valuable feedback without overwhelming customers?

When it Comes to Feedback, Timing is ‘Almost’ Everything

It’s important to point out that timing is nearly everything when it comes to collecting opinions and sentiments from customers. Take an email asking you about your in-store experience. If it lands in your inbox hours after you’ve left the point of service, your experience will undoubtedly be influenced by other interactions you've had that day. It’s a common issue, and one that can completely skew the data.

In an age where time is of the essence, consumers are also more concerned about how they spend their time. Asking for feedback when a customer is occupied creates an interruption. At this point, you’re requesting the customer to stop what they’re doing and instead give you their attention. It’s a big ask, especially when the request is that they answer a series of long questions. Often, just the mere suggestion of a quick survey can perturb even the politest customer.

This highlights the pitfalls of questionnaires and reviews — they're just not frictionless or relevant enough. Instead, the key is to enable customers to share their opinions quickly and at their own leisure. Today, there are fast and interactive in-store feedback systems designed specifically for this purpose.

Another key element related to timing is assessing when customers can provide feedback. It’s much easier to provide feedback after the checkout or at the exit than it is when you're searching a store for the eggs. Therefore, soliciting feedback at the right time can massively increase response rates and the overall quality of the feedback.

It’s All About Combining Quantity and Quality

In retail environments, finding a good balance between data sets is paramount. Usually, businesses either have too much or too little data. Sometimes, it can be hard to say which condition is worse. If a business has too few insights, then its data may lack detail and accuracy. Equally, with access to limited data, only certain insights can be leveraged to inform key decisions. It's for these reasons that retailers benefit from adopting systems that can gather multilayered feedback from one source.

It's also true that another common issue for retailers is high volumes of low-quality data. Not only can an ocean of data be inefficient to gather and analyze, but by the time it's ready for review, it's often extremely outdated. Instead, by striking the balance between quantity and quality, retailers can gather meaningful insights that result in tangible improvements. To achieve this, retailers generally require customer-friendly systems that automatically gather and analyze in-moment feedback. This combination allows businesses to immediately understand, track, prioritize, and address the areas influencing customer experience the most.

On another level, gathering high-quality layered data can also be incredibly valuable for inspiring operational change. Access to store-specific data can enable managers to make swift comparisons across various areas of the store. They can also analyze different market segments and customer pain points, while also positioning them against locations or time periods (hour, day, week or month).

This process empowers managers to identify deviations and weaknesses more effectively, and helps them extract valuable insights to discern patterns, trends and areas of improvement. Ultimately, it provides an immediate holistic overview of all customer touchpoints. Once armed with digestible and high-quality insights, retailers can then confidently make prompt and proactive changes to their stores.

How to Finally Close the Customer Feedback Loop

Upon implementing thorough feedback systems, the hope is that businesses use this knowledge to drive real-world change. Sadly, this isn't always the case. In the case of retailers, this usually comes down to lack of communication. It’s common for those at the top to have all the information and know exactly what needs to be done. However, when it comes to those on the ground, the details can be far from clear.

As for the customer, it's equally important to let them know that the feedback they have provided matters. It all comes down to transparency. To close the feedback loop, customers need to feel that they're being heard. Otherwise, they’ll stop trusting the feedback systems. To demonstrate this commitment to activating feedback, retailers must address their customers directly. It may seem simple, but physical and digital notices saying “we have made this change based on your feedback” offer a no-nonsense explanation of how a retailer is improving customer experience.

In addition to helping build trust, closing the feedback loop also mitigates feedback fatigue by personalizing the feedback journey. To this point, retailers that communicate that they're making tangible improvements based on feedback not only earn greater customer loyalty, but also advocacy. This reciprocation also encourages customers to form a genuine connection with the retailer. Upon forming this bond, customers will be more likely to recommend and share positive sentiments about their experiences with others.

Ultimately, by acknowledging the concept of feedback fatigue and understanding its implications, retailers can gather vital data without inconveniencing customers. Any retailer that can achieve this and overcome these challenges will be well on the way to delivering unrivaled experiences for their customers.

Tim Waterton is vice president of sales and customer success at HappyOrNot, a customer feedback management company.