Integrating
technology into a restaurant, bodega, service deli, or convenience stores will
be of no use to your customers or to the operator without a customer focused
relevance that is integrated into the brand messaging according to Steven Johnson Grocerant
Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice
Solutions®.
Consider this, over the past few years, a
number of c-store operators introduced mobile apps with the goal of fulfilling
an imperative to “go digital” without integrating the technology with both the
brand and the customer.
Regular reader of this blog know that
today digital technology is much more than just an app. Today an app requires a comprehensive
strategy that includes both product and customer data, customer interaction and
ability to be participatory, social media, optimization and more
Fresh food retailers selling meals and
meal components need to embrace technologies such as loyalty apps, mobile
ordering and self-service kiosks, it’s critical to establish a clear digital
strategy from the outset. The goal of such a strategy is to leverage data and
technology to better understand your customers, making their experience across
every brand interaction and touchpoint more convenient, personalized and
enjoyable — and, in the process, drive measurable business outcomes.
Below are five key points by Kevin Rice, who is the executive vice president at Bounteous, a
digital growth partner for the restaurant and c-store industries that helps
brands like Wawa, Dash In and Domino’s drive incremental revenue through
digital experiences. I think you will like his insights.
Analytics help brands determine how users
behave and interact with a brand. If your brand website has limited
functionality (no user login, ordering functionality, etc.), site user data
from platforms like Google Analytics may be limited. However, customer data can
come from a variety of sources such as primary and secondary research.
When beginning to gather customer data, a
key question convenience retailers can begin with is: What motivates customers
to choose this brand over another?
Some customers want fuel discounts.
Others want convenience in the form of ancillary services, such as ready-to-eat
meals, delivery or car washes. Still others might appreciate a high level of
in-person customer service when they stop in for their morning coffee.
Everyone has different motivations and
desired outcomes; the goal of a comprehensive digital strategy is to cater to
these unique desires and expectations at each and every touchpoint.
Understanding your customer base via first-party data and analytics is the
first step in doing that.
Personalization, Loyalty and CRM
Once you have data, it can be analyzed
and trends within it can be used to better understand consumer behavior and
eliminate friction points. This, in turn, drives personalized brand
interactions that feel like they were created specifically for each customer,
at just the right time.
An effective CRM strategy considers each
phase of the customer lifecycle. It requires strategic, deliberate messaging to
target users at a unique moment in time, considering channel, frequency or
content.
The small marketing team at Blaze Pizza
used its CRM platform to gather a wealth of insights about the brand’s
clientele.
“We did a series of surveys, which
resulted in a much higher engagement rate than we anticipated,” said Vince
Szwajkowski, chief marketing officer, Blaze Pizza. “In some cases, we were able
to re-engage with lapsed guests. We also received information that we can’t get
from transactional data, such as which features should be developed in our app,
what they love about the brand, and what is challenging about engaging with the
brand.”
This gave Blaze an initial data set to
build on. As a result of the survey, the brand put together a successful ”Win
Back” campaign for lapsed guests.
Customers want to be communicated with in
a personalized way. Digital assets such as apps, websites, self-service kiosks
and media displays in the fuel area are all examples of ways in which to do
that. The marketing technology, or “martech” stack — which can include the
customer data, loyalty, offer management, marketing automation, online
ordering, gift card and other platforms — comprise the underlying architecture
that powers a brand’s consumer-facing technology.
Consumer insights, gathered from the data
and analytics mentioned above, can help drive the digital strategy and create a
roadmap for new technologies, which will be added over time.
Testing and Optimization
Digital transformation is not a matter of
immediately instituting the best ideas, but rather trying new methods and
initiatives to determine what works best for your brand. Breakthrough ideas
come not only from knowing what is working, but from knowing what isn’t.
Some brands will gladly invest in new
features and technologies, but struggle to invest in user testing. A/B testing,
however, is a critical part of an effective digital strategy. Often, a simple
solution can dramatically improve the user experience, but you won’t know that
until it’s tested.
Remember: digital transformation is a
long-term, iterative process. Even the most successful brands — such as
Starbucks, which began its digital journey more than 15 years ago — constantly
strive to optimize customer interactions with the brand.
Organizational Alignment
Establishing early-phase collaboration
between the IT and marketing departments, along with consideration for
operations and accounting, is essential to implementing a holistic digital
strategy.
When the IT department understands the
ultimate goals of the marketing team, and vice versa, they can work in tandem
to evolve the tech stack based on a clear strategy and roadmap, ultimately
improving the customer experience and driving measurable business outcomes.
They can also be forward-thinking in planning software integrations, rollouts
of new products and services, and tracking and measuring progress.
While an app alone may not be a digital
strategy, it can be an integral part of your brand’s overarching plan. By
creating a roadmap and planning across teams and departments, your c-store’s
digital presence will grow and contribute to your bottom line.
Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business
development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food
retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu
integration strategy. Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit
us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter
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