Customers want to know " What have you done for me lately?"
There is a new store that opens every minute of the hour, and if we want to think global, imagine just how many more are being opened every second of the day. Whether it is a food chain, fashion boutique, technology company or automotive dealership there's enough of a customer to fit all needs. The real question that consumers are asking brands is, "What have you done for me lately?"
Brands are thinking creatively of how to keep the customer satisfied and more importantly working towards creating the ultimate brand experience. It should feel as organic and as though they are walking into their own home.
This has become the new way of doing business and rightfully so, especially as more and more brands struggle with customer retention. According to American Express in a survey done this year gen-X makes up 8% of the top in the US and spends 20% of their annual income on luxury goods and services. Even beating the baby boomers by spending 37% on luxury clothing alone. Imagine if more brands step up to the plate this number can only increase.
Brands have truly realized that the experience should be seamless and more thoughtful, and in order to do so it's really about getting to understand the needs and shopping habits of your customers.Accomplishing the importance of doing so will help give you the ability to create brand loyalty.
Considering some of the luxury customers have no shortage of pampering themselves in their personal lives with indulgences, such as owning exotic cars, having multiple homes & chartering private planes, which leave brands today to figure out ways to entice the clients by giving them full access that even money can't buy. Experiences such as sitting front row at runway shows followed by backstage access to personally meeting the designers and visiting their atelier in Europe, have become ways to engage. Brands even go as far as allowing the clients to make their personal selection straight off the runway, which helps the buyers get more of an in-sight on the customer taste level, and in many ways this makes the buying process more attainable and secure. Unfortunately these type of experiences are a few and far between.
One brand that truly knows how to give everyone the ultimate experience is Apple. What a genius idea on the Genius Bar, as Harvard Business Review mentioned in an article, the Genius Bar is an amazing idea that is used as a vehicle to build client experience, by reinforcing and enhancing the customer relationship that has been damaged by product issues. In addition the real triumph is that it protects the Apple brand by providing customers with the reassurance that they can have the brand fix any of their technical problems. A survey states 99.1% of the time you leave feeling great about the service and experience especially when your problem is resolved, which leaves one to wonder how to improve that .9%.
It's all a matter of personal choice, but regardless of brand, access and a memorable experience is what every client seeks to find.