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Making online shopping more personal
Sheree Martin with a Lands' End customer service.
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TEXT OF STORY
Tess Vigeland: As the retail world gets ready for the most wonderful -- or at least most important -- time of the year, companies are trying whatever they can to distinguish themselves from rivals. Discounts are pretty much expected by customers. So is free gift wrapping. What to do, what to do. How about offering online video chats with customer service reps? Yeah! That's the ticket.
From Birmingham, Ala., Gigi Douban has more.
Gigi Douban: The thing about shopping for jeans is that there are so many choices. Skinny, relaxed, bootcut, boyfriend, distressed. And let's not forget the much-maligned mom jeans. But none of this fazes Sheree Martin. She's one of the brave souls who buys her jeans online.
Sheree Martin: Yes, I'm brave. But I tend to do a lot of online shopping for clothes and I'm pretty good about knowing what fits.
She's shopping for her latest pair using Lands' End's new video chat.
Sound of typing
It takes Martin a few minutes to find the chat.
Martin: OK, so I've asked where I find the link when I request a chat, and I'm waiting for a reply.
Finally, Madison appears. She's a customer service rep. It's a one-way video chat, so Sheree can see Madison. But at first, we can't hear Madison. Turns out Madison's headset was muted.
Martin: Oh, I'm hearing something.
Madison: Is it...
Martin: Now, we're...
Madison: ...any different?
Martin: That works. Hi Madison, I'm Sheree...
Once we connect, Madison is all ears, bright-eyed and nodding. She schools Sheree about the intricacies of vintage jeans.
Madison: So you like sort of a midtone? I think the vintage indigo probably is the middle of the road.
Martin: OK.
Madison: And you know the rinsed is really dark.
Lands' End is owned by Sears Holdings Corp., which has been experimenting with new online retail models. The key demographic for Lands' End is women 35 to 54. It's a group comfortable with the idea of e-commerce but still prefers face-to-face interaction.
Joan Conlin oversees customer service for Lands' End.
Joan Conlin: So when you think about shopping and you have that person in the store, retail store that's helping you out, it's kind of that experience that we wanted to emulate.
Which for video sales reps means no smirking, no quiet huffing, definitely no rolling of the eyes. And that's part of what makes video chat a bit risky, says Wendy Liebmann, analyst and CEO of WSL Strategic Retail.
Wendy Liebmann: Well it's risky like Skype, you could look really ugly that day. That could be a worry. You've got to have your lipstick on straight.
Mostly though, Liebmann says video customer service reps need to be able to answer questions quickly so that ultimately, customers buy something, just like in a real store.
Liebmann: I think it is about trying to engage their customers in a contemporary kind of way.
Over the coming months, Lands' End will be rolling out video chat kiosks at real stores, including Sears. But until they switch to two-way video capability, which they say they might one day, they still can't answer one question: Will these jeans make my butt look fat?
In Birmingham, I'm Gigi Douban for Marketplace.
I've seen this same customer experience last year on the website of Lexus Germany. I was with my brother in law for a Lexus RX450h when I noticed they offered LIVE HELP. When I clicked it I got connected to a live Lexus operator who assisted me in building the car. He even booked me a testdrive. Typical for Lexus to offer this kind of outstanding customer service. I was so amazed about this technology, so I did some research and I found out they use vee24.com to offer this service. I believe by looking at this Youtube video from Lands'End they are using the same supplier.
The concept of engaging customers online like this is cool. I've seen this solution running on the website of Lexus in Germany. I was browsing their website to have a look at their new RX hybrid car, when I was offered online assistance. I was curious so I accepted and the experience was really nice and professional. I've found out that the company they use is vee24.com. I believe Lands' End work with them as well, looking at their website code. I predict we'll see more and more companies offering this human touch on their websites...
The concept of providing on line “face to face†customer support is very interesting. It lets companies personalize the interaction with their customers and provide better service. There are a number of solutions out there that do that including Verishow.com which is a corporate version of showdocument.com and others.
You mean there are people who actually use salespeople to help them choose and select what jeans are best for them - most flattering, etc.? You gotta be kidding. Most salespeople I have dealt with at these jeans type places are only good for stating whether they have a certain size or not. I wouldn't trust the eye of these people any more than I trust the judgement of a partner.
This marketing move was another marketing move based on - as the story suggests - anything but science and is rooted in desperation and I would guess, money to burn.
Gigi Douban said: "Will these jeans make my butt look fat?"
Oh boy...
I can see video chat would be a no-win career track for men, at least in the retail clothing field.
Maybe Home Depot or Ace Hardware, since no man I know asks if this box-end wrench will make me look old.
