Bluetooth push-to-summon beacons will bring assistance right to you.
Canadian Tire (Kanata), sought to improve its customer service strategies by leveraging Bluetooth® beacon technology. The goal was to enhance the in-store shopping experience by providing timely and accurate customer service while at the same time gathering valuable insights into customer behaviour, trends and pain points.
The challenge
It is increasingly convenient for customers to purchase a wide range of products, from weekly household items and meals to furniture, all from the comfort of their homes. E-commerce platforms offer a more appealing alternative compared to traditional big-box stores, which often suffer from disengaged or absent staff, subpar retail standards, and numerous purchasing barriers such as showcases, lockers, online-only assortments, or inefficient supply chains.
The future of in-store shopping relies on fostering meaningful connections between exceptional staff and their customers. We offer a superior approach to enhance this experience.
Impact
These beacons represent the convergence of traditional bricks-and-mortar customer service goals and advanced technology, enhancing both the customer journey and employee satisfaction. Technology serves as the conduit to a superior customer experience today, enabling us to develop a smarter and more adaptable business for the future.
We have revolutionized workforce management by strategically deploying the best available human resources to areas where they are needed most. By integrating advanced algorithms with a user-friendly interface, we ensure optimal staff allocation, which leads to increased morale, engagement, and productivity. This approach provides us with a significant competitive advantage.
Key pain points
Customers had to seek out sales staff and or wait for unacceptable lengths of time for help to be either too busy, unauthorized or flat out unable to assist due to already tending to other customers. This was a really unorganized, time consuming and painful process.
Since merchandise locations frequently change, seasonal sections come and go, and the physical footprint of the store itself can be intimidating it’s no wonder customers were overwhelmed and frustrated
A lot of the times sales staff didn’t have all the information (plumbing questions), access to keys/codes (electronics cabinets), know-how (mix paint), or authority (operate scissor lift) so they’d need to contact their manager and request further assistance creating yet another barrier for the customer
The store manager who received the request would then usually have to apologize and in some cases appease the customer with a discount if their experience was particularly lengthy or frustrating
Key Strategies
Create an MVP to with the goal of providing speedy service, identify shopping patterns, and gain valuable data insights
Reduce customer wait time by providing point of sale signage throughout the store
Streamline the response process by highlighting the department and aisle and other relevant content depending on the type of service request (ie. keys for video game cabinet required)
Establish the information architecture and display information in digestible chunks, reducing cognitive load and anxiety
Skills
Stakeholder interviews
UI design
Design reviews and iteration
Prototyping & interaction design
User acceptance testing
Users
Store staff and managers
Team members
Product Owner
Store GM
Department managers
IMRSV Data Labs (Development)
QA
Research
Since this was an existing problem every large retailer deals with, I researched how other competitors handled it. Some had no sort of infrastructure in place, some had introduced technology but they weren’t streamlined. We knew we could do much better.
Market Analysis
Studied existing technology implementations in the retail sector to understand best practices and potential challenges.
User Interviews
Conducted interviews with both in-store customers and sales staff to identify pain points and preferences surrounding the customer service experience.
Examples of other big box retailers integrating technology and customer service.
Self checkout
CX Beacon in-store signage
5’ female cut-out for big ticket items
Mobile apps
Aisle end caps
Digital membership cards
Locked cabinets / specialized services
Design
Each employee has a store-issued phone with the app installed. When a customer initiates a service request, a notification is sent out indicating the department and aisle where help is required.
Armed with a basic logic flow, and a few chicken scratches I put together a basic prototype that demonstrated possible scenarios during service requests.
After login the staff member chooses which role(s) they are handling for that shift. Sales staff are typically the first responders and support staff and management play secondary roles to handle request overflows that happen during peak periods. A user also can select more than one role as the on-duty manager may also be in a sales or support role.
We needed to identify the employee and their authorization levels before funneling them down to appropriate streams based on their answers. Were they support staff or sales staff on this shift? If sales, what (if any) department are you responsible for? If it was a specialized service (cutting chain, mixing paints), was the length of time to complete the task considered? Paint takes 10 minutes to mix on average, while cutting a length of chain for a customer is less than 30 seconds. We needed to prioritize that regardless of who summoned assistance first, the smart customer service play here is to serve the chain customer first.
We could funnel the request (beacons are assigned priority levels) based on the service, product or department. This saved both customers and staff time and presumption, and it saved us from unknowingly stranding easy “quick win” service calls in some of these cases.
On the Management side
Management can gain insight into various aspects of their customer's experiences with the beacons via the dashboard. Designed for simplicity and quick reviews, it provides key metrics to allow the management team the ability to review and assess successes or shortcomings. This provides opportunities on the spot to react more efficiently to situations as they arise.
🧮 Average claims per day
🏃️ Average response time
🕐 Peak hours for better scheduling
🆘 Number of calls requiring support assistance
Reporting
Next to providing stellar customer service the most important aspect of the app was to provide performance insights to the management team. Useful for quickly adjusting to current market trends (*cough COVID-19*) and awarding over-achieving staff for exceptional work.
Management can see a great range of information and also export it if need be.
📆 Range of dates
🔘 Most active beacons
🚨 Busiest departments and aisles
🕐 Peak hours
Result
A mobile app which was designed to summon and alert in-store assistance based on customers' location in the store and real-time location data from beacons installed throughout the store. Key metrics include:
Average daily calls: Reports on time, location, and number of triggers from any beacon on the network.
Average response time: How long staff took to respond and whether an instance was escalated to management.
On-the-fly updates: Edit properties (priority level, response time etc.) for any beacon at any time.
Real-Time alerts: For large items customers receive SMS notifications for pick up time and location.
Highlights
Created a digital customer service request process which eliminates the need to search aimlessly for a staff member or lose the sale due to frustration
Reduced the amount of guesswork for the customer by providing them in-store signage relevant to requesting service
Further reduced friction by customizing the beacon options based on length of task, retail price, specialized skill etc.
Reduced customer anxiety and abandonment rates which ultimately affect the bottom line.
Streamlined the process for the customer by storing their phone number (with their consent) in our database and notififying them via SMS text that their item is ready for pick up.
Reduced the amount of errors thanks to the streamlined information architecture
Raised customer satisfaction since the new digital process is so much easier
KPIs:
Increased Customer Engagement: The implementation of the beacons led to higher levels of customer engagement and interaction.
Improved Sales: Resulted in increased sales of seasonal items and a higher than average extended warranty purchases.
Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: Customers appreciated the improved experience and found the beacons helpful in requesting assistance and discovering new products.
Valuable Insights: Canadian Tire (Kanata) gained valuable insights into customer behaviour and preferences, enabling data-driven decision-making and targeted marketing and staffing strategies.
Next steps
By leveraging beacon technology to deliver personalized experiences and service, Canadian Tire (Kanata) successfully transformed its retail environment, driving increased customer engagement, sales, and satisfaction. This user-centric approach to design and innovation positions Canadian Tire (Kanata) as a leader in the retail industry, poised for continued growth and success in the digital age.
We wanted to be able to improve and speed up a customer’s experience in store.
We also wanted to add the ability to send the proper help you require to avoid further wait times for keys, codes or manager’s approvals.
Even with our short timelines (2 months) we significantly improved the service request process for both the customers and the business.
This product ultimately became Meerby.