Companies that want to implement self-service strategies need to be aware of and plan for the cultural, technical and practical obstacles that might prevent the successful adoption of self-service among their customer bases.
That's according to Kevin Meltzer, business development director at Consology. His comments are a response to a recent study by the Grocer Magazine in the UK that found self-service checkout has actually made queues at supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury move slower than they did when tills were manned by people.
The study also found that many people actually still prefer to be served fellow human beings.
Self-service supermarket checkouts first started to spread throughout the UK in 2002 and are now commonplace, the company says. Some of the problems associated with self-service checkout are rejected bank notes and incorrectly identified items such as fruit and vegetables.
Meltzer says self-service solutions that are badly implemented or that are inappropriate for a business or customer segment can actually decrease rather than boost efficiency.
As such, companies need to bear their customers' needs in mind when designing their self-service solutions, rather than focusing only on their desire to save money and improve efficiencies.
“It is also important, where possible, to give customers a choice of channels to choose from,” Meltzer adds. “Some customers will always prefer a human touch while others will want the cheapest, most convenient and quickest option, which will invariably be an electronic or self-service channel.”
The British supermarkets' experience highlights the importance of providing human back-up (or assisted service) for self-service solutions, says Consology.
"If you're providing a self-service solution - be it kiosk-based or online - you need to provide support for customers who need it. This is especially important when customers are starting to use your system," Meltzer says.
He asserts that the teething problems the British supermarkets are experiencing are not insurmountable since many of them are simply technical and process teething problems that will be ironed out over time.
But these early problems could put customers off self-service and hence delay adoption of self-service solutions, he points out.
"It's important for that reason to test your systems as best as you can to determine how well they work," Meltzer reckons.
"They might be intuitive to you in terms of your business processes, but do they make sense in terms of the customer's logic? Do they scale well when there's a rush of users? Do they integrate well with your other systems and channels? These are all questions you need to ask yourself."
Self-service isn't a cure-all for customers' service challenges, but needs, instead, to be regarded as part of an integrated channel strategy, according to Consology.
The company notes customers are becoming used to serving themselves across a range of channels and applications - from self-service for parking and movie theatre tickets, up to online banking and automated flight check-ins.
Meltzer concludes: "The move towards more automation is inevitable, but self-service solutions need to be thoughtfully implemented in a way that is convenient for the customer if they are to improve the customer experience."
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