In the latest issue of the influential publication, The Economist, a lengthy article reveals that traditional retailers have finally figured out how to compete with online retailers. According to the article ("The emporium strikes back", 13-19 July 2013), "shopping is about entertainment as well as acquisition. It allows people to build desires as well as to fulfil them - if it did not, no one would ever window shop. It encompasses exploration and frivolity, not just necessity."
The e-commerce sector might be growing at a faster pace than traditional retail, but brick-and-mortar retailers are making more money. According to The Economist, many online retailers are now opening physical stores. One such example is Warby Parker, the New-York-based online retailer that has opened 14 stores, one of which is a transformed school bus that traverses the country. Another example is NetOnNet, a Swedish electronics retailer that sold exclusively online at first, but now has several physical stores.
South African retailers are among the best in the world when it comes to developing Customer Experience Face-2-Face - and the innovation has started in our banks and hospitals.
South African company Emerge Queue is working with Swedish software company Qmatic to help businesses improve their Customer Experience Face-2-Face. Since the partnership formed in 2009, Emerge Queue has installed models, systems and technology that help hospitals, banks and public sector institutions improve their customer experience. Emerge Queue became Qmatic's first official Certified Partner in 2011, and has been tremendously successful ever since, delivering an estimate of 85% of Qmatic installations in Africa, and won the prize for the highest growth in the Middle East and Africa in 2012.
As a result, hospital patients are better informed and not left wondering about what the next step in the healthcare process is. In banks, customers are quickly directed to the right expert who can help with their enquiry. While customers wait their turn, they are able to receive information about other offers that are beneficial to both them and the bank.
In fact, when it comes to Customer Experience Face-2-Face, South Africa is ahead of many American and European markets. A system that manages customer flow and makes it more efficient, as is the case with Khayelitsha Hospital, not only increases the number of patients that are dealt with, but also improves efficiency and saves money.
"Emerge Queue is a brilliant partner to Qmatic, one of our very best," says Alistair Agnew of Qmatic. "They have more or less by themselves shaped the entire market for our products in this extremely exciting part of the world, and the way they have created business opportunities is mind boggling, especially in retail banking and healthcare. South Africa, and Africa south of Sahara, really is leading the way in how to build Customer Experience Face-2-Face."
Based on Qmatic's technology, Emerge Queue provides South African businesses, banks, hospitals and government institutions with smart and scalable software as a service solutions for Customer Experience Face-2-Face. These systems manage entire customer flows, from check-in to check-out.
With smarter systems for efficient customer flow management in physical spaces, it is quite possible to combine the best of two worlds. Customers can check-in online and get in line even before arriving; or they can avoid queuing altogether by looking up which branch or location currently has the shortest queue. While individual customers can check-in remotely and be assigned a place in a queue, retailers can also access their personal information and provide customised in-store offerings that in turn improve the customer experience.
As the dividing line between a physical space and online-based customer service is increasingly blurred, Customer Experience Face-2-Face allows for a means to save as well as make money in all service industries such as hospitals, government institutions and banks.
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