In the future, convenience stores are likely to be more than just convenience stores, but will become a new highland for customer service.
Nowadays, in the context of the stalling of the development of large supermarkets and the increasing involution of the convenience store industry, the market size of China's convenience store industry continues to expand, according to iiMedia Research, the market size of China's convenience store industry is expected to reach 503.3 billion yuan in 2025.
The store broke through 3W+, and the king of convenience stores was born
The huge market "cake" has attracted many convenience store brands to "conquer the city". Among them, this local brand, which emerged in Dongguan, has become a well-deserved convenience store giant in China in just over 20 years.
Its predecessor dates back to 1990 as China's first supermarket chain, before transforming into a convenience store in 1997. In 2014, with a forward-looking business mindset, the convenience store brand embarked on a journey of national expansion. In 2023 alone, nearly 5,000 new stores will be successfully opened, and the number of stores in operation across the country will exceed 35,000 in one fell swoop, becoming the new "king of convenience stores".
Today, its footprints cover more than 20 provinces, more than 1,100 cities and more than 4,300 towns and towns across the country, with more than 60 million members, meeting the differentiated needs of consumers in different regions, and serving more than 200 million customers per month.
Time and practice have created the majesty of the convenience store giant, helping it to leap from a regional convenience store brand to a national brand, with footprints all over China. What amazes the industry even more, in such a competitive convenience store track, why did it run to the front?
The convenience store giant has its own way to this.
Accelerate digital transformation and transform the king of convenience stores
In fact, one of the reasons for the rapid development of the convenience store giant is due to the early deployment of digital operations. From franchise to procurement, to logistics management, sales and membership management, it widely uses digital and intelligent means.
I realized very early that in the increasingly fierce competition, the core is to practice the basic skills, and the comprehensive improvement of product strength, service power and supply chain synergy is indispensable. And only "good products + good services" complement each other to provide consumers with real "quality service".
However, with the diversification of consumer demand, the diversification of consumer shopping channels and the decentralization of consumption time, the consumption behavior of the same customer usually occurs on multiple platforms or channels, which also leads to the gradual fragmentation of the convenience store giant's service management, and the poor communication of service personnel, resulting in the inability to collaborate seamlessly.
- Fully integrated online channels, efficient service, not cumbersome
The diversity of online channels has provided brands with more ways to communicate with customers, but it has also brought its own problems. For example, the brand's online customer service needs cover multiple platforms such as the 400 hotline, official website, WeChat official account, mini program, H5 mall, and Weibo. In the actual shopping process, the same customer often communicates across platforms.
For example, a customer may learn about the event information when they swipe Weibo, initially learn about the product details through Weibo customer service, and then transfer to the WeChat Mini Program mall to place an order. In the event of a shortage of stock, customers may also inquire about the status of the goods in other stores through the mall customer service.
However, in the brand's previous customer service system, these customer service channels were separated from each other, and information and operations were not interconnected. Therefore, when a customer consults on one platform and then transfers to another platform, the customer service who accesses the customer does not know anything about the previous consultation problem, and the customer service cannot identify the customer's communication stage, and therefore cannot match the appropriate language.
Of course, more troubles actually include the need for customer service personnel to constantly switch back and forth in the background of multiple customer service platforms, which ultimately leads to continuous internal friction in the entire workflow.
How to effectively integrate all online channels to provide users with a seamless shopping experience, and how to achieve rapid response, accurate answers and personalized services with a huge user base?
The brand chose to build its own omni-channel customer service system through digital means, opening up omni-channel customer information. Whether it is through Weibo or WeChat H5 Mall, it can achieve direct and efficient connection and interaction with consumers, so that customers can experience consistent high-quality services.
To take a more specific example, in the consultation and reception scenario of WeChat H5 Mall, when customers enter the online customer service interface, they will first see a series of consultation type options, such as order inquiry, return and exchange service, product information consultation, and FAQs. Customers can easily click on the corresponding type of consultation according to their needs.
For most common consultation questions, the mall is equipped with an intelligent customer service robot, which can give accurate and detailed answers in a short time, saving customers the time of waiting for manual customer service. For more complex issues or issues that require human intervention, the system will automatically direct customers to a queue of inquiries from a human agent.
When a customer's question is routed to a human agent, the agent will immediately see the customer's details, including their previous inquiries, purchase history, the channels used, the region, and their communication and shopping preferences. This information not only helps agents understand the needs and context of customers more quickly, but also enables them to provide them with personalized service recommendations.
- Deep integration of multiple systems to optimize processes and be more efficient
Not only that, but the application of the omnichannel customer service system is far beyond our imagination. It not only greatly improves the response speed and accuracy of customer service, but also reshapes the quality inspection management, work order flow and agent monitoring system in an all-round way, so as to achieve a comprehensive upgrade of service operations.
The convenience store giant understands that service is the key to building a brand image, and the improvement of the customer service management system is a top priority. Nowadays, customer complaints and public opinion due to customer service work pressure, emotion and other problems are emerging in an endless stream.
Through the introduction of the intelligent quality inspection system, it can accurately identify whether the tone and words used by customer service agents in the service process are appropriate, and whether the customer's problems are solved, and correct them in time. At the same time, it can also collect statistics on key indicators such as response time and problem resolution rate of customer service agents, and provide comprehensive service quality reports for management.
When the customer service agent violates the rules, the system will automatically identify and warn in a timely manner, such as poor service attitude, violation of company regulations, etc., to ensure the standardization and professionalism of customer service.
In addition, the customer service system and the ticket system are linked, which can convert customer needs in the chat process into corresponding work orders, and automatically flow to the problem solving department according to the type and urgency of the work order. The progress of problem resolution can be synchronized with customers and corresponding customer service personnel in a timely manner, so as to ensure that customer needs are not delayed or delayed anytime and anywhere.
From contact with customer service to problem solving, the whole process is automated and transparent, which minimizes the risk of customer complaints and ensures customer satisfaction. This is where the customer service standard of the enterprise lies, and it is also the soul of the convenience store, so that the customers who have come can become old customers and repeat customers.
Managing 10,000 stores and serving hundreds of millions of customers, Wofone Technology has built a digital customer service solution to help chain convenience stores continue to grow. In the future, Wofone Technology looks forward to working with more convenience store brands to explore more possibilities to achieve more efficient management, better service and more stable growth.
Original link: www.udesk.cn/ucm/faq/60156
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