Positive physical consumer experience in e-commerce
The pandemic of 2020 forced us to social distance, and as a result, most people who were still afraid of online shopping were forced to use such a service.
Today, with the flexibility and continuation of face-to-face activities, we can say that those who discovered the advantages of e-commerce now want to use the good sides of both worlds, since the face-to-face experience also has its due value.
A figital consumer is a hybrid, that is, one who buys products both in physical stores and in e-commerce.
You’ve seen an outfit on a website and it looks perfect, but wouldn’t it be better to try it on? See the fabric? Do you know if it really meets your expectations as a consumer? Sometimes you fall in love with clothes in a brick-and-mortar store, but you look at your phone and notice that online shopping allows you to use a discount coupon or some promotion limited to the digital environment.
There is also the possibility that the physical store does not have the number you carry. Instead of asking the clerk to check which store has that number and go there, you can look on the website and buy online. This, of course, is not to mention that those who do not like having a salesperson on top can take advantage of calmly analyzing the products and services they want to buy from the comfort of their own home on the store’s website.
figital consumer
If you have identified with at least one of the situations, it means that you are now part of the so-called figital consumer. Although this term is not so popular, the physical consumer is increasingly present and, it seems, will be dominant in the future.
We are talking about a hybrid consumer, that is, one who buys products both in physical stores and in e-commerce, naturally moving between both, depending on the situation and convenience.
Together with this consumer, therefore, there is a movement to digitize the physical store itself, offering a digital experience for those who prefer it, such as a self-service box or totems available for consultation.
It seems that this new reality is here to stay. Therefore, adapting to the hybrid model and the consumer is essential for companies that want to maintain and develop in this increasingly competitive market.
Adaptation of the company
This adaptation brings the need for companies to reformulate their processes, methodologies and structures, and for this it is necessary to understand the new profile of consumers and the positive experience they want, since in recent years we have seen a significant increase in the use of electronic stores and, together with it, complaints from that sector , either on Sindec or on the platform consumer.gov.br.
By agreeing to and increasingly using the consumer.gov.br platform, we see that it can be a good option for companies that can avoid numerous lawsuits during the administrative resolution of complaints. There must therefore be good management of such services and complaints management, which can be outsourced to specialist law firms or absorbed in-house.
The fact is that the rise of such complaints indicates the need for companies to adapt to this union of digital and human, realizing that artificial intelligence can help in many aspects. In any case, one must not lose sight of the fact that only a person can better understand another, since some consumers still do not have and insist on personal interaction.
Customer service
The combination of physical and digital is also visible when analyzing customer service channels, considering that companies are increasingly migrating to multi-door service, in which there is integration with the possibility of starting a physical service that migrates to online or vice versa.
The enhancement of these platforms, known as omnichannel, is an evolution that brings the consumer and their experience as the focal point of the service, making the customer feel valued.
Lessilization in the sector
This stems not only from the market’s own needs, but also from the increased concern of the legislator in the last few years, who already in the Regulation on electronic business, published almost ten years ago, strengthened the facilitated service to the consumer (Article 1. II of Regulation 7,962/2013¹) , as well as already determining the means to guarantee such a service, such as maintaining an adequate and efficient service of the service electronically and guaranteeing that the right to appeal is exercised by the same means used for contracting (Articles 4 and 5). Regulation 7,962/2013).
This concern is confirmed by the new Law on Customer Service – Decree 11034/2022³, approved in April 2022 and soon to enter into force, which brings this hybrid movement and the idea of creating more channels for customer service.
From this is not only a change in the scenario of consumers and private companies. As you can see, the legislator took into account the new consumer profile that no longer requires help by phone, for example, in all situations. That is, from this new law, we no longer have a requirement for uninterrupted telephone or human service, but a requirement for uninterrupted service that can take place in different ways, as long as integrated channels are available.
What can be concluded is that those companies that best adapt and adjust their service channels to adapt the business and offer an agile, integrated and efficient service will stand out. In addition to these strategies, it pays to invest in technology and people, along with the development or use of existing online conflict resolution platforms, as these are mechanisms that will bring greater confidence to the end consumer – an increasingly demanding market. increasingly competitive.
Also read: Phygital: the consumer and the search for the best experience
