Human touch in retail: How people power performance

With our lives dominated by digital devices (phones, watches, smart speakers and tablets), we could be forgiven for thinking that our buying decisions are made almost entirely by algorithms and online offers.

But while the ‘buy now’ button is fine for impulse shopping or repeat orders, actual human interaction plays a major part when consumers make more considered purchases; think high-end, complex, expensive products such as laptops, mobile phones, printers or household appliances.

Smart manufacturers who recognise the power people have to influence our buying decisions are investing in specialised product experts to better inform retailer teams on their brand, their customers and their products as well as deploying some of these teams across their event and experiential activity. The result? Meaningful engagement moments that resonate with the audience and drive brand love, grow sales and increase customer loyalty. And it’s why they connect with us here at Blue Square.

According to Pulse 2022, 73% of shoppers will go into a physical store at some point in their purchase journey so that they can touch and feel the products, and seek advice and/or reassurance.

Even when people have decided to buy a particular product, speaking to someone directly to validate that decision plays a major part in finalising the purchase. People, not algorithms, are what these buyers want.

And here at Blue Square, we live people. No, that wasn’t a typo. While we do indeed love (most) people, we live and breathe human engagement.

We think of ourselves as relationship makers. We bring together people who are special on their own but who are awesome when interacting with others.

Interestingly, product expertise – being able to explain how to get the best results from a mobile phone, printer or even outdoor paint – is only part of what brands want from their ambassadors.

People skills are crucial because consumers place a high value on human interaction during a shopping experience.

‘Business Advice’ reported that 20% of shoppers are likely to return to a store after a positive communication with a staff member, even if they know they might pay more in the store.

On the flip side, PWC found that a third of customers (32%) said they’ll walk away from a brand they love after only one unpleasant encounter. Even more worrying is the fact that 92% said they would abandon a brand after two negative interactions.

That’s why we don’t look for pure tech geeks when we’re hiring. Our teams of promoters and brand ambassadors must have a natural affinity and enthusiasm for talking about our clients’ products to store staff and potential customers.

We train our product promoters and ambassadors on every aspect of our clients’ products, often giving them both our clients’ and their competitors’ products to use themselves so they can really understand and compare the features and benefits of different models.

The aim is for our product geniuses to become the go-to point of knowledge in retail stores and events, to understand the product as a customer, and have the objectivity to say why it stacks up so well against the competition.

Where manufacturers have used our people in store and at events, they’ve seen customer satisfaction scores of 4.7/5, a 34% uplift in retail sales, and a 39% higher Net Promoter Score.

As well as training our own promoters and brand ambassadors, our regional managers and omnichannel territory managers also work with retailers and their staff directly.

By building relationships with store staff, seeding products with critical advocates and training shop assistants on key product attributes, we create the most knowledgeable store staff who can engage with customers and make a fair assessment of competitive products.

Our teams also carry out regular mystery shops, check that Point of Sale materials are displayed correctly, pricing information is right, and devices have the latest software installed. In essence, they do everything possible to create the best brand experience for customers.

When you consider the critical pathway to purchase that human connection makes, you can see why leading brands such as Samsung, HP, EE and SharkNinja trust us to find, train and deploy the right people.

Finding the right talent and tapping into people’s passions that align with our own ETHIC values (excellence, together, heart, integrity and curious) is what drives our recruitment and development programmes.

Later this year, we will launch the Blue Square Academy, Home of Learning to further provide a learning environment that allows us to unlock our people’s potential, support their growth and develop relationship makers who truly understand the power of human connection.

Natasha Rose, our People & Culture Director, concludes: “By empowering our teams with the right tools and knowledge, going beyond the product, and focussing on developing the behaviours needed to connect with customers on a human level, they have the ability to engage with retailers and customers that creates real impact.”