Airlines, Online Grocery & Efficiency
This weekend I spent far too much time in airplanes and airports. The experience proved to be an eye-opening look at how important effective management is for a business to be successful. Looking at another industry as a customer gave me some valuable insight into customer service and ecommerce.
The price of fuel has had a tremendous impact on the airline industry, though I would argue that it is has overall been positive. Arbitrary security concerns notwithstanding, the fact that there are fewer planes in the air, more accurate scheduling and some buffer in the schedule for less than perfect weather, runway traffic, etc. means that planes take off and land on schedule in real life conditions. The only food that is included in ticket price of your 6 hour flight is a bag of peanuts, so if you want uninspiring airline fare for dinner you’ll need to bring your wallet.
Airlines have collectively stepped up their game because they’ve had to. Still, in my 34 hours of transit time there were some hiccups. Most of the check-ins and transfers were smooth and uneventful- both good things when travelling. While I waited in a particularly slow check in line that could have been faster I found myself looking for ways to improve the situation. There were 8 self-service kiosks and 4 agents ready to process the paperwork for checked baggage. All of this was served by one large uncoordinated mass of people and baggage. Of the 8 kiosks, at least 4 were always operational but not in use. People waited at the end of the line unaware that they could start the process because they didn’t know where to go or how to start. Without any instructions given people waited twice as long as they should have; once they got to the counter their attitude towards the tellers was “I’ve waited a long time in this line and I’m not going anywhere until YOU take care of every last detail.” Unnecessary stress was added to both the impatient travelers and the frazzled attendants. The key resources were there but because they were underutilized it ultimately didn’t matter.
So what would I have done to make it better, and what does this have to do with online grocery shopping? Like any customer service experience, making the check in process intuitive would be a good start. It should be laid out in such a way that the procedure is very clear with concise and effective signage. Something like the “Order Here” and “Pay Here” signs at chain sandwich shops would be a good start. Clearly displaying the procedure in three steps with marked lines for steps 1, 2 and 3 would improve the flow of traffic and alleviate some stress.
Let’s translate this analogy to online grocery shopping. We often get survey complaints from end users that they have trouble finding the parking places for order pickup, that there wasn’t an attendant on-hand to assist them with their order, or they were unsure how to complete the process. Most of these complaints come from shoppers that are at one of our retail store customers have designated parking spots for online order pickup and dedicated personal shoppers at the store level. The resources are there, but the allocation is wrong and the pickup process is unclear. Visibly marking which parking spots are for pickup only is a critical first step to showing customers the flow of your process. Making sure someone is available to bring the delivery to their car is the next step.
Improving your customers’ experience is up to you. Chances are you already have the tools, but be sure to take a moment to make sure they’re being used properly so you can make the most out of what you have.
