Savant Talks: Anna Young on how to focus on CX

Dive into the world of eCommerce and customer experience with Anna Young from & Other Stories. Anna shares her journey, experiences, and perspectives on enhancing customer experience, adapting to shifting preferences, and leveraging technology to stay ahead in the industry. Get ready to explore the evolving landscape of eCommerce and gain valuable insights from Anna’s expertise.

Tell us about your career so far. How did you get to & Other Stories?

I have worked 14 years within the H&M group and during the last 4 years within & Other Stories. I have a background in controlling and I am grateful to have had the possibility to learn from many different positions both in Buying Office, Business Development and Sales. Within the H&M brand I have spent most of my time in assortment & buying where I worked as a division controller, section head (collection manager) but also with product development. I have also spent a few years in business development where I worked with supply chain innovations before I joined Stories.  I came to & Other Stories because I wanted to get back to operational business, be closer to the customer. I had the opportunity to start as Head of online controlling, a few weeks before COVID-19 breakout. This was a great experience, where E-com business reached new all-time high levels and customer behaviour changed a lot. From there I moved to Head of E-com and now Global Head of Merchandising. The red thread in my career is an eagerness to continue to learn and grow and be close to the customer.

Let’s take a look at Customer Experience at & Other Stories. How are you ensuring that your customers have a best in class experience with your store, both online and in-person?

We are & Other Stories – so to start – our mission is to create stories that last for our customers. We are on a brand journey and still have steps to take to be best in class when it comes to customer experience. Our customers will see big improvements especially online during the coming year.  We always try to secure intuitive navigation on site and to offer a lot of inspiration together with a clear post purchase experience. When it comes to our physical stores, we aim to constantly have great customer service, high levels of inspiration (with amazing styling) and strong buying suggestions. All in all, an environment that you will remember and come back to visit!  No matter if the customer browses online or in store we want to create a smooth and inspiring customer journey where the customer can navigate easily, be inspired and find the full look. And of course, we try to secure sustainability in everything we do.

As we see new developments appearing and changing customer priorities, what is changing in the sphere of customer experience in eCommerce?

Post COVID we see that customers expect fast deliveries and easy returns. We also see a change in the landscape where more players in the industry are charging for returns but offers free returns in store. Sustainability is even more important for our customers, and we try to develop products that will last and use sustainable materials and a sustainable supply chain. In the industry we see VR as an expanding trend, where the customer can examine the product in 3D and try on products online with a digital avatar.

What are the top 3 areas businesses should focus on in order to keep up with shifting customer preferences?

1. AI
2. Personalisation 
3. Sustainability 

As an omnichannel retailer, you follow and learn from your customers’ journeys. What have you learned and changed about your processes in recent years? And what stays the same?

Delivering a great customer experience relies on having the right data and using it in a wise way, always staying close to the customer. The change in the last few years is that the data needs to be omni now instead of per channel.

The customer journey often starts digitally, so we need to follow the customer no matter where the journey starts and guide the customers to find what they are looking for in both channels. We see possibilities to improve the tech support for those journeys that starts online and continues in physical stores. 

Some tech features we will roll out this year in retail is to make it possible for staff to check out customers anywhere on sales floor instead of only cash desk, and the ability to check others store stock and assist customers with the purchase and reservation. 

During the last years we also have rolled out several features on site to improve our customer journey. We have made it possible for customers online to find products in store, return online orders in store etc. This is what customers see as hygiene factors today.  

Furthermore, we have improved our supply chain to become omni where possible in order to better meet customer demand. 

From a sustainability perspective we are also taking steps such as plastic free deliveries, among many things.

Which exciting developments are you hoping to see in the world of eCommerce in 2024?

It is not enough to have a great product to sell, you also must have a great shopping experience around it to succeed. I think machine learning and AI will take a bigger part in e-commerce during the coming years. AI will to a greater extent support writing product descriptions, social media posts, copywriting and SEO optimisation etc.

Moving assets will be considered as a hygiene factor when seeking for inspiration and here AI can play a vital role. Social media is for many a source of inspiration and it will be interesting to follow if ROPO (research online and purchase offline) will increase. 

With AI, loyalty programs can reach new levels of personalisation. More and more consumers will be disappointed if a website is not personalised.

I think we will also see further improvements in the supply chain to support an easy and seamless customer experience such as pick and ship from store, buy online and pick up in store. 

Finally, the focus on sustainability and eco-friendliness will undoubtedly continue to grow. Caring for the environment is given greater attention from customers in most markets.

Thank you to Anna Young for sharing their invaluable experiences and insights with us, as she sheds a light on the critical role of customer journeys and the power of personalisation, and more, is in optimising these experiences.

Don’t miss the opportunity to hear more from others like Anna Young at our upcoming events! Secure your seats now to learn firsthand from industry leaders and stay updated on the latest trends and innovations in eCommerce. Book your seats today and join us for an enriching experience!