12 practical examples for improving the CX
1. Starbucks (Gamified Loyalty Program)
Our first example of improving the customer experience comes from the Starbucks coffee chain, which has developed a loyalty system for its customers that works via the gamification approach.
Through various tasks, challenges or the purchase of products, customers receive stars in return.
They can collect these stars and exchange them for exciting rewards, such as a free drink of their choice or a souvenir.
With this playful approach, Starbucks not only makes more sales and increases the visibility of the brand, but also offers its customers a great customer experience and increases their satisfaction.
2. Zalando (100 days return policy)
Our second example comes from one of the largest online fashion retailers in the world. Zalando has introduced a 100-day return policy for unworn and sealed items to improve its CX.
With this measure, you give customers the opportunity to think longer about whether the ordered goods are right for them or whether they want to return them free of charge.
3. BMW (Automated surveys)
Automobile manufacturer BMW uses automated questionnaires at multiple touchpoints to capture the customer experience in order to optimize its customer experience.
If an interaction does not meet the customer’s desired expectation, an automated ticket is triggered and subsequently evaluated.
In this way, the car manufacturer can identify gaps in communication and improve its service.
4. Ikea (Self-service checkouts)
To reduce waiting times at checkouts, Ikea was the first company to introduce self-service checkouts, which are now widely used.
There, customers can scan and pay for their goods themselves. If necessary, employees help them to do so.
It’s a concept that has proven successful and has been adopted by other companies over time.
5. About you (Personalized shopping)
German online fashion retailer About You is constantly working to improve the customer experience when shopping online.
Users are suggested items that match their style based on their search behavior and orders. This is done by automatically adjusting product pages to give users inspiration on possible outfits.
Even after logging in, the home page is displayed to the user in a personalized way.
6. Decathlon (Virtual Reality)
Decathlon, a manufacturer and retailer of sports equipment and sportswear, used virtual reality to demonstrate camping tents in various stores via virtual reality glasses.
The advantage, the tents did not have to be unpacked and set up, but one could view the tents virtually and compare the different models.
In the end, you could even purchase the tent directly via the self-service checkout.
7. Media Market (Delivery status)
This has probably happened to you before:
You have ordered something, for example a washing machine, a bed or even a whole kitchen and you have to be at home on the delivery day to receive the goods.
To do this, you usually only know approximately when the shipping company will arrive, but not the exact time. This means that you spend the whole day at home in order not to miss the delivery.
But more often it happens that the agreed delivery date can not be met, and you have thus used a day of vacation in vain. This is very annoying.
The electronics retail chain Media Markt has long recognized this problem and has made it its business to inform its customers about the current status of the delivery in advance and on a daily basis.
In addition to shipment tracking, the buyer also receives a call one day before the delivery date and 30 to 60 minutes before the ordered goods are delivered.
This allows customers to plan and prepare accordingly.
8. McDonald’s (Self Order Terminals)
If you’ve been to McDonald’s lately, you’ll have noticed that orders are no longer placed at the cash register, but at touchscreens in front of the registers.
The Easy Order terminals are designed to make the ordering and payment process not only more convenient, but also faster. In addition, customers can individualize their burgers.
9. Casper (Chatbot)
American mattress manufacturer Casper has introduced a chat bot on its website for the time between 11pm and 5am to be a companion for sleepless site visitors during the night.
He is friendly, hungry, obsessed with series and has many entertaining answers to his users’ questions.
A cool idea to bring the brand and site visitors closer together.
10. Netflix (Movie & series recommendations)
One of the largest streaming services of movies and series uses artificial intelligence to offer customers movie & series recommendations based on their interests from the movies and series they have seen so far.
This is not only to keep users engaged with the streaming platform longer, but also to enhance their experience with the platform through personalization.
11. Coca Cola (Personalization of bottles)
Our penultimate example of improving the customer experience is Coca Cola’s “Share a Coke campaign.” With this campaign, Coca Cola wanted to increase their own sales and increase engagement with the brand.
To do this, they had 250 of the most popular names of the respective countries in which the campaign ran printed on Coke cans and bottles.
A huge success, not only for sales, but also for the Coca Cola brand.
12. Disney (Electronic wristbands)
After purchasing a ticket to Disney World, park visitors will receive an electronic wristband personalized to them in the mail.
This electronic wristband serves as his or her digital storage space, hotel room key, payment method and more during their stay.
The idea behind the fully personalized electronic wristband is to give the park visitor a VIP feeling and make their stay as comfortable as possible.
From the very beginning, the park visitor should have an exceptional experience.
Conclusion: Find your hack to improve CX
In this post, I’ve shown you 12 CX examples from well-known companies on how they were able to improve their customers’ customer experience with different ideas and actions.
What we can learn from all the examples is that there are many ways to delight your customers. You just need to find the right idea for your business model.
It doesn’t matter whether the measure is simple or requires effort, whether it is creative, exceeds customer expectations, or is merely expedient to solve a problem.
Even small improvements have a big impact, and creativity can help you not only raise your company’s profile, but also set it apart from the competition.
More about Customer Experience
- Creating positive customer experiences with customer experience management
- 3 touchpoints in the customer experience (with video)
- Your way to an effective customer experience strategy!
- 10 methods to analyze the customer experience
- 10 metrics to measure Customer Experience
- Everything you need to know about the Net Promotor Score (NPS)!
- Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) – Measuring Customer Satisfaction differently
- Customer Effort Score (CES): How much effort do your customers have?
