Measuring Multi-Channel CSAT

When you have a website that sells products or services in addition to your regular storefront, your ability to measure customer satisfaction accurately changes. Satisfaction research is designed to help you discover the areas of your business you can target to improve both satisfaction and revenue, and when you have both an online and offline business, you run into problems that may affect the value of your research. Consider the following differences in the customer experience

Customers have considerable interaction with your employees. Customers can touch, view, and compare products. Customers interact with other customers and with your store setup.

Customers wait in line to purchase their items and finish their purchase. Customers use more of their senses and make less rash decisions.

Customers have no interaction with employees. Customers do interact with your website and its programming. Customers cannot touch products.

Customers compare and view products in an entirely different way. Customers can create their own user experience, multitask, etc. Customers purchase using your checkout system.

Customers may have different experiences with your store and your website. Customers may go to your website because they already like your business. Customers may go to your website because they like your products but don’t like your business.

Customers may not realize they have been to your storefront. Customers may find your website online but go to your business offline. Customers have different experiences with every aspect of your business.

When you consider the different experiences that your customers have with your business – from the customers that experience only your storefront business, only your online business, or both – it becomes clear that different experiences can affect the value of your research. For example, a customer may use your website because they love your storefront and they are being loyal to your business. A customer may also use your website because they like your products and prices but cannot stand your employees or the storefront.

How the customers experience your company can and is different depending on their interaction with your storefront and your website. Examining them both together as though they are equal may not be in your company’s best interests, as it is likely that the experiences that customers have with your website, your store, and both, are not equivalent.