Earlier this month we were pleased to attend and sponsor IHA CHESS 2017. CHESS – Chief Housewares Executive SuperSession – is the International Housewares Association’s annual senior-level conference for industry executives. Along with relevant and thought-provoking keynotes and sessions, the two-day event offered ample networking opportunities and a vendor expo.
A first-time event for Registria, I found it to be a very high energy show, with loads of idea exchanges and interactions. In addition to talking with folks at our booth, as a show sponsor we were also provided the opportunity to address attendees and explain what Registria is about and how we can help brands own the relationship with their customers, and even monetize it. This is a huge challenge for many brands – especially smaller ones. I can’t tell you how many times I heard attendees mention the challenges of dealing with a certain behemoth online marketplace which, while providing brands with a potentially global market, necessitates a level of separation between brands and their customers, as does any brick and mortar retailer.
At the same time, consumers are not only open to, but in many cases actively seeking, connections with the brands from which they buy. Whether through social media, email, chat or other digital channels, consumers have high expectations for post-purchase service and support and want to be able to reach brands directly – easily and via their preferred communication methods.
So, how can brands that rely on retailers to connect with their customers not only provide support but also grow the relationship? It’s actually not as daunting as it seems.
Everyone owns a smartphone, and now this device can be used to enable a digital product registration experience that provides a convenient and frictionless way to start building a connection with consumers. It’s proven that registration via text or chatbot not only increases registration rates, but helps brands grow cross-selling revenues and increase product ratings and reviews.
Product registration has been done the same way for many years, but it’s important to realize that paper registration doesn’t meet the expectations of many of today’s digital consumers. Fortunately, solutions exist that enable even startups and small-to-medium sized companies to build a digital connection with these consumers and onboard them as customers.
Author, lecturer and futurist David Houle explained during his presentation at CHESS that humanity has already gone through what he calls the “Shift Age,” where we moved from analog to digital and where “people learned to cope with The Flow to Global, the Flow to the Individual and Accelerating Electronic Connectedness.” Houle suggests that we’re now in the “Transformation Age,” during which power is moving from the producer to the consumer, forcing companies to become customer-centric above all else. This is not only the new reality of business for retail, but for manufacturers, as well.
Writer and futurist Alvin Toffler famously opined, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.” It seems that these words have never been more true for all of us.