Pavlína Louženská: Customer aftercare service as a key to success.

It is not easy to stand out from a crowd of competitors, especially when you consider how big the eCommerce market is. A key is to concentrate on the customer needs and provide them a perfect sales and aftercare service. According to Pavlína Louženská from 2FRESH (also an ex-CMO at ZOOT), great aftercare will soon be a standard to keep your business running.

Pavlína was interviewed by the founder of Retino, Petr Boroš.

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What are the key success factors of online shops today?

A personal communication has always been an advantage of smaller players. Amazon will always provide better automated recommendations, but small players can compete with the face to face experience, which respects the local tastes and needs. These are the brands you create a relationship with and you remain loyal to.

Let’s talk about user experience and shopping convenience. It seems to be the number one topic for online shops. Why?

As the Czech eCommerce market grows, you need more sophisticated methods to win over your competitors. And so the e-shops are turning from transaction platforms into shopping experience companies. To differentiate and establish a relationship is the only way to create a great business.

Which stores do you think do this exceptionally well and why?

Martinus, VašeČočky or ZOOT. These stores are great inspiration. In addition to a perfect customer service, you can always expect something more. The whole buying process must be a great experience that a today’s customer demands.

Many western online shops have turned the aftercare service into a marketing tool. They offer significantly longer return periods than the law requires and pay for a return shipping. Some Czech e-shops provide similar services but it’s still not the general baseline. Do you expect that more Czech e-shops will follow this trend in the future?

Definitely. Bigger foreign players just like Amazon or Zalando are entering the Czech market soon and there is also a pressure of local competition and higher advertising prices. You will have to concentrate on the See and Care stage, from the well-known framework “See Think Do Care”. It won’t be possible to compete on the market only with the PPC advertising. A customer aftercare service will be soon a key to success.

A customer aftercare service will be soon a key to success.

What would be your advice for online shops to stay successful in the future?

Integrating online and offline marketing successfully is the way to make your customers loyal. Magazines, events or showrooms combined with a strong personalized digital advertising is a way to success. Just be sure that the channels work together, not separately.

In the beginning there must be a solid foundation based on customer needs. If you’re not willing to listen to your customers and finding out their needs, you shouldn’t enter the market. That’s why I hope that the future researches will become our guides how to approach customer experience.

Thank you for the interview, Pavlína!

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For Czech speakers, we recommend a great lecture on Innovations from this year’s Webexpo, from Pavlína Louženská and Lukáš Pitter.