Blog

Learn how Church’s Chicken created a great food delivery experience by driving order accuracy improvements.

Learn what brands are doing to navigate today's challenging labor market and 5 ways to attract + retain talent.

Read SMG's latest research on what consumers are expecting from a safe customer experience this summer.

Read our latest research on the pandemic's lasting impact on in-store behavior and what brands can do to make customers feel more comfortable.

See why in-store customers don’t make purchases they intend to and ways retailers can prevent or overcome those barriers.

As this last year has demonstrated, it’s critical for brands to remain agile as customer + employee behaviors, expectations, and needs continue to evolve. Having the ability to create, target, and deploy experience feedback channels in a rapid fashion is essential to delivering on the heightened demands of your customer base.

Whether your experience management (XM) program has just recently launched, been live for decades, or is simply an idea at this point, it’s never the wrong time to evaluate how well your organization is listening to customers + employees and acting on those insights. Because if you’re not, there’s a big chance you’re falling short on expectations and customers are taking their business (+ loyalty) elsewhere.

With last year’s accelerated surge in digital and cross-channel shopping—which included 146% growth in all online retail orders in the U.S. and Canada alone—brands were forced to take a critical eye to their digital transformation maturity and work quickly to evolve their strategies.

Net Promoter has long been a hot topic for businesses trying to improve the customer experience. Its popularity is tied to its simplicity and the assertion that a brand’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) is the most important predictor of brand health and future financial performance. But despite its appeal, NPS may not be the end-all-be-all metric for every brand.

The tech enhancements released over the last quarter of 2020 were designed to inspire smart changes in our clients’ business. From our expanding integration partnerships to improved visualizations in our text analytics reporting, this latest round of enhancements represents SMG’s dedication to providing brands with robust, intuitive tools that maximize the impact of their experience management (XM) program.

As we enter into a new phase of the pandemic—one of colder temperatures, a potential third wave, and the added threat of cold + flu season—businesses relying on outside service will once again have to adjust operational procedures.

Whether your brand is already in holiday prep mode or slightly late to the game, SMG’s most recent research—gathered through our proprietary market intelligence tool BrandGeek®—will be a useful source as you navigate your way through this unprecedented holiday shopping season.

As brands across industries continue to adjust operational procedures amid the pandemic, it’s vital to understand the shift in consumer expectations and adapt your XM strategy to these new priorities.

Despite the pandemic drastically altering most summer vacations this year, 58% of consumers still plan to travel over the Independence Day weekend. To get a better idea of what those travel plans look like and what customers expect of brands, we collected feedback from more than 7,600 consumers. Here are the top themes we uncovered.

Since the onset of the pandemic, off-premise dining has been a lifeline for restaurants and consumers craving food from their favorite establishments. As dining rooms shut down, more customers hit up drive-thrus or turned to digital channels to place pick-up and delivery orders. In fact, our latest research shows half of consumers say they’ve ordered food online more frequently since COVID-19.

While the impact of the pandemic first showed up in global markets and financial projections several months ago, the downstream effects on employment are still being revealed daily.

Over the past few months—as people across the country sheltered in place—third-party food delivery became a vital channel for the restaurant industry. And while restaurant dining rooms are now starting to reopen, it’s clear the pandemic has impacted consumer behavior for the long haul.

The current reality of food shopping has shifted, and grocery stores have stepped up to make item availability, health, and safety a priority for customers. With new information being released every day, consumer preferences are changing by region.

Like you, we’re adjusting to a new normal, where all interactions—from collaborating with co-workers to purchasing products—are being fundamentally transformed.

Industries across the board are having to prove their agility to keep up with the ever-evolving needs and expectations of customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In such uncertain times, it's the brands that remain responsive and adaptive that will win customer loyalty and stay ahead of the curve.