LONDON, December 7, 2009 – Waitrose has selected the Fizzback Engagement Platform to gather real-time customer feedback in their stores. Waitrose, the fastest growing retailer in the UK grocery sector[i], has served its customers for more than 100 years with a clear dedication to offering quality and value. The company has selected the real-time Fizzback Engagement Platform to work alongside customer satisfaction monitoring and mystery shopping; providing a complete view of the in-store experience and demonstrating its unrivalled commitment to delivering outstanding customer service.
Using a combination of posters, receipts and flyers, customers are invited to give feedback about any aspect of the Waitrose in-store experience using a range of channels, including SMS text, email, free-phone voice or the web. Fizzback’s proprietary Artificial Intelligence engine immediately organises the freeform comments, extracting all relevant information including topic, sentiment, location and behavioural indicators. This information is used to measure performance against KPIs and create league tables by region and by individual store.
Senior executives and Waitrose store managers have personalised views of real-time customer responses via a live dashboard populated with key performance indicators, verbatim comments and advanced analytics. Because comments can be linked back to individual stores, Managers have a single, consistent view of staff performance, and so are able to give better coaching and feedback. Arranging verbatim comments according to categories also allows management to quickly pinpoint any operational issues and take appropriate action. Stores review their progress regularly, creating a strong sense of shared values and helping Waitrose to maintain the culture of customer service excellence it has become famous for.
The Fizzback system is of particular value in supporting Waitrose’s expansion programme, which plans to launch 300 convenience shops in the UK over the next 10 years. The Fizzback system is on hand to make sure that new teams get up to speed with the company’s customer focused culture as soon as possible, helping Waitrose to identify best-practice and informing training and coaching requirements.
Helen Tabrett, Customer Research and Insight Manager at Waitrose comments: “It’s important to us to gather feedback from our customers on all aspects of the store experience and we know that they’re generally in a rush, so Fizzback provides a number of easy ways for them to tell us what they think. We get comments about service, the store environment, products and pricing, and whether the feedback is good or bad it’s important that we hear it fast and take action”
According to Fizzback CEO Rob Keve: “Waitrose is a truly iconic British brand with a superb reputation for quality and service. We’re pleased our multi-channel feedback solution is able to give the company the customer information it needs to stay ahead of the competition.”
About Fizzback
Fizzback helps brands to engage with their customers. The Fizzback™ service solicits instant customer comments at the point of experience and employs a unique artificial intelligence engine to understand the nature, sentiment and tone of responses. An interactive dashboard, including KPIs and verbatim customer feedback, helps senior management drive their business by voice-of-customer.
Fizzback™ is being used by companies determined to innovate and differentiate themselves through a superior customer experience. In practical terms it is like being able to walk the shop floor 24/7, listening to what your customers are saying and acting upon their insights.
Headquartered in London, Fizzback is privately owned and backed by Advent Venture Partners and Nauta Capital.
Contact: 0845 067 1000
[i] With a sales uplift of 12.3 per cent for the 12 weeks ending 1st November 2009, it is growing well ahead of the Grocery average of 4.4 per cent. (Source: Waitrose)
