Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM JANUARY 2023 14 T he global COVID-19 pandemic forced everybody to rethink how they operate and the role that digital plays in business and in our lives. While digital may have been top of mind for many businesses, the pandemic made digital essential not just to interact and sell products and services, but as a way to meet the critical needs of your business. More than ever, people are looking for experiences, not products. And not just any experiences – but real ones that turn transactions into engagement and materialism into experimentalism. The pandemic has changed our view of the world, shifting us away from consumerism and making us appreciate the basic human needs of finding balance and focus. In this new era, customer experience isn't just a digital experience but a perfect combination of real life and digital interaction. It could be a meditative museum experience that combines art with augmented reality, or an entertaining shopping experience at a mall with omnichannel support in a virtual fitting room. The Swipe-Right Customer Experience shows how the best companies have transformed the customer experience beyond offering a technology add-on, and how they've built or rebuilt their infrastructure, processes, talent and culture around the customer experience. You will learn: • How the world has changed since the global pandemic, the role of digitization, and why customer experience means everything • The secret to how top-performing companies in five industries have rebuilt themselves around the experience they offer their customers • The internal components of organizations that must be transformed: culture, skills, processes and workflow, brand and measuring • The new technology trends that are driving next-level customer experience B O O K R E V I E W THE SWIPE-RIGHT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE How to Attract, Engage, and Keep Customers in the Digital-First World Authors: Sanna Eskelinen is recognized for introducing innovative services into markets, building global programs and leading complex multi-stakeholder partnerships across the public and private sectors. Building on 20 years of experience in the tech industry at companies such as Microsoft and Nokia, Sanna currently works for Adobe and helps to transform the education industry digitally. Belinda Gerdt has built a successful international career in some of the world's leading technology firms. She has almost 20 years of experience developing digital customer- oriented businesses. Currently working for Philips at its headquarters in the Netherlands, she leads global marketing for healthcare solutions and helps digitize the industry. Publisher: HarperCollins Leadership RO

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