What it is: A new perspective on customer relations issuing from the covid experience

Why it is important: It represents a way of attaching value to customer data as well as offering a bridge between online and offline shopping.

Clientela, the omnichannel customer relationship management solutions provider, has been defending the concept of “relational shopping” as opposed to “transactional shopping”. The idea is to prioritise customer relationships and converting a shopper who would not have otherwise completed a purchase; build on interaction to convert an undecided shopper later; and upsell an existing new shopper using a more personalised service.

It is not intended to replace existing services and relations with customers, but rather to complement them through a chat or video experience in which data is captured. This takes place through the Clientela system which, according to the company, is highly adaptable, scalable and customisable for retailers, allowing it to be launched and integrated quickly.

According to CEO and co-founder Lorenzo Benazzo, the relational shopping concept emerged from the pandemic when many retailers created or added a direct contact between customers and sales associates, especially if they were not sufficiently omnichannel-ready to compensate for store closures.

In addition, Clientela argues that relationships with prospective customers has been a neglected avenue for the creation of additional revenue. The value of a company is now becoming more closely connected to the richness and quantity of its customer data.

The CEO Lorenzo Benazzo gave a presentation to the IADS Academy 2021 participants on 28 April 2021. Among other points, he argued that relational shopping involves an important human element which means that time should become part of the new set of KPIs.

Relational Shopping — Clientela