What is ‘White Glove’ Customer Experience? It’s not a new idea, in fact the concept even made it’s way into Fallout New Vegas – a 10 year old video game (Deep Cut). As part of Home Delivery MENA, I had the opportunity to chat with Tarek El Goweiny, Group CEO of NCC – a group of companies focussed on food and supporting industries.
Context is always important when designing a business model and related customer experience. Tarek comes from a hotel background, where service and the provision of VIP service has always been a differentiator. Hotel brands and offers have been sliced and diced for every segment, but there has always been 5-star options. The food market is the same.
What is White Glove service?
White Glove customer experience is an iteration or evolution of ecommerce that recognises that not all products and services can be picked by robots, bubble-wrapped and shipped in brown boxes in less than a day for free. Once you move beyond packaged goods, there are other considerations – like specialised transport requirements or installation. How do you replicate a luxury boutique as an online customer journey?
Net-a-Porter understands that not all its customers are the same. Their concept of an EIP, or extremely important person is a great example of white glove customer experience. Access to personal shoppers, accelerated delivery, private sales and a service where the delivery driver waits while you try things on so you can do your returns right there and then.
White Glove Ecommerce, Business Models & Market Maturity.
The Middle East has been relatively slow to adopt online shopping, but that is changing fast. Early ecommerce businesses were copycat models, imported from western markets with a focus on discounting. Many of these early online shops didn’t understand the local market and couldn’t deliver an online experience equivalent to having your supercar valet parked at the Dubai Mall so you could have a one-on-one appointment at your favourite bag or watch boutique.
It’s not enough to be just another marketplace. Convenience is a given. Customers have been conditioned to expect instantaneous delivery of groceries and other commodities. The differentiators are going to be higher-level offers like sustainability and experience or service – all trends which seem to be popular with the growing millennial consumer-base.
Whether or not White Glove Ecommerce is for you depends on your value proposition. What does your brand stand for? Who are your customers? How do you build a business model that can support the increased costs associated with a white glove experience?
The decision may be forced upon you by the types of products and services that you sell. While not luxury, white goods brands were some of the first to offer value added delivery options, including installation of new machines and removal and disposal of old ones.
White Glove Ecommerce & Technology
The most obvious application of technology is the acquisition of data to understand your customers better. The Net-a-Porter EIP programme came about through understanding what the highest spending customers wanted. The tools exist to help you identify and calculate your customer lifetime value and which segments deliver you the most profit.
Increasingly, technologies such as 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT) can be used to ensure a higher level of service. AI to route drivers and deliveries, sensors to monitor the temperatures of delivery vehicles for perishable food products and AR showrooming to help customers browse like a luxury boutique are all part of the experience.