Woolworths trials new in-store customer feedback system

Woolworths Group is set to trial a new method of capturing customer feedback, sending customers with the 'Everyday Rewards' app a notification to complete a short survey as they leave a store.

Head of group listening programs Paul Bashford said the trial “is not live yet” but will use the app to measure in-store experiences. 

“[The trial has] been in the pipeline for a long time. But I think it addresses a common issue we face which is declining email response rates," Bashford told a recent Forrester CX APAC Forum.

“It fits nicely with the listening framework around making it easy for customers using technology in different touchpoints."

He said that “later this year” when customers leave one of Woolworths Group's branded stores, such as Big W or a Woolworths Metro supermarket “and you have the Everyday app, you will be pinged a short survey in the app”.

Bashford indicated the design of the survey is still a work-in-progress.

“We know long question surveys in-app now do not work," he said.

"We're a little bit unsure on the two-question survey at the moment, so we’re going to try four or five questions”.

Bashford noted one pitfall of the trial is it relies on users still being active in the app as they exit a store.

It is hoped the trial will eventually become “complementary to the email surveys” which Bashford said were experiencing “softening” of response rates.

Woolworths has other initiatives in play for collecting customer feedback.

One includes "micro survey" in its Metro stores aimed at collecting "structured feedback" on the suitability of the in-store product range.

The retailer also looks at "unstructured feedback”, such as from Google reviews or collected through its contact centre channels, and funnels all this into the Medallia platform, which acts as “a central place and home for all customer feedback.”

“Our website survey is another channel to get feedback," he added.

"We were seeing a low response rate and now we actually rotate between smaller surveys, so our teams still get asked all questions that they want and you make a nice easy experience for our customers.”