Maginus highlights the key issues that retailers need to address to enhance customer satisfaction standards in 2005

  • Leading multi-channel solution supplier advises on retailing trends for the next 12 months, and identifies online lessons to be learnt from Christmas 2004
  • Acknowledges the need for effective fulfilment and the emergence of the ‘smarter consumer’ as key issues for 2005
Maginus, the specialist provider of multi-channel solutions for retail and distribution, has identified the three top factors that it believes will help retailers to achieve increased levels of customer satisfaction in 2005. Maginus provides multi-channel solutions to leading organisations such as Demon Tweeks, Robinson’s Country Leisure and PC World Business. Its advice focuses on:
  • the provision of a comprehensive product and services mix
  • the integration of all retail and distribution processes
  • the delivery of a real-time, multi-channel customer proposition
According to Harry Manley, Commercial Director at Maginus: “Companies should now aim to move to the next level of multi-channel trading. One way for retailers and distributors to achieve this is by implementing true multi-channel management solutions that can help make their business processes more efficient. This will also have the knock-on effect of helping to improve the customer experience and customer satisfaction levels. Over Christmas we’ve also noticed that customers are getting smarter, and are increasingly turning to shopping sites, consumer reviews, price comparison tools and individual sellers – as well as their trusted online brands - to find the deals that they want.

“At the same time, we’ve also seen that even though the IMRG reported online sales of £4 billion over Christmas – 64 per cent up on the previous year, there were still numerous reports of online shoppers receiving their orders late,” Harry Manley continued. “If retailers are serious about improving overall online satisfaction levels, they’ve got to address both sides of their operation – multi-channel selling and fulfilment.”

The key 2005 factors identified by Maginus will help businesses to satisfy and maintain customer demand, and utilise market-leading multi-channel solutions to achieve maximum business benefits. Placing the customer at the heart of the sales and distribution process helps ensure that customer satisfaction is continually maintained.

According to Maginus, the three top factors retailers should focus on are:
  • Establishing their online offering as a ‘trusted brand’ - there’s clear evidence that online customers prefer buying from a trusted brand that they recognise and are comfortable with. Those organisations that can quickly establish their leadership here through a compelling product and services mix can quickly gain competitive advantage
  • Improving the bottom line by integrating every process – by making every retail process integral to one central solution, businesses can realise genuine bottom line benefits through increased efficiency and consistency
  • Delivering a seamless multi-channel customer proposition – customers are becoming more demanding, they expect increasingly flexible access to products and services at a time and place that suits them. Traditionally, companies have managed each channel as an island of automation, but in the future this won’t satisfy customer expectations. Companies will need a single solution with the capability to handle all sales channels and the flexibility to handle future requirements
The implementation of multi-channel solutions can add real value by helping to ensure that critical business needs are satisfied, and that organisations are able to enhance the user experience of their customers. However, it is essential that these solutions have transparency between channels, to ensure consistency of service, and are used to integrate all aspects of a business’s operations.

About Maginus:
Maginus solutions enable retail and distribution companies to drive revenue and increase customer satisfaction by providing comprehensive control over multi-channel selling and fulfillment. The company’s integrated suite of powerful CRM, Financials and Supply Chain software helps organisations to market, sell and deliver the products their customers want via a broad range of channels including catalogue and mail order, telesales, the Web, trade counter and store operations. Originally founded in 1972, Maginus brings over 30 years’ of in-depth customer experience to the retail and distribution sector and, with its innovative 6xa technology, is one of the only vendors to bridge the gap between package and bespoke enterprise software solutions. Find out more about the company at www.maginus.com

For more information, please contact:
Janice Mawhinney
Maginus Software Solutions
Tel: 0161 946 3816
janice.mawhinney@maginus.com

Cheryl Billson
IBA - PR for Maginus
Tel: 01780 721433
cbillson@iba-europe.com