The explosion of upscale grocery chains across the U.S. has raised the need for customer experience excellence in the supermarket sector. As natural food providers have proliferated, they have attracted a certain type of customer: ones with high-income and high expectations. These shoppers have a low tolerance for customer service delivered by bored, part-time teenage clerks.
Specialty grocer The Fresh Market has been voted as the “Best Supermarket in America” by USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards in both 2022 and 2021. Seeking to improve the customer experience across stores, the company recently implemented UK-based VoCoVo's lightweight wireless headsets with telephony abilities in 44 stores as it continues to leverage technology to improve guest experience and in-store communication.
The implementation allows team members from different store areas – for example, produce, receiving, and deli – to answer, make and transfer external guest calls directly from the headset to provide an overall better speed and quality of service, without having to compromise on current tasks at hand.
In addition to smart headset implementation and telephony integration, The Fresh Market installed VoCoVo’s customizable keypad devices across six checkouts in every store to enable team members to send pre-recorded messages to all the headsets at the quick push of a button. The messages, including requesting additional cashiers and manager assistance, are focused on actions that improve guest experience. Any team member with a headset can speak to the cashier via the keypad to address the request from anywhere in the store, eliminating time previously spent walking to the front end.
At any one time, up to six team members can talk to each other. Full-duplex technology ensures every internal and external conversation feels natural, and is crystal-clear and intuitive. With real-time voice, zero dropouts and long-lasting battery life, The Fresh Market staff are empowered to feel more secure, knowing there's always a team member one touch of a button away, said the company.
“Since implementing VoCoVo’s devices, our stores have been able to significantly improve efficiencies,” said Scott Jones, Digital Communications Manager at The Fresh Market. “Having integrated VoCoVo’s technology with our phone system, we were instantly able to speed communication, cut out unnecessary walking, and allow our team members to remain focused on more business-critical tasks. More importantly, we are able to respond to guest needs more quickly to ensure that we never knowingly let a guest leave the store less than completely satisfied.”
Edited by
Alex Passett
