SITUATION

Secret shopping and gap analysis guided the strategy for testing mock-ups of a new conceptual direction 

Insights from the secret shopping analysis at both the client’s place of business and competitors’ businesses guided the development of a conceptual direction aligned with the retailer’s content vision for the future state of their order messaging system. The data-driven strategy for messaging focused on approaches to improve the customer order experience and reduce costs associated with confusing or redundant communication. 

SOLUTION

Test the strategy, analyze findings, and validate proposed direction 

Our CS Forge team collaborated with the client to create a series of mock-ups aligned with their future state vision. We conducted testing with a group of diverse participants who had relevant home improvement experience for the testing scenario. The testing guided participants through a series of exercises designed to assess how they prioritized information, their preferences on message structure and style, and comprehension and sentiment across the order journey.   

RESULTS

Reduce message-associated costs and improve the overall customer experience 

The testing validated the new conceptual direction for the retailer’s message system. 91% of participants preferred the new version of the message mock-ups to the old messages. Participants valued the importance of design items in the messages such as product images, progress bars, redirect buttons, and banners. Participants also provided key insights into the type of information and organization of that information to better improve their experience.

The data gathered from testing combined with the secret shopping analysis resulted in a modernized and comprehensive content strategy for customer experience communication. The recommendations provided actionable steps to achieve their content vision, improve customer experience and brand loyalty, and reduce costs associated with redundant or confusing communication.