This year saw a Black Friday like no other, as analysts predict a record-breaking month for UK online sales coined ‘Black November’.

Ordered to shut up shop until the 2nd December, brands are facing disruption at such a rate in the industry that unless they recalibrate fast, they risk joining the retail apocalypse – set to claim as many as 20,000 stores this year.

How retailers reconnect with customers in an era of brand promiscuity will either make-or-break them.

With loyalty rapidly evaporating, Stephanie Millner, Vice President of Customer Experience Management at Teleperformance, believes the digital customer experience will separate the winners from the losers in a recessionary environment.

Stephanie comments: “The pandemic has effectively re-written the rules of retail this Black Friday. As more consumers move online, retailers must be agile in responding to their needs and remove friction from the digital purchasing experience to ensure customers can access what they want, when they want it. The trick is to allow customers to move seamlessly through the retail journey and make it unlikely that they’ll ever want to leave a brand.”

Stephanie concludes: “Keeping customer service channels up and running with lockdowns in place can be challenging, but consumers are far more likely to need care this Black Friday with a sole dependence on e-commerce. With loyalty a thing of the past, brands now need to achieve emotional connections, and offer multiple support channels – spanning chat, voice, text and click-to-call – to make life easier for customers. It will be those companies that keep interactions simple, and build value within those engagements, that will be more likely to hold onto their customers beyond Black Friday.”

Teleperformance is the global leader in customer experience management, working with leading global retailers to elevate omnichannel experiences for customers and clients, and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19.