Retail’s Next Frontier - Zendesk AI
Competition in the retail industry is cutthroat. As online shopping continues to gain momentum, retailers need to re-evaluate their brick-and-mortar and online customer experience. Embracing AI to support all those needs is the cost-effective way forward, and many retailers are already reaping the benefits.
The impact of AI in the retail sector has been revolutionary, empowering businesses with unprecedented data that significantly enhanced retail operations and unlocked new business opportunities. AI services in the retail sector are predicted to see an exponential increase—from $5 billion to above $31 billion by 2028.
NEXT STUDY CASES :
NEXT is a British multinational clothing, footwear, accessories, and home-products retailer with 700 stores, including international franchises, serving over 10 million customers across 127 countries. NEXT has steadily evolved its tech stack to meet new consumer demands, taking the pivotal step in 2022 to switch to Zendesk and replace its homegrown custom CRM solution.
The company now leverages Zendesk Enterprise Suite Plus, including Agent Workspace, help center, email, chat, social, and Zendesk AI. The Sunshine Conversations platform allows the team to integrate non-voice contacts and create a real-time connection with their chatbot.
After implementing the solution, NEXT saw major improvements in CX stability and efficiency, including a 15 percent decrease in average handling time (AHT). Introducing Zendesk AI to the mix is proving transformational, less than a year in. The AI journey started with the email channel, staffed by 200 customer service agents.
From there, NEXT approached the broader rollout through an educational lens, positioning AI as an assistance tool for those human agents, rather than a people replacement tool, and coaching advisers on best practices. “Our successful experience with Zendesk AI has given artificial intelligence credibility across our business. For many of us, it’s the first AI tool that lived up to the hype and actually delivered,” says Raz Razaq, Head of Customer Contact Experience Technology at NEXT.
Next for NEXT, the company is considering Zendesk Intelligent Triage as part of a larger modernization project. Working with the Zendesk compliance team helped alleviate concerns about AI data privacy by establishing a solution where data is securely used and stored.
“Zendesk AI is a helping hand for the team, like an on-the-job co-pilot. We see that AI is going to improve the quality of our contact resolution, the efficiency of the team, and the overall customer journey,” reports Matthew Hallam, Head of Customer Service Operations at NEXT.
