UNTUCKIT’s Kaitlin Gottlieb on the Importance of Clienteling
Posted by Alex Samuely on Dec 11, 2023
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The rapidly evolving digital landscape has significantly impacted the retail industry, making it easier than ever for retailers to reach potential customers worldwide. However, continuing to foster customer loyalty and enhance shoppers’ in-store experiences remain top priorities for many brands.
That’s where the practice of clienteling comes to life – by incorporating human connection into the essence of retail. Kaitlin Gottlieb, Senior Director of Omnichannel at UNTUCKit, emphasizes clienteling’s critical role in building long-term connections between customers and store associates.
Clienteling helps store associates offer personalized shopping experiences by giving them a full 360-degree profile of the customer. Associates can leverage clienteling to message customers on a mobile app and search for a specific shopper in a database. They can also access shoppers’ purchase histories to recommend products they may like, and note customers’ personal preferences – such as sizes and styles – in their digital profiles.
During an Endless Aisle podcast interview with Marcus LaRobardiere, NewStore’s Vice President of Marketing, Kaitlin discussed the symbiotic relationship between technology and store associates. While today’s world grows increasingly digital-first, particularly for many shoppers, technology should not replace store associates’ roles in assisting with the customer journey. Instead, technology should augment their roles. Equipping in-store staff with the right technology solutions will provide additional opportunities for personalizing the shopping experience for each individual.
Read below for several key insights from Marcus and Kaitlin’s conversation, and click here to listen to the full podcast episode.
As retailers consider strategies to boost in-store traffic, leveraging clienteling should be a priority. Clienteling helps bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds by offering store associates valuable customer data that they may not obtain as easily without the help of technology.
This data then facilitates more personalized in-store interactions with shoppers, which could result in greater brand affinity and more sales. As an example, store associates can leverage data from customer profiles to cross-sell or upsell products that the customer may not have initially considered.
“Clienteling is fostering relationships and all about getting them back,” Kaitlin said. “And so associates [are] able to not only engage with customers that they connect with, continue to text them, but influence and inspire them across all different product categories – perhaps for another family member or friend.”
Although many consumers are no stranger to shopping on digital platforms, human interactions are still paramount to retailers’ success. When store associates gain access to the right technology, they can do their jobs more efficiently. This increases employee engagement and reduces the potential for staff turnover.
“The best technology enhances the store associate’s role and allows them to focus on [being] beneficial in that face-to-face contact,” Kaitlin said.
Additionally, store associates can collect valuable feedback from customers on digital tools that will enhance their shopping journeys. This could include adding a new feature to a mobile app or improving an existing function. This results in continuous optimization to improve the in-store experience.
Store associates can also leverage retailers’ mobile apps to further collaborate with customers on creating personalized looks. Some brands enable app users to virtually try on items and receive customized product recommendations.
“I love that the app for associates oftentimes becomes a collaborative tool with the customer,” Kaitlin said. “It’s almost like you can dive into the product in the fitting room and then [say], ‘Let me show you some inspirational ways to wear it.’
“Our products often are easy to flip through those product images to really enhance [the shopping experience]. It’s really easy to pull up the app and demonstrate what this looks like on the model wearing the product and bring it to life that way, in addition to all of the amazing visuals that we have in our stores.”
This type of clienteling can increase customers’ average basket size by helping them create new outfits or garner inspiration for gifts for family and friends.
Per Kaitlin, customer engagement does not encompass a one-size-fits-all approach. She underscores that retailers must offer personalized experiences that resonate with a slew of customer personas.
She cited Sephora as a prime example of a retailer providing personalized in-store experiences to different types of customers. Those who visit a Sephora store can select a shopping basket in one of two varieties: a black basket that indicates their openness to being helped by a store associate or a red basket that signals a preference to be left alone while shopping.
Other retailers may opt to leverage clienteling to follow up with customers via text or mobile app about new inventory they may like or to inform them that their preferred product’s size or style is now available.
“Not every customer wants to text when they leave the store; it’s not for everyone,” Kaitlin said. “But when you identify, connect, and find that genuine, authentic relationship, it’s natural to want to stay connected.”
Retailers can maximize their efforts to build stronger customer brand affinity via clienteling by embracing a growth mindset and striving for continuous optimization. This extends to technology – such as taking feedback from shoppers about certain app features that would augment their experiences – as well as improving one-to-one human interactions.
Brands should obtain a clear focus on specific challenges or needs they are trying to address and be willing to innovate – even when it’s risky. And if they experience failure, they can treat it as a learning experience that will fuel faster growth in the future.
Ultimately, retailers can foster more loyalty with consumers by leveraging technology’s massive reach while remaining rooted in key elements of human connections – such as personalized interactions and consistent communication. This type of approach to developing a unique customer journey not only builds brand advocates among individual shoppers, but it may extend to their friends and family as well.
“One customer has a great experience – you’re probably going to tell a lot of your friends and family about that experience,” Kaitlin said.
Interested in learning how your business can use clienteling to enhance the customer journey? Speak with one of our experts today.
