The business fraternity has ushered in a new era- Digital within Digital. While the physical boundaries are diminishing, businesses are now soliciting a larger prospective customer base online. The retail industry has been the most impacted during this internet revolution, evidently.
Retail giants today have embraced the internet as their customer base, therefore they must now operate out of their online stores rather than traditional retail stores- that’s a must-have.
POS systems, online shopping, mobile payments, data analytics for analyzing consumer behavior are some of the new trends in retail – that come attached to the revolution. Likewise, there is a need for automation in technology. Further within that automation testing becomes predominant.
RMS testing needs to be automated to be faster
An RMS’s complexities must be understood, its interconnected functionality must be tested, and its customer-facing systems must work together. The computerized quality assurance procedure reduces the load on manual testers by automating tasks such as functional and integration testing, performance testing, and cybersecurity testing. When the following factors come into play, it accelerates the delivery of trustworthy retail software:
- Shoppers’ dilemma during the pandemic
Retailers continuously face pressure to conform to Covid regulations and to accommodate quick changes within the shortest possible timeframe with the restrictions and regulations in place. Point-of-sale system updates are imperative as soon as possible in the event of emergencies including early closure of brick-and-mortar stores, panic buying, stock holdings, etc. Automating software development is the key to releasing reliable software more quickly in situations like these.
- Creating an interconnected strategy
There are no limitations to the testing of RMS by one device or one platform. Test coverage can be improved by automating tests to cover all types of devices and browsers. The automation of tests ensures uniform performance across all platforms and enables faster feedback, which allows for quicker product launches.
- Retail faces a competitive environment
A cutthroat environment exists in retail. The customer base has a relentless attitude toward companies with a poor user experience, broken payment gateways, and generally delayed technology. Keeping digital offerings relevant means testing them continuously at regular intervals and doing so fast. Points that retail stores should keep in mind for smooth business
- Mismanagement of social media.
Businesses are still learning how to use social media effectively, as the medium is constantly evolving. Social media trends have been pioneered by customers, who expect brands to follow their fast pace as well. The customer service aspect is particularly challenging to address when it comes to keeping up with social media platforms.
In certain cases, customer service mistakes can be easily understood, in others, customers are left scratching their heads and wondering why the company made the mistake in the first place. These mistakes leave customers with a bad impression of the retailer. Highlighting some examples that customers face sometimes.
- When a customer has a time-sensitive issue, being put on hold can be the most frustrating roadblock. 15% of customers hang up after being on hold for only 40 seconds, according to studies. There is not much time for the customer service representative to investigate a complicated issue. Businesses are under increasing pressure to minimize their hold times as customers now expect to get answers immediately.
- Business Insider, for instance, highlighted a complaint against a large retailer. A product was marked up more in the store than online, according to this customer. An employee denied his request due to the company’s policies when he asked the employee to match the cheaper price.
- There was a miscommunication in Amazon’s customer service. Customer service representatives over live chat determined that someone was phishing his Amazon account. He was not well-suited to resolve the issue with the customer service representative he was matched with. During the entire interaction, “Farah” got the customer’s name wrong, mistook her for a woman, took five to fifteen minutes to reply to each message, and made the customer feel frustrated.
Finally, Farah was forced to ask the customer to move on to someone else because he had run out of patience. Instead of taking the customer’s phone number, Farah took the customer’s phone number. Despite not receiving the call, the customer eventually resolved the situation by calling Amazon.
A customer service chats with Amazon was initiated by Business Insider to figure out what exactly happened. It was determined that Farah and the frustrated customer couldn’t communicate due to a significant language barrier, as Amazon outsources customer service to India. Amazon customers are contacted by a pre-written script.
Customer Satisfaction is extremely imperative
Customers satisfaction is of core importance to the growth of the retail sector, as it is a fast-paced and customer-facing sector. The success of a company lies in its customer service. How an organization approaches its customer service can differ greatly by industry, however. When an organization tries to improve its customer experience, it sometimes falls short because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.
Rapid and relentless product launches are required in the digitally-driven market environment without compromising the user experience. Automating the testing process is not just beneficial, but also imperative if you want to handle massively increasing test volumes at ever greater speeds, and recoup the investment you put into digital innovation.
Test Automation is the key to sustain in Retail market
A steady increase in e-commerce has been observed in recent years. With the adoption of new digital technologies regularly, developers are expected to accommodate changes on the fly. New retail features are implemented in the shortest possible time through continuous testing, implementation, and deployment. This can only be achieved through automation. It is essential to test software to make sure it works as expected and has no errors.
About the Author
Written by Infiwave Solutions