What does transparency really mean? What benefits can I expect? How much say do I have?
As a consumer in today’s day and age our priorities, knowledge and resources have changed. The best way to think of it, is not what products one can get from a company rather than what can the company offer me. In my opinion Shoppers Drug Mart exemplifies on all levels an excellent customer experience.
A brief background of the company reveals: Shoppers Drug Mart set a new standard of pharmacy care in Canada with the introduction of Health Watch, a collection of unique supportive tools and services for pharmacy customers. They take pride being the leader in Canada’s retail drug store marketplace and is the number one provider of pharmacy products and services with sales in 2011 of approximately $10.5 Billion. The stores convenient locations allow them to capture a significant share of market providing customers easy access to over-the-counter medications, health and beauty aids, cosmetics, seasonal products and every day household essentials. The company also owns and operates 63 Shoppers Home Health Care stores which sell and service assisted-living devices, medical equipment, home-care products and durable mobility equipment.
Shoppers Drug Mart has demonstrated its ability to be continually innovative and embracing new technology. Matthew Latkiewicz works at Zendesk.com, customer support software. He writes for and edits Zengage, Zendesk’s blog about customer engagement. His article How to: Pick the right social media engagement style on Mashable illustrates the top five engagement styles that currently dominate the social web for which shopper’s drug mart utilizes.
The first engagement style is called “The Game Show Host”. This method offers contests and special offers in order to build a stronger relationship with its consumers. The basic premise is for the consumer to follow the steps you have laid out with the hopes to win a desired prize and increase consumer traffic. Shoppers Drug Mart currently has an offer shown below. This allows the shoppers brand to be showcased in a positive and engaging light.
The second style is called “Your friendly neighborhood service rep.” Matthew Latkiewicz writes, “Like a good neighbor, you listen to your customers and engage them on an individual level, mostly to solve customer support issues or to capitalize on sales opportunities. You monitor social network channels because “that’s where the customers are,” and if conversations are happening about your brand, you want to be there to participate.” Shoppers Drug Mart chooses to extend their exceptional in person service standard to accomplish this over various social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest. These avenues allow their consumers to voice their opinions whilst receiving prompt and in some cases live feedback from a Shoppers Rep.
Style three is called “The Beehive” This style focuses more on a distributed relationship between its individual employees and the world around them. Its aim is to cultivate a culture of engagement throughout the entire company. The Shoppers owners are associates and have a vested interest in the successful running of their individual locations. Each and every staff member is given the opportunity to participate in various social media aspects and events so the whole team is at the heart of Shoppers Drug Mart success.
The fourth style is called “The community builder”. This style focuses on generating conversation about topics the company values and tying them back to the company’s brand. Shoppers Drug Mart uses this movement across all social medial platforms by posting links and quotes regarding today’s hot topic issues. This passive aggressive approach allows them to be viewed as equal between the consumer and its company.
The fifth and final engagement style I will be discussing is called “The Friend”. In my opinion this is the style Shoppers has embraced across all aspects of the company as they strive to provide prompt response to posts made on social media platforms. They provide up to date information on all new products and services and regard all customers on a one on one basis using their names as if they were genuine friends.
Shoppers Drug Mart provides a transparent atmosphere with their open, honest and prompt services allowing consumers to voice their opinions and truly feel a part of the mix.
Lessons for others:
– Incorporating as many engagement styles as you can allows for a well-balanced environment proving that transparency is key to the successful growth of your company.
Web References:
How to: Pick the right social media engagement style
Shoppers Facebook
LinkedIn Shoppers
Twitter
YouTube Shoppers TV
Pinterest
Submitted by: Sarah Kalyan – SMBP Student University of Waterloo. To contact the author of this entry please email sarah.kalyan@hotmail.ca
If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.