If you've ever wondered how important customer experience is to a brand, consider this statistic from PwC, "in the U.S., even when people love a company or product, 59% will walk away after several bad experiences, 17% after just one bad experience." That tells you everything you need to know.
Wayfair believes everyone deserves a home they love, and we want furnishing it to be a source of fun, not a cause for anxiety. This is why an awesome customer experience is vital, and it's the primary focus of our Storefront organization. We help make this vision a reality for millions of customers by creating a world-class online shopping experience driven by incredible innovations.
In this blog, I'll introduce you to the Tools & Services team, which is part of the Storefront group and a key player in Wayfair's commitment to taking the customer experience one step further.
Introducing the Tools & Services Team
The Tools and Services team was formed in 2020 to guide our users with a friendly helping hand that ensures a smooth shopping journey. The best way to explain our goal is with a simple question— have you ever felt like a superhero when buying online?
If you're like me, the answer is probably no. But just because you haven't had a heroic experience doesn't mean you don't deserve one every time you shop. That is our mission—we guide brand advocates through complex shopping journeys that help them create the home they love. We do this by meeting shoppers wherever they are on their buying journey and then providing the capabilities and services to support their omnichannel customized purchase experiences (think online and offline).
Our capabilities include financing, assembly, warranty, project planning and collaboration, visualization (including in 3D/XR), and a path to help resolution. Think of us as being the shopper's notebook, scrapbook, wallet, handyman, and concierge whose sole focus is to deliver the best version of Wayfair from any device.
Three Pillars, One Amazing Experience
The Tools & Services team comprises three incredible groups that share the same customer commitment. These include Home Services, Loyalty and Financing, and Shopping Tools.
Home Services
The Home Services team's mission is to make the process of setting up and protecting your home as easy and enjoyable as it is shopping for it. We do this in a few ways. First is warranty services that give customers peace of mind with every purchase.
We also provide assembly and installation services that deliver customers a convenient and affordable way to turn the delivered packages into usable products within their homes. Now customers can schedule the delivery AND select when they would like our team of professionals to set these items up. It could be the same day, or perhaps a future date.
We do this through technologies, including a post-order platform, a service booking platform, and a services marketplace. Each is complemented by human interaction and processes that add value for our customers, partners, and professionals.
Loyalty and Financing
A customer's purchase should never be halted due to payment issues. The Loyalty and Financing team empowers everyone, anywhere, to make their ideal home more attainable by rewarding them for choosing Wayfair. We do this via Wayfair credit cards, alternative financing, and gift cards.
These are not cookie-cutter financing services. Generating loyalty requires personalized offers. We deliver these using our platform, which dynamically integrates many options through a single application based on the shopper's profile. It then presents these at precisely the right time, not only ensuring the customer gets what they want but doing so in a way that best meets the financial situation. Success here drives satisfaction and brand loyalty.
Content is also a big part of loyalty. Using Block Builder and other functionality, we can introduce personalized and tailored content and messaging to customers dynamically. This isn't to just Wayfair properties, either. By investing in decoupling, we can also scale the platform and extend these personalized experiences to our partner sites, which allows us to connect with customers more deeply and emotionally.
Shopping Tools
Shopping Tools is the newest addition to the team. It was launched to help guide those customers on more complex shopping journeys and ensure an exceptional experience. When I say complex shopping journey, a good example would be a person looking to furnish an entire home. In this instance, they don't just need a few pieces of furniture. They need individual pieces that complement each room as well as each other. They also need to determine the proper sizing and placement options.
Wayfair offers people like this an interior designer and a set of cool innovations such as the ability to view 3D items through augmented reality technologies. These make it easy for customers to find matching items and then use 3D models to look at them from all sides. Next, using the camera on their phone, they can create a virtual version of their living room and see how these pieces all look in the space.
It all comes down to this—to feel like a superhero when shopping online, retailers must deliver innovative solutions and services that provide a hero-like experience where consumers can soar and achieve all of their goals. For Wayfair, this all begins with the Storefront group and our Tools & Services team in particular.
Do you want to help our customers be superheroes? Check out our
open roles and apply today!
