How QVC Engages With Customers

David Zimmerman brings more than 20 years’ experience in the service industry to his current role as Director of Global Customer Experience at global video and ecommerce retailer QVC.

CX customer service

With experience in Operations, Service Innovation, Portfolio Management and Voice of the Customer, he is a passionate customer advocate.

In this interview with CX Network, David discusses engaging with customers through a differentiated discovery driven shopping experience, which fundamentally differs from traditional brick-and-mortar or ecommerce retail experiences.

Hi David, can you tell us what your role as Global Customer Experience Lead entails, and how your job impacts on QVC wider customer experience strategy?

At QVC we recognize that no one person or business unit "owns" the customer experience; customer experience is a shared belief that is woven into the fabric of the organisation.

My role is to serve as an experience partner and trusted advisor to business leaders as we continue to transform the QVC experience to the next generation of entertainment, engagement and commerce platforms.

Up until recently you were the Director of Service Innovation, can you give an example of an innovative way in which you utilised digital to enhance the customer experience provided?

By closely examining how customers interact with our website self-service, we learned that they would "look up" prior purchases to buy their favourite items. We knew we could make this process easier for the customer.

To improve the experience, we added a "reorder" feature for convenience and, in looking at use and sentiment, we saw a great response from the customer.

And are there any differentiated ways in which QVC engages with customers to encourage loyalty and turn them into true brand advocates?

QVC engages customers through a differentiated discovery driven shopping experience.QVC customers, hosts and vendors create a community around a shared love of shopping.

Through QVC’s broadcast, ecommerce and social platforms, experts speak directly to consumers and consumers can be a part of the conversation. This is an experience that is hard to replicate in traditional brick-and-mortar or ecommerce retail experiences.

What do you find to be the additional challenges of working in customer experience within ecommerce retail? And how is it more rewarding?

As an innovative and global company we have many ideas and strategies to delight our customers. In a rapidly evolving technology and consumer behaviour landscape, the challenge is selecting the right priorities and balancing our resources accordingly.

Rewarding… absolutely. It is personally fulfilling when we deliver something new – product, feature or service and the customer not only responds, but can’t wait to share it with her family and friends.

What major trends do you predict will impact customer experience in 2016?

The technology and consumer landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Our customers tend to be early adopters of new technologies, so we pay close attention to new devices, platforms and services.

We strive to deliver the QVC experience across all platforms – however, whenever and wherever the customer wants to engage with us.

Finally, what is your ultimate tip for fellow CX leaders to help them deliver a truly memorable customer experience?

Most of these will be obvious, but they serve as an experience north star for me. Engage your customers in a genuine dialogue, and fight the temptation to know the answer before being informed.