Interview with: Megan Quinn, Co-Founder, Net-a-Porter

1. Interview with: Megan Quinn,
Co-Founder, Net-a-Porter
“Australian businesses must focus more
on customer experience and service,
making people feel understood,
celebrated and unique. They need to
exceed customers’ expectations at every
single touch point. Many businesses are
facing tough competition but they have
the opportunity to do better,” said
Megan Quinn, Co-Founder, Net-a-
Porter.
Quinn is a keynote speaker at the
marcus evans Retail Forum 2017,
taking place in the Gold Coast,
Australia, 14 – 15 September.
How is Australian retail transform-
ing?
People were happy with the status quo
until e-commerce disrupted it. That
followed with globalisation and the
internet opening their eyes to various
price points and a plethora of choice.
Now they are competing against
international sites. Amazon is seen as
an enormous threat. Australian
businesses have been too focused on
efficiency and cost-cutting, and have
not recognised the importance of
customer experience and reinvesting
into their organisation. They need to be
relevant to their consumers and be
worthy destinations, both physically and
digitally.
What has the biggest impact on
customer experience? What
opportunities for improving
customer experience would you
point retailers to?
Retailers need to invest in the customer
experience, understand their wants and
desires, and cater a destination across
every touch point and channel that they
find appealing. That is the opportunity.
They also need to see opportunities with
Amazon. They cannot fight it, so they
can be more involved and test the
demand for their products. They should
consider Amazon as another vehicle for
selling their products.
They must reverse engineer what
Amazon and other international sites
cannot do, and understand how they
can be different or unique. How can
they create a destination that is worth
talking about? They do not need to be a
big chain to excite customers. They
must hire the right staff and invest in
people, train them on the products and
good salesmanship. They should exceed
customer expectations. They need to
create a community around the product
not just the commodity itself – that is
the opportunity.
The key to Net-a-Porter’s success has
been the attention to detail and focus
on exceeding customer expectations at
every single touch point. Our goal was
to make people feel excited, under-
stood, unique, celebrated and appreci-
ated. We gave people a range of choice,
delivery and packaging that exceeds
their expectation, and an easy return
process if they are not delighted by
their purchase for some reason.
What innovations or tools could
retailers make better use of?
Data is a hot topic. Building a profile on
customers, not just knowing what they
have purchased but a story around it,
interpreting that data to improve the
experience. Marrying the digital
technology seamlessly with customer
experience is crucial. What is driving
people at the moment? We live in a
rapidly changing world and the
challenge is not just to know what is
coming next but knowing what to do
with it.
How can retailers make sure there
is a seamless shopping experience
across mobile, tablet and desktop,
and the actual store?
So often they do not make them
synergistic. Every touch point has to be
seamless. It all needs to stem from the
same brand and ethos. The stock needs
to be real time. It needs to correlate
with the after sales service. They should
feed off each other.
It is about making sure that everything
resonates, anticipating what could make
the interaction with the business
excellent and ensuring that happens.
They must
reverse engineer
what Amazon
and other
international
sites cannot do,
and understand
how they can
be different
or unique
How Retailers Can Exceed
Customer Expectations

2. The Marketing Network –
marcus evans Summits group
delivers peer-to-peer information
on strategic matters, professional
t r e n d s a n d b r e a k t h r o u g h
innovations.
Please note that the Summit is a
closed business event and the
number of participants strictly
limited.
About the Retail Forum 2017
The Retail Forum allows you to meet and do business with the leading Marketing,
Digital and Omni-Channel Retail Directors, and Customer Experience professionals
in the most cost-effective way. Taking place at the RACV Royal Pines Resort, Gold
Coast, Queensland, Australia, 14 – 15 September, the key presentation topics
include: grasping the art and science of today’s empowered consumer to deliver
real value and become their shopping experience of choice, keeping up with
technology changes, building a competitive advantage, maximising customer
satisfaction, and keeping shoppers engaged.
http://au-retailforum.marcusevans.com
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Tel: + 357 22 849 313
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To view the web version of this interview, please click here:
http://events.marcusevans-events.com/retailforum2017-megan-quinn