How 7 Smart Brands Are Making New Human-To-Human Connections

How 7 Smart Brands Are Making New Human-To-Human Connections

For many years now, the retail industry has been rife with talk of personalization. Usually, the term has referred to digital features and functionality. Within physical store strategy, some type of personal service often has been embedded in discussions about customer experience. But, aside from fee-based or loyalty-driven services and personal shoppers in some apparel and department stores, one-to-one appointments haven't been commonly promoted.

When the U.S. shut down this spring, that changed. Brand after brand used store closures, shelter in place policies and - more recently - store openings that come with restrictions, as a forcing mechanism to connect more personally in organic, human-driven ways. This has proven to be a winning trend across product categories and services.

Within days of b8ta's stores closing in March, the self-described retail-as-a-service company launched virtual appointments. b8ta's stores rely heavily on consumer electronics product demos and while much of that wasn't possible as retail staff conducted appointments from home, some team members own - and therefore were able to showcase - several of b8ta's most popular products. Now that stores have begun reopening, the team has been conducting these video-based appointments from stores.

Notably, the option to book an appointment is just as prominent