• by Colleen Jones , May 7, 2024

Retailers face more pressure than ever to offer their customers digital experiences that meet or exceed high expectations. Content is the substance of those digital experiences, so retailers need to get content right. Why not take inspiration from the pioneers of digital experience, SaaS (software as a service) companies?

Let’s consider why these companies are so good at content. From day one, successful SaaS support the end-to-end customer experience digitally. That means successful SaaS have defined complete customer journeys and mapped content to every phase or step of those journeys. That’s a lot of effort resulting in many lessons learned. Let’s turn to two that can benefit retailers.

Show -- don’t just tell -- your brand purpose. A meaningful purpose can differentiate a retail brand for any generation, but especially the up-and-coming Gen Z. One recent study by Roundel found 73% of Gen Z participants will buy only from brands they believe in.

Adding purpose to a brand starts with saying what the purpose is. For instance, the wildly successful Salesforce has always described its purpose as “building stronger relationships.” But that can’t be where purpose ends. A brand has to demonstrate the purpose or risk coming across as not genuine or even hypocritical.

Salesforce is a model for showing -- not just telling -- its purpose through content. The company launched a Netflix-like experience called Salesforce+, which provides on-demand content with very high production value about timely business and marketing topics, often involving Salesforce customers. When Salesforce launched the platform, CMO Sarah Franklin explained “the always-on, business media platform…builds trusted relationships with customers and a sense of belonging for the business community.”

I’m not saying every retailer has to replicate Netflix. But every retailer can offer content that demonstrates its purpose. For instance, Patagonia’s catalog is part outdoor magazine, with stories that illustrate bringing its environmentalism to life.

Help customers help themselves. As retail becomes an increasingly digital experience, so does retail customer service. And great SaaS have figured out not only how to handle customer service but also how to enable customer success.

Outstanding SaaS such as Mailchimp and Airbnb offer a thoughtful (and often rigorously tested) combination of content to help customers solve problems, become aware of useful features, and get more value out of the experience. Content examples include, but are far from limited to:

• Microcopy such as labels, instructions, headings, icons, and error messages.
• Wizards, or step-by-step interactive guides.
• FAQs that are easily accessible by chat and voice search.
• Contextual help such as tool tips and notifications.
• Best practices and success factors based on the most successful or relevant customers.
• Chat bots or copilots fueled by FAQs, contextual help, and other content.

Forward-thinking retailers are already taking a cue from SaaS to better help customers. For instance, Walmart recently launched a copilot that allows customers to make requests such as “Help me plan a Cinco de Mayo party” and receive relevant product suggestions from all departments. What would make this experience even better is guidance, tips, and inspiration content integrated into the results, or a “wizard” (see above) experience.

So, as retailers compete on digital experiences, they have an opportunity to gain advantage by acting like top SaaS brands. Imbue the experience with content that shows your purpose and empowers customers to succeed.