AO.com Shows How To Design Retail Around Customer Needs

Recently we were looking for a new washing machine as ours really had passed its best; but it’s not as easy as you might think to replace. Where do we go, what do we do with the old one, do we need a plumber, can someone deliver it in a time that works for us?

Working in the industry you get to hear of good companies; companies that go over and above what you’d normally expect, companies that offer a good price and support, companies that help you make your decisions. So my wife and I started looking on AO.com

I’ve been following the AO for a while now because I think they are one of the few brands that has really innovated in this area of retail. Let’s face it, nobody ever got excited about buying a new washing machine. This type of purchase is often made just because it is essential - for a house move or the existing machine breaking down or like us, it had really past its best. What AO has done so well is redefine how we engage with household electrical products and just made is easy to do business with them.

I think they have achieved this by thinking about the entire customer journey. For example, their Augmented Reality (AR) system allows us to choose a product and then to place it in our home virtually by pointing their phone camera at the place where they want it to be located. The image on screen includes the new product, as it if was really there.

This sounds like a gimmick, but how many times have you bought a product for your home and brought it home only to find it doesn’t quite look right. It’s a great idea to let customers see what they think they want before they buy.

But AO has also thought carefully about the installation and removal of their products. Washing machines are a very classic example. Many customers have been disappointed to receive a delivery from a department store or electrical retailer only to find that their brand new machine is left in the kitchen without installation - it’s up to them to find a plumber or to do it yourself at home.

Naturally most customers want their new machine installed, so AO makes this again easy for you. Likewise, it can be difficult to dispose of an old broken washing machine because it’s too large to dispose of with normal home recycling and often it is not possible to get a washing machine into a regular car to transport it to your local recycling centre. Once again, AO made this entire process easy by taking away our old machine for recycling.

It is this thought for the entire customer journey, and not just the purchase, that is setting AO apart from the competition. We talk on LinkedIn about customer journeys and a lot of people moan about the service they get, but I’m in the business of customer journeys and when you find something that’s good or great, then share this as well.