Seemingly unfazed by the results of a recent Which? survey, WHSmith responds to claims it represents the worst of the high street. The brand argued that the results were "neither statistically relevant nor meaningful, relative to our loyal customer base”.
Maybe* listened to the online conversation created about WHSmith to understand whether WHSmith is right to be confident in their customer experience. In the second part of our series, we look at what’s working.
WHSmith defends itself against Which?s’ claim of poor customer experience
by Amy Rountree
Looking at the detail
Literary review
WHSmith actually enjoys double the amount of positive content than they do negative. Over 61% of content online about the brand is positive. In our previous post, we looked at the poor sentiment around plastic and pricing. But the brand’s literary and book offering really boosts the brand's perception by consumers.
Getting on the same page
The What’s Being Said Report for WHSmith from Maybe* highlights the terms used most frequently in any conversation.
See for yourself what messages your organisation are publishing.
Authors are advocates
WHSmith’s content does not enjoy particularly high engagement with approximately 5 engagements per day and less than 1 engagement per post.
However, author interaction is high as they promote their publications or upcoming in-store appearances. Authors’ fans are quick to engage with this and reshare it boosting sentiment for WHSmith in the process.
Upcoming Signing: WHSmith Derby (@whsmith @intuderby @love_derby) #WHSEvents #derby #madeinderbyshire https://t.co/6EpHysZo2q pic.twitter.com/1NrZhb4RR3
— Lucy Felthouse (@cw1985) June 7, 2019
The key takeway
Focus on what’s working for you. Ensure that your content is aligned to what your customers respond positively to online. Align your business in the direction of what your customers want from you, not what you want from them.
Conclusion
We started this series to investigate whether recent customer satisfaction surveys were a fair reflection. WHSmith placed little importance on the results and said so publicly. Who won our sentiment smackdown? Well, the pain points that customers' voice online do seem to align with what Which? had to say.
But, interestingly, the negative trend was more likely to impact the eats and treats offering and the Post Office, who came off none too well. Equally, there is a literature-loving customer and community whom the brand is serving, and serving well, not just with the products on offer, but with events and a bit of theatre.
The brand may be confident that they clearly enjoy a loyal customer base, but they should not be complacent. Bookworms are more likely to be fans of authors rather than the brand itself.
The customers tell us that there is work to be done. There are obvious trends around pricing, food and beverages and the post office concession. Dismissing that as irrelevant may be a miss for the retailer, who, if prepared to listen and understand the context behind some of the complaints, could improve its positioning.
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