Pyaterochka and Krok launched an omnichannel digital circuit for customers

2021: Create a single digital loop to handle customer communications

On July 14, 2021, Krok announced that the Pyaterochka trading network had introduced a single digital circuit for working with customer appeals. Now work with all guest appeals is carried out through an omnichannel system and an end-to-end operating CRM (oCRM), developed jointly with the CRIC company.

The basic functionality of the complex system "Feedback" united 1000 employees of the contact center and more than 55 thousand employees of the retail network. The set of solutions made it possible to increase the speed of handling thanks to the automation of part of the routine processes. The system was developed on the basis of a flexible microservice architecture.

In the course of analyzing the work with customers' appeals, it was revealed that they come from store guests through various communication channels (e-mail, contact center hotline, WhatsApp messenger, Telegram, Viber), and there is no unified system for their accounting. Previously, contact center specialists responsible for feedback worked at 6 different sites and did this in 8 different systems, between which manual switching was carried out. As a result, this resulted in duplication and increased response times. As a result of the implementation of the Feedback software, the response period to the appeal was reduced to 1-3 days. Now operators work in a single automated workplace, and the new loop minimizes the number of their manual actions.

Working with feedback from customers in Russian grocery retail has historically not been a strong point. The goal of Pyaterochka is to earn the trust of its guests, and for this one of the priority tasks for us was to improve the quality of our service. We work with people, their opinion is critical in our business. No less fundamentally - to answer appeals quickly, to show customers that we hear them and solve the problems that they face. Including this, we paid special attention to the development of the system together with the CRIC, to the speed and reliability of data transmission, since tens of thousands of users simultaneously work in the circuit, "says Alexander Chukhontsev, director of the customer experience department of the Pyaterochka trading network.

Also, as part of the Feedback software complex, the Trouble Ticket Solution (TTS) system was developed, covering about 20 groups of functional division specialists (contact center employees, lawyers, marketers, merchandisers and other specialists who help prepare a high-quality and informative response to the appeal) and employees of more than 17 thousand stores, which amounted to more than 55 thousand users. TTS routes calls according to their subject matter to specialists, takes into account SLAs of the type of request, stores the entire history of the task by performers and builds a map of the route of the call. As a result, duplication of requests was eliminated when one buyer could use different communication channels to solve the situation: for example, first call the hotline, and then write to email. Previously, such appeals were regarded as different requests and could get into work with different operators.

The system is synchronized with the oCRM, gives the operator reminders of the need to contact the guest of the store and clear instructions for communication. The employee sees the history of all communications with the buyer, his profile from the database, the purchase history and other information that allows him to give prompt and maximum complete feedback. The guest is informed about the results of the consideration of the complaint through the appeal channel. TTS also helps to obtain high-quality analytics based on all appeals on all topics, and operational reporting.

CRIC also developed a delivery module within the oCRM, which allows you to search for guest orders, view the order card, event tape, goods and replacements, payment history and reviews, send promotional codes and interact with dispatchers. Thus, delivery customers can also resolve issues through any convenient communication channels.

CRIC has 15 years of experience with retail customers, trade as well as deep expertise in the design and development of systems with a complex architecture. We conducted an audit of the current IT architecture of Pyaterochka and, together with a partner, selected a solution that helped to unify the process and simplify the work with appeals. We started the project with a standard technical assignment, but very soon together with the customer we came to the point that in this case it is necessary to act more flexibly and make decisions during the project, focusing only on goals. Thanks to this, it was possible to quickly make an excellent product, the effectiveness of which can already be measured, "notes Viktor Smirnov, head of Digital Processes at the CRIC IT company.

The principles laid down in the design of the digital circuit allow you to finalize and develop it on your own by the X5 Group. As of July 2021, the system has already been finalized and brought into a productive environment by the internal development team of Pyaterochka and X5 Group, further development is underway.