birdsnest is an Australian family-owned online fashion retailer with a mission to help women discover outfits they fall in love with. Nestled in Cooma NSW, the little retail store has grown beyond expectations of Jane Cay who founded the business in 2004. Since launching online in 2008 with a vision to mirror the warmth and support found in-store, birdsnest has become one of Australia’s most respected online fashion retailers, now employing over 140 team members in a town of just 6500 people.
A focus on customer experience has been pivotal to birdsnest’s success. Rather than focusing on policies, birdsnest benchmark themselves against their values and guarantees. Part of this includes listening and conversing with their customers to make improvements.
birdsnest use tools including Net Promoter feedback, surveys, social listening, and their closed Facebook community to collect feedback and analyse what they could be doing better. This has led to countless improvements including new website features and products in their own clothing range.
An example is the customer collaboration between the in-house designers and birdsnest customers for clothing brand, that bird label. Birdsnest designers illustrate a collection of prints, which customers are invited to vote on. The prints with the most votes move forward into production, and become available to shop and wear.
Over 80% of birdsnest’s revenue comes from returning customers, illustrating high customer satisfaction and a strong loyalty to the brand. The brand continues to be built on customers who are compelled to share their experience with word-of-mouth making up 42% of new customer referrals.
birdsnest use the universal NPS (Net Promoter Score) to measure, manage and improve customer experience. With a simple question that investigates how likely a customer would recommend the brand. birdsnest’s NPS after delivery has averaged an impressive 92 since they started measuring it 5 years ago. Birdsnest also ask ‘what can we do to improve’ and constantly monitored suggestions, ideas and themes. Other recent accolades include winning the 2019 Australian Retail Association’s Independent Retailer of The Year and Best Customer Experience Award.
Feedback is a gift and businesses should not be scared to ask their customers how they are going and how they can improve. Be proactive in gathering feedback that comes through customer service, social media, or other review or rating channels. Take note of any patterns, and go back to the team to work out how to solve any concerns and leverage any great ideas. birdsnest have found testing new ideas, such as the launch of a new product or service, with loyal customers invaluable. These customers give constructive feedback that can be used to improve offerings. It’s also important to thank and connect with those who take the time to leave the feedback.
“In the midst of running our businesses, sometimes we can forget to look up and ask those we are serving how we are going. There are so many ways to connect with our customers now and have an authentic conversation about how we can improve. At birdsnest, we have learnt this is such a gift and some of our best ideas have come from our community. We have to remind ourselves that we are here to serve their needs, and those needs constantly evolve and so must we.” – Jane Cay (Founder)
Phone: 1300 696 378