All these additional efforts would have been difficult – even impossible – if not for Zendesk improving service agent productivity by 17%, and manager productivity by 30%.
Logistics and customers’ accessibility to products were key challenges, especially since Lush’s hands-on production and reliance on fresh, fragile products can complicate service consistency.
However, the customer care teams were able to work smarter using Zendesk, while still providing that personal touch to customers, even during very stressful times such as natural disasters, weather conditions, strikes, and high-volume promotional campaigns.
Balancing tech and human touch
While Lush plans to enhance CX through AI and automation, including personalized product recommendations and campaign information, the company also aims to balance AI-driven interactions with the availability of human support, ensuring customers can always reach a human if needed.
“In a technology-driven world, we’re often encouraged to automate everything, but our customers have grown up from seeing us on the local street and getting to know our staff,” said Rankin. “While we’re now a global business with hundreds of shops and hopefully millions of customers, we want to perpetuate that feeling that we’re your friends, and if you come to
“While we’re now a global business with hundreds of shops and hopefully millions of customers, we want to perpetuate that feeling that we’re your friends, and if you come to us, we have the time to listen to you and find a resolution and maybe help to make someone else’s day lovely.”
Exciting innovations ahead
The company’s in-house development team, Tech Warriors, is working on new features for the Lush app and website front-end to make them more user-friendly and engaging. “It will be more exciting for the customer, and AI is definitely going to be involved in that!” said Rankin.
There are plans in place for new features and tools to improve customer experience, including AI-driven interactions and personalized recommendations, as well as incentives to encourage customer registration and engagement.
“We will have the capability to deal with thousands of customers every second,” Rankin added, especially during peak sales periods. “Because even window shoppers are valid customers.”
