How does bol strengthen its relationship with its customers?

The online store wants to discover how to make its customers even happier. How can bol improve the shopping experience? Blauw investigated this through a community survey, in which we examined the customer journey step by step. The focus was on the path-to-purchase. This starts at the moment the customer wants to buy a product and ends at the moment the order is completed and the ordered product is used or returned.

Research method: qualitative community research

Blauw has developed its own online community for bol, in which 100 customers from the Netherlands and Flanders are ready to share their opinions and experiences. The community was developed as a means of conducting research in an agile manner.

Community research is very suitable for this because respondents are always available, you get results quickly and are flexible in the questioning methods. You also gather a lot of interesting insights with a lot of interpretation of context. For example, customers not only answered a question, but also regularly explained their answers in detail.

The extensive exploration of the customer journey, was the starting point. After this issue, the community remained available to bol.com and several issues have since been implemented in the community. Now, however, more about that first exploratory issue!

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The customer journey research

Over the course of 1.5 weeks, Blauw presented various questions and assignments to clients. In these assignments we addressed various topics that play an important role in the customer journey. From how people search for a specific product to what plays the decisive role in choosing an online retailer. To get the right insights, we used different methods such as forum topics, challenges and questionnaires. To properly understand these insights, we placed the path-to purchase in context. For example, we discussed how engaged top customers feel with various retailers. We also had an eye for how the nature of the purchase and the device on which people store affects the customer journey.

Focus groups with top customers: even more insights

Occasionally topics or questions came up that called for more dialogue. To this end, after completing the first issue in the community, Blauw organized smaller focus groups with a number of community members. In four groups with four top clients each, Blauw went deeper into discussions about what we had learned from the community in order to uncover even more insights.

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