Customer experience is a key focal point for Express and always has been. The company’s new features unveiled in its mobile app for iOS and Android will offer customers an improved mobile shopping customer experience and smoother navigation.
The app, which will now be fully integrated with the retailer’s loyalty program, EXPRESS NEXT, will allow customers to enroll, access their loyalty points, available rewards and points needed to reach their next reward, all while shopping on the move.
What’s more, EXPRESS NEXT Credit Card holders can now access card balances and scan their smartphones to make cardless payments for all in-store purchases. Cardholders can also make payments and view their credit card transaction history.
Elizabeth Crystal, Chief Marketing Officer for Express, explained to Loyalty360 the factors behind the enhancements to the mobile app.
“We always strive to deliver an outstanding customer experience, across all channels and customer touch points, so the evolution of our mobile app is part of that philosophy,” Crystal explained. “These most recent updates really reinforce our position as a lifestyle brand with our customers –beginning first with delivering an improved shopping experience and better integration with our Express NEXT loyalty program, but also incorporating inspirational content like our blog, Instagram, behind the scenes video content, and facilitating social sharing.
As a brand, Crystal explained, Express targets the 20-to 30-year-old customer.
“So we designed the Express NEXT program particularly with those wants and needs in mind,” she said. “That being said, we believe it works well for customers of all ages, based on the overall strong customer experience. Our customers love to share their thoughts with us, and we love to hear from them. It helps us continually enhance our customer experience and stay on the pulse of what’s important to our customer. We get so much great feedback, and we consider carefully how to incorporate it into our advancements, especially if we can resolve a problem or improve their customer experience.”
Users will benefit from additional app features, including:
Message Center: Users will have easy access to relevant and geo-targeted EXPRESS messages, videos, exclusive offers and news.
Get Social: The app's dedicated social media section features engaging behind-the-scenes video, EXP Life blog content, access to the retailer's YouTube videos and Instagram feed, as well as the option to share product pages and content via SMS, email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. – all in one convenient place.
Shop Like a Pro: New styling features allow users to scroll the latest fashion tips and trends, see what's new, customize preferences for the number of items viewed on a page, scan bar codes in-store to view product pages and view in-store inventory of coveted items
Store Location: Customers can locate the nearest store by activating the geo-services option on their smart phone, or by utilizing the search function directly in app.
Customer feedback most certainly played a role in developing and implementing the mobile app enhancements.
“We don’t want a mobile app for the sake of having a mobile app,” Crystal explained. “We want it to create value and facilitate a better experience/interaction with Express. A big piece of delivering on that goal is giving our customers features that they value, so we welcomed their feedback. Customer research, understanding the important of technology, reading reviews, and interacting with our customers in stores, influenced the most recent changes and will continue to impact future upgrades.”