As customers and technology change, customer experience also needs to change. In order to stay relevant, companies often have to adjust their products and services or expand to new areas. This week saw three stories of how companies and industries are evolving and how those changes could bring better service to customers.
DoorDash Expands To Physical Restaurants
Amid continuing scandals, food delivery company DoorDash is expanding to a new area: physical restaurants. The company recently opened a shared physical space that will host kitchens from numerous restaurants under one roof. The space is only available for pickup and delivery orders. Expanding into physical “ghost kitchens” was first started by Uber Eats last year and allows food delivery companies to provide quicker service to customers while also supplying a kitchen for smaller restaurants right next to customers.
Food delivery services have taken off in recent years, and DoorDash’s latest move shows potential for even more growth. Aside from providing another resource for food delivery, the innovative solution allows customers to easily combine items from multiple restaurants in one order. If a customer wants to order tacos and ice cream from two different vendors both housed in DoorDash Kitchens, they can get their items together much easier than they could from any other source. Finding innovative services that meet customers’ needs is a huge aspect of building a quality customer experience.
U.S. Cities Feel Negative Impact Of Tourism Boom
Tourism is big business, with a staggering 116 months—or nearly 10 years—of consecutive growth in the U.S. travel industry. While those numbers may be great for tourists and the economy, smaller towns across the country are starting to feel the negative effects. Cities like Charleston, South Carolina and Moab, Utah face the dilemma of wanting to preserve the charm of their cities while also creating more opportunities for tourists. Over the past decade, the supply of hotel rooms has increased by 12%, in addition to the boom of Airbnb-style rentals. Many smaller cities have stopped hotel construction and banned new lodging applications in fear their cities will soon be overrun by tourists.
Millennials and younger consumers prioritize experiences over things, so it’s no surprise that domestic tourism has been growing for years, especially as more baby boomers retire and have the means to travel. However, preserving a great experience for tourists also comes from balancing their needs with the needs of the city and developers. Finding that balance can maintain a great experience for the long term.
AMC Adds New Streaming Service
Movie theater ticket sales have been slumping for years, but AMC, the world’s largest theater chain, is fighting the decline by joining the competitive streaming industry. With AMC Theaters on Demand, customers can buy or rent more than 2,000 movies from major studios. The new service will be in direct competition to other large streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, but AMC hopes providing customers another way to watch movies will give the theater a boost.
The streaming industry is already crowded, and many other companies have launched services just this year. AMC’s entry is significant because it shows that Hollywood sees the future of streaming and is willing to use new methods to serve customers. Instead of sticking with the traditional theater method that has been faltering recently, letting customers view movies whenever and wherever they want is a big move for AMC that shows it understands changing trends and customer demands.
Customer-focused companies keep an eye on the industry to stay on top of trends. Whether they proactively choose to expand or are pushed in that direction, adding and adjusting services can resonate with customers and add a new layer to the experience.
Blake Morgan is a customer experience futurist, keynote speaker and the author of two books including The Customer Of The Future: 10 Guiding Principles For Winning Tomorrow’s Business. Sign up for her weekly customer experience newsletter here.