In this episode, I talk about the one habit every customer-centric professional needs to master: curiosity. I’m digging into why being curious about truly understanding customers is the heartbeat of any customer-centric retail leader, and I’ve got five strategies you can put into action this week. Plus, I’m sharing examples and tips that prove really listening to your customers isn’t just nice to do, it’s transformative.
The One Habit That Separates Customer-Centric Leaders From Everyone Else
Here’s what I’ve learned after 20 years in retail: customer insights drive success, but most teams are collecting feedback without truly listening to what matters.
They chase NPS scores. They track call lengths. They create dashboards that look impressive in meetings. But they miss the real gold, the unfiltered voice of what customers actually need and feel.
The difference? Curiosity. The best retail leaders I know are genuinely curious about their customers. They don’t just want data, they want understanding.
Today, I’m sharing five practical strategies that have transformed how the most successful retail teams understand their customers. Whether you’re a marketing manager trying to prove ROI, an operations leader streamlining processes, or a CX professional building your influence, these approaches will help you build deeper customer connections without massive budgets.
Just curiosity and the courage to try something new.
1. Why Your Team Already Knows What Customers Want (But You’re Not Asking Them)
The people who know your customers best aren’t in your head office. They’re on your shop floor.
Checkout operators, delivery drivers, and customer service advisors are having real conversations with real customers every single day. Yet somehow, their insights rarely make it to the teams making strategic decisions.
When I worked at Iceland, something stuck with me. The marketing director spent entire store visits with me talking to people on the shop floor, barely saying a word to me until we got back in the car. He always said to me that store teams are the most valuable asset in any business. He was right.
What Smart Retailers Are Doing to collect Customer Insights:
M&S runs “Coffee and Connect” sessions where contact team members share customer stories directly with buyers and product developers. This helps teams tailor designs when creating new ranges.
Lush implemented a tagging system in their live chat to identify recurring issues in real-time. Result? An 82% one-touch resolution rate because they can spot patterns and fix problems quickly.
Sainsbury’s created the “Let Us Know” app that makes customer feedback visible at store level, not just in head office dashboards.
What This Could Look Like For You in Practice:
Start a 15-minute weekly “story time” huddle on Slack or Teams. Invite a store manager or customer service advisor to share one recent customer moment, what they asked, what they felt, what surprised them.
Over time, you’ll build a narrative map of what really matters to your customers, not just what they complain about. And here’s the crucial part: let people know what changed because they spoke up.
Quick Win: Set up a “Three Things We Heard” board and update it weekly with customer insights from frontline teams. Share one action you’re taking based on their feedback.
2. Have You Ever Tried Shopping From Your Own Store?
I’m talking about the full customer experience. From typing into Google to walking out with your purchase, or trying to return something that didn’t work out.
Most retail professionals have never done this properly. They use internal systems, skip queues, or get VIP treatment that no real customer experiences.
Here’s Your Shopper Safari Challenge:
Pick one customer persona from your customer segmentation. Let’s say it’s a working mum looking for school shoes.
- Start with search engines – Type in key search terms your customers would use
- Navigate your website on mobile – Does it actually work smoothly?
- Check your social media channels – What’s the experience like there?
- Try live chat – Is it helpful or frustrating?
- Visit your physical store – Can you find what you searched for online?
- Go through checkout – Any friction points?
- Try returning the product – How does this process make you feel?
Success Stories That Prove This Works:
Waitrose used behavioural data from customer journey analysis to redesign their website’s mega menu and search function. It doubled satisfaction scores online.
Selfridges launched Project Earth after observing customers searching for terms like “eco,” “refill,” and “sustainability.” They created circular selling models, including resale, refill, and repair – their “Re-Selfridges” program now builds deeper long-term customer relationships.
What This Could Look Like For You in Practice:
Document every friction point you encounter. Screenshot confusing moments. Note emotional reactions, did you feel frustrated, delighted, or confused at any point?
Then prioritise fixing one friction point at a time. Small improvements compound into transformative customer experiences.
3. What Customers Really Think When They Think You’re Not Listening
Reviews are where the unpolished truth lives. Brace yourself, they can be harsh, but they’re incredibly valuable.
Let me share a story about AO, one of the UK’s leading online electrical retailers. They went deep into their Trustpilot reviews and found recurring themes: delivery issues, unclear product information, missing accessories.
Instead of getting defensive, they got systematic.
AO’s Review Mining Process:
- Categorised every review – They tagged themes like delivery, product accuracy, and customer support
- Created actionable reports – They created weekly dashboards and shared them with product, logistics, and CX leaders
- Implemented tangible solutions – They rewrote product descriptions, added clearer “what’s in the box” details, and improved packaging to avoid transit damage
- Tracked the impact – And they monitored review frequency and star ratings
The result? Measurable uplift in Trustpilot scores and fewer negative comments around delivery and product clarity.
You could create a Review Mining Toolkit too:
Even a simple spreadsheet works. Categorise reviews by theme:
- Service issues
- Product problems
- Experience feedback
Remember this rule: If three people complain about the same thing, dozens have thought about it and didn’t say anything.
What This Could Look Like for You in Practice:
Start with your own channels, then check Trustpilot, Google Reviews, even Reddit. Search your brand name and read what’s being said when no one’s watching.
Create a monthly “review customer insights” report. Share the patterns you find and the specific changes you’re making in response. This turns criticism into credibility.
4. The Secret Listening Tool That Reveals What Customers Want Before They Tell You
Your customers are searching for you before they even speak to you. What they type into Google is raw, unfiltered intent, and most retailers completely ignore this goldmine.
Here’s What Search Data Tells You:
Are customers comparing delivery times? Do they care about material quality? Are they confused by sizing options? What questions are they asking about your products?
Try This Right Now:
- Google Autofill Test – Type one of your product categories into Google and look at the autofill suggestions
- Scroll to “Related Searches” – Find even more key phrases at the bottom of search results
- Use Answer the Public – See which questions people are asking about your industry
Success Story: Waitrose’s Keyword Research Strategy
Waitrose used keyword research to plan product launches and content. They realised searches for “plastic free” and “refill” were climbing, so they launched their ‘Unpacked’ concept stores to match these emerging customer needs.
They didn’t assume what customers wanted; they observed it through search behaviour and designed experiences accordingly.
What This Could Look Like for You in Practice:
Create a monthly keyword research session. Collect the phrases customers use and incorporate them into your website content, product descriptions, and blog posts.
These keywords also inform product development, marketing campaigns, and store layouts. You’re literally designing around what customers are already looking for.
5. The Data Your Customers Don’t Want You to See (But Desperately Need You to Fix)
Not every customer tells you how they feel, or gives you their contact information, but they’re still communicating through their behaviour. The moments they drop off, what they don’t add to baskets, and what gets picked up but left at the checkout.
Here’s a statistic that might shock you: the average basket abandonment rate in retail is about 70%. I’ll admit I’m guilty of this myself. I browse online, add things to my basket that catch my eye, then get distracted and never complete the purchase. I’m also guilty of using online baskets as a favourites bucket sometimes.
Why Customers Abandon Baskets:
- High shipping costs (deal-breaker for me every time)
- Long delivery times (especially when I need something for an event)
- Complicated checkout processes (how many passwords and authentications does it take?)
- Forced account creation (I don’t want an account and hate thinking of yet another password!)
- Security concerns (why do you need my job title?)
Success Story: B&Q’s Silent Signal Solution
During the e-commerce boom (due to the pandemic) in 2020-2021, B&Q noticed a creeping problem through data. Customers loved ordering online, but store-level fulfilment couldn’t keep up. Late orders increased, complaints started coming in, customer satisfaction dropped.
B&Q didn’t wait for more feedback. They audited the fulfilment process, identified pinch points, and implemented a smart fix. They converted floor space in 53 stores into “Digi-Hubs”, which were then used as dedicated mini fulfilment centres for online orders.
The Result: 250 orders processed per hub per day, much smoother experiences for customers and teams.
What This Could Look Like for You in Practice:
Look at your internal processes. What steps are frustrating customers, even if they’re not saying it directly? Often, if it’s frustrating colleagues, that’s an indicator too.
Start with operations data:
- Where do customers drop off in your online journey?
- What products get returned most frequently?
- Which processes take longer than expected?
Fix one friction point at a time. Track what changes; were errors reduced? Are teams happier? Are there fewer queries? That’s the story you want to share internally.
From Curiosity to Credibility: Your Next Steps
I’ve just given you five ways to better customer understanding. You don’t need to work through all of them at once, but each one opens up a clearer view of who you’re really serving.
Pick One Method to Start This Week:
If you want something straightforward, start with review analysis—it’s desk-based research you can tackle immediately. Run through the analysis, derive insights, and share your findings on a one-pager with visuals, quotes, and patterns.
Set a Clear Goal:
From these findings, what do you want to improve? Maybe cut returns from 8% to 6% in six weeks. Maybe improve satisfaction scores by focusing on the top three friction points you’ve identified.
Measure and Share Results:
This is how you take curiosity and turn it into credibility. When you can show that your customer insights led to measurable improvements, you become the person who earns influence.
Remember: Big data helps you understand customers, but empathy, observation, and genuine conversation are your most powerful tools.
The person who brings customer insights into their work is often the person who gets promoted.
What Single Customer Insight Will You Uncover This Week?
I’m genuinely curious about which of these strategies resonates most with your current challenges. Will you start mining reviews? Run your first shopper safari? Set up a weekly story-time huddle with your frontline team?
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Where’s Your Customer podcast for more practical CX strategies that actually work in real retail environments. Or drop me a comment or find me on LinkedIn, I’d love to hear what single insight you uncover this week and what change it might bring about.
