Where's Your Customer?

Jo Williams
  • 5.0 (2)
  • MARKETING
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Where's Your Customer? is a podcast for retail leaders who want to become truly customer-centric. Through honest conversations, inspiring stories, and practical ideas, we help you see your business through your customers' eyes. So you can build stronger connections, happier teams, and a brand customers can't live without.

  1. Do Playful Retail Teams Design Better Customer Experiences?

    3 DAYS AGO

    Do Playful Retail Teams Design Better Customer Experiences?

    When Retail Teams Play, Experiences Come Alive There's something you notice in retail environments that work. The experience feels alive. Responsive. Like the people behind it had permission to actually think. In this episode, I've been sitting with a question about what separates those experiences from the ones that feel flat - ok, but mechanical. And I think it might be whether teams have been allowed to play. Not play in a frivolous sense. Play in the sense of having room to experiment, to try things that might not work, to respond to what's actually in front of them rather than following the script. I look at what's happening at Lego, Hamleys, and Selfridges (retailers who've made experience design part of their operating model) and explore Greg McKeown's argument that play isn't a cultural nice-to-have but a genuine strategic advantage. I also sit with the harder question: whether retail's relentless focus on optimisation is gradually removing the very conditions that produce experiences customers actually remember. And I try to be honest about the counterargument too, because this isn't straightforward. I don't have a tidy answer. But I think it's worth paying attention to.   Thanks for Listening! Did anything resonate with you from today's conversation? I'd love to know, particularly where you're seeing preventable service failures in your own organisation. Get the full show notes with all frameworks and resources mentioned at https://wheresyourcustomer.com/15  Never miss an episode – Subscribe to Where's Your Customer? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts Found this valuable? Please leave a review, it helps other retail professionals discover these conversations and would honestly mean the world to me Connect with me – Find me on LinkedIn or visit wheresyourcustomer.com for more customer service insights and resources. Share this with someone who needs it – If someone in your network is wrestling with customer service challenges, please share this episode with them

    18 min
  2. Retail Manager Burnout: Where Does Your Time Go?

    15 FEB

    Retail Manager Burnout: Where Does Your Time Go?

    When did sitting in your car too exhausted to go inside become normal? If you've ever finished a full day and realised you spent it responding to everything whilst thinking about nothing, you're not alone. Retail manager burnout has reached crisis levels, with happiness across UK retail falling to 58% in 2025. In this episode, I explore: Where your time actually disappears to (spoiler: it's not where you think) Why retail managers lose 5-8 hours per week just documenting work instead of doing it The structural shift that's dropped manager happiness 11% in three months (below their teams for the first time ever) How retail crime is adding invisible weight to every decision you make Four things steadier retail managers do differently: Stop carrying decisions that aren't theirs Have someone outside their organisation who genuinely understands Protect their mental bandwidth (using "not yet" instead of "no") Stop performing certainty when they're still working things out Where technology can actually help: voice transcription, automated reporting, AI-flagged patterns, not to do more, but to create thinking space. One practical step: Track just one day this week (a 'normal' workday). Not to judge yourself, but to see where your time goes. Then ask: if I could give one hour back to myself, where would I want it to go? Because retail manager burnout isn't something you solve with a podcast episode. But you might notice one pattern. One place where your attention is going that it doesn't need to. And that might be enough to shift something.   Thanks for Listening! Did anything resonate with you from today's conversation? I'd love to know, particularly where you're losing or reworking thinking time in your calendar. Get the full show notes with all frameworks and resources mentioned at https://wheresyourcustomer.com/14  Never miss an episode – Subscribe to Where's Your Customer? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts Found this valuable? Please leave a review, it helps other retail professionals discover these conversations and would honestly mean the world to me Connect with me – Find me on LinkedIn or visit wheresyourcustomer.com for more customer service insights and resources. Share this with someone who needs it – If someone in your network is wrestling with customer service challenges, please share this episode with them

    18 min
  3. Online Shopping vs In-Store Shopping: 6 Patterns UK Retailers Are Missing

    8 FEB

    Online Shopping vs In-Store Shopping: 6 Patterns UK Retailers Are Missing

    I was reading an interview with B&Q's retail director about their showroom upgrades. Beautiful bathroom and kitchen displays, scent diffusers, and aspirational spaces designed to lift the customer experience. But what caught my attention was their two-entrance strategy, appealing to customers who were NOT interested in the showroom spaces.  On the surface, it's practical. But I think it reveals something deeper: customers change as they move through their projects. Someone covered in door dust, midway through a DIY job, needs something different from someone in the dreaming stage, browsing inspiration. The separate entrance acknowledges this. Same retailer, same goal, but different intelligence for different moments. That's what this episode explores. How two different channels (physical stores and online shopping) have developed their own ways of reading customers, and how most of the time, these two sides don't know what the other one sees. 6 Patterns I've Noticed Nudges vs Feeling: Online uses behavioural economics to guide decisions. Scarcity messages, social proof, AI recommendations. But in physical stores, the intelligence is different. It's whether someone covered in plaster dust feels like they belong. Pattern vs Presence: John Lewis generates 100 million outfit combinations per night through AI. Lush gives staff freedom to hand over a product if someone's having a bad day. Both are personalisation, one at scale, one in a single moment. Intent vs Hesitation: 75% of UK shoppers say sizing feels inconsistent online, so they order multiple sizes. That hesitation costs UK retailers £34.4 billion per year in basket abandonment. Currys addressed this with Shop Live, connecting online shoppers with store experts via video chat. Friction as Failure vs Care: Online shoppers abandon a site if checkout takes more than 3 seconds. But in physical stores, we'll queue for nearly 6 minutes. IKEA's self-assembly isn't efficient, but that effort is what makes you value the furniture. Path vs Memory: We remember the peak and the end of an experience, not the average. IKEA's ice cream stand at the exit rewrites the whole trip. Digital retail usually ends with an order confirmation page. Ignite vs Validate: TikTok Shop became the UK's 4th-largest beauty retailer in 2024. Trends ignite online, but physical stores are where the spark gets tested. Two kinds of intelligence working in the same organisation.  What if you got curious about what the other channel already knows?   Thanks for Listening! Did anything resonate with you from today's conversation?  Get the full show notes with all frameworks and resources mentioned at https://wheresyourcustomer.com/13  Never miss an episode – Subscribe to Where's Your Customer? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Found this valuable? Please leave a review, it helps other retail professionals discover these conversations and would honestly mean the world to me. Connect with me – Find me on LinkedIn or visit wheresyourcustomer.com for more customer service insights and resources. Share this with someone who needs it – If someone in your network works in Customer Experience or Retail, and you think these insights would help them, please share this episode.

    21 min
  4. The Bury Market Question: What Do You Protect?

    1 FEB

    The Bury Market Question: What Do You Protect?

    Bury Market generated £1.1 million in annual surplus by staying traditional while others added wine bars and craft beer. Now they're building a £33 million Flexi Hall. What happens when you finally follow the playbook everyone else is using? While Crewe, Altrincham and several other town markets have transformed into food halls, Bury Market has remained the same. 150,000 weekly visitors. 70% of customers have been coming for over a decade. No Instagram moments. Just a traditional market.  But demographic reality has caught up. Their core customer base is ageing, and in autumn 2026 their new Flexi Hall will open to younger crowds. In this episode, I explore what Bury Market protected while everyone else transformed, the 10-minute queue that built customer loyalty nobody else valued, and the uncomfortable question facing every retail professional: when following the obvious route means losing what made you valuable in the first place. Key Topics: - Why Bury Market stayed traditional while competitors modernized - The friction that creates customer loyalty vs. the friction that kills it - Coach tourism strategy nobody else wanted - Demographic reality no amount of loyalty can solve - What "retailtainment while retaining independent spirit" means   Thanks for Listening! Did anything resonate with you from today's conversation? I'd love to know. Do you love a market too? Get the full show notes with all frameworks and resources mentioned at https://wheresyourcustomer.com/12  Never miss an episode – Subscribe to Where's Your Customer? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts Found this valuable? Please leave a review, it helps other retail professionals discover these conversations and would honestly mean the world to me Connect with me – Find me on LinkedIn or visit wheresyourcustomer.com for more customer service insights and resources. Share this with someone who needs it – If someone in your network is wrestling with customer service challenges, please share this episode with them

    23 min
  5. 11| Small Retailers Are Using AI in Retail Differently, and It's Working

    25 JAN

    11| Small Retailers Are Using AI in Retail Differently, and It's Working

    Are smaller retailers winning the AI race? While 99% of large UK retailers have AI expertise in-house, 31% of small retailers are already using AI daily. The competitive advantage isn't about resources, it's about friction, proximity, and speed of testing. I've been learning about AI at quite a pace recently, and it made me wonder: if individuals can move this quickly, what does that mean for smaller retailers? The AI Adoption Paradox Having AI expertise isn't the same as using AI day to day. One group has resources and roadmaps. The other has the freedom to test on Tuesday and see results by Wednesday. Examples That Show the Pattern Virgin Wines removes wine selection uncertainty by matching sensory attributes to individual preferences. Abelini, an independent Hatton Garden jeweller, uses AR/AI so customers can see how rings look on their own hands. ListAid helps charity shop volunteers price donations accurately in under a minute. Finney's in Aberdeen makes three generations of jewellery expertise accessible through digital tools. Happy and Glorious in Canterbury uses AI for admin tasks, freeing time for customer work. The pattern? AI sits right next to decisions - customer decisions and colleague decisions. That proximity matters because when AI is close to the decision, outcomes change quickly. Why Proximity Wins In larger organisations, AI often lives deeper in infrastructure - optimising systems, forecasting demand. That work matters, but it's further from the moments where customers hesitate or teams feel unsure. Smaller retailers have fewer layers between problem and solution. They notice issues sooner, test faster, keep what works, drop what doesn't. That ability to connect problem, experiment, and outcome is where the advantage lies. Journey Mapping Reveals Use Cases When you look closely at your customer journey (into the detail of what actually happens) friction points stand out. Those are moments where people hesitate, teams second-guess, or customers disappear. Once you see those moments clearly, AI use cases become obvious. Your AI plan doesn't need to run the whole business. It needs to support decisions causing friction for customers and colleagues. Tackle things moment by moment - that's your roadmap. The Real Advantage The competitive advantage isn't about AI. It's about noticing where customers hesitate, where staff feel anxious, where you're losing time. It's having the freedom to do something about it quickly. The difference shows up when technology supports real decisions. When it helps someone choose with confidence. When it removes guesswork from pressured moments. When it gives people time to focus on what matters. That's when AI has impact. That's when it gives you a competitive advantage. Thanks for Listening! Get the full show notes with all frameworks and resources mentioned at https://wheresyourcustomer.com/11 Need help with customer journey mapping? Let's chat. Never miss an episode – Subscribe to Where's Your Customer? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts Found this valuable? Please leave a review, it helps other retail professionals discover these conversations and would honestly mean the world to me Connect with me – Find me on LinkedIn or visit wheresyourcustomer.com for more customer service insights and resources. Share this with someone who needs it – Please help share this podcast with other retail professionals who might find it useful.

    23 min
  6. Your Customer Service Training Is Working. That's the Problem.

    18 JAN

    Your Customer Service Training Is Working. That's the Problem.

    UK retail customer service hit a 14-year low in 2024. But is the problem really about better recovery, or is it about prevention? In this episode, I share a personal story about three trips to fix a basic mistake, then examine the £7.3 billion monthly cost of preventable service failures across UK retail. We look at why UK employees spend 20% of their time fixing problems that shouldn't have happened, explore the real sources of service failures (it's not what you think), and examine two retailers who've figured out prevention: Sainsbury's with 5% voluntary turnover, and Timpson with their two-rule approach to customer service. In this episode: Why brilliant service recovery still loses 50-70% of customers The turnover quality spiral nobody talks about  Three patterns for preventing failures: systems design, measuring what matters, and technology that prevents How to redirect recovery spending toward prevention What Saturday afternoon looks like in prevention mode vs crisis mode Key insight: When a customer encounters even one service problem, satisfaction drops 20 points. We've got brilliant at recovery, but recovery happens after the damage is done. The retailers seeing sustained improvement aren't getting better at fixing things. They're redesigning systems so things don't break in the first place. Thanks for Listening! Did anything resonate with you from today's conversation? I'd love to know, particularly where you're seeing preventable service failures in your own organisation. Get the full show notes with all frameworks and resources mentioned at https://wheresyourcustomer.com/10  Never miss an episode – Subscribe to Where's Your Customer? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts Found this valuable? Please leave a review, it helps other retail professionals discover these conversations and would honestly mean the world to me Connect with me – Find me on LinkedIn or visit WheresYourCustomer.com  for more customer service insights and resources. Share this with someone who needs it – If someone in your network is wrestling with customer service challenges, please share this episode with them

    22 min
  7. How Retail SEO Strategy Became a Customer Experience Question.

    11 JAN

    How Retail SEO Strategy Became a Customer Experience Question.

    Customers don't search the way they used to. They start on TikTok, or Instagram, ask ChatGPT for recommendations, or head straight to Amazon without even thinking about your website.   In this episode, I talk with Paul Culshaw, a strategist with over 25 years in SEO who's worked with major UK retailers, including Littlewoods and N Brown. Paul reveals why retail SEO strategy isn't really about search engines anymore. It's about understanding how people make decisions, where they go for information, and what builds their trust.   We explore:   - How customer discovery has fragmented across platforms (and why that matters for category managers) - The multi-visit buyer journey and what content you need at each stage - Why SEO is actually customer experience, not just a technical marketing channel - Category page optimisation as a practical starting point - EE-A-T principles (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust) and why reviews matter more than ever - How to get buy-in from teams who don't care about search - The four biggest mistakes retailers make with SEO - Why AI-driven discovery is the opportunity right now (think October 1998 for the internet)   If you've been treating SEO as someone else's problem, this conversation will change how you think about customers and product discovery.   Guest: Paul Culshaw   Paul Shaw is a certified business strategist and AI integration specialist who's spent 25 years in online marketing. He's worked in-house with Littlewoods Shop Direct, N Brown (JD Williams, Simply Be), and agency-side with clients across retail. He now helps businesses prepare for AI-driven discovery through his Authority Engine framework.   Connect with Paul: - Website: https://www.paulculshaw.com/ - Instagram: @CoachPaulCulshaw   Thanks for Listening!   Did anything resonate with you from today's conversation about retail SEO strategy? I'd love to know.   Get the full show notes with all the links and resources at https://wheresyourcustomer.com/9     Let's connect – Find me on Linkedinlinkedin.com/in/jo-williams-ccxp   Never miss an episode – Subscribe to Where's Your Customer? on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.   Found this valuable? Please leave a review. It helps other retail professionals discover these conversations.   Share the knowledge – If someone in your network could benefit from rethinking their approach to search, please share this episode with them.

    39 min
  8. Customer Experience Lessons From a Year of Learning (and Feeding)

    4 JAN

    Customer Experience Lessons From a Year of Learning (and Feeding)

    Something shifts when you step back from work, doesn't it? Last summer, I had my first child, and whilst I knew maternity leave would be transformative personally, I didn't expect it to reshape the customer experience lessons I'd carry forward in my career. Between feeds and nappies, I found pockets of time to read nine customer experience books. What struck me wasn't just the individual insights, but the patterns emerging between them. I found Customer experience lessons that most of us know but struggle to act on consistently. The 9 Customer Experience Lessons Lesson 1: Reactive Customer Experience Is Already Too Late. Most businesses wait for customers to complain before taking action. But those winning customer loyalty build intelligence into operations so they can act before problems become customer problems. Lesson 2: Culture Beats Strategy Every Time. Your culture determines CX, not your strategy. Employees need authority to solve problems in the moment. Lesson 3: Customer Understanding Requires Discipline, Not Just Data. Having data isn't the same as understanding customers. Real insight comes from weaving together feedback, personas, and journey mapping. Lesson 4: Customer Journey Maps Are Worthless Without Action. Beautiful maps become wall art without clear decisions and committed action. Know what your map will change before you create it. Lesson 5: Excellence Lives in the Basics. Great Customer Experiences aren't built on surprise and delight tactics, they're created through consistency and removing friction from fundamental operations. Lesson 6: Metrics Follow Experience, Not the Other Way Round. Fix the experience and metrics improve. Chase metrics and you often make experiences worse. Lesson 7: Customers Decide With Emotion, Then Justify With Logic. Emotional triggers matter more than feature comparisons. Reduce cognitive effort rather than adding functionality. Lesson 8: Physical Spaces Shape Behaviour. Every design choice influences how customers feel and act. Your environment tells a story, make sure it's the right one. Lesson 9: CX Is Built in Everyday Moments. Customer loyalty is determined by small interactions: answered phones, kept promises, empowered teams who care. What Connects These Customer Experience Lessons These customer experience lessons reveal that CX isn't about tactics or technology, it's about people. Understanding customers deeply, empowering teams, and getting basics right consistently. My Reading List The nine books behind these customer experience lessons: The New Customer Experience Management - Ivaylo Yorgov The Customer of the Future - Blake Morgan Store Design and Visual Merchandising - Claus Ebster & Marion Garaus Creating a CX That Sings - Jennifer L. Clinehens The Ten Principles Behind Great Customer Experiences - Matt Watkinson Customers Know You Suck - Debbie Levitt Decoded: The Science Behind Why We Buy - Phil Barden Customer Understanding - Annette Franz Moments of Truth - Jan Carlzon Get the full show notes with all research sources and detailed insights at wheresyourcustomer.com/8 Thanks for Listening! Which of these customer experience lessons resonated most with you? I'd love to know. Subscribe for more – Don't miss future episodes! Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Please leave a review – If you found value in this episode, a quick review helps other retail professionals discover these conversations too. Connect with me – Find me on LinkedIn or visit whereyourcustomer.com for more customer experience resources and insights.

    18 min
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About

Where's Your Customer? is a podcast for retail leaders who want to become truly customer-centric. Through honest conversations, inspiring stories, and practical ideas, we help you see your business through your customers' eyes. So you can build stronger connections, happier teams, and a brand customers can't live without.

Information

  • Creator
    Jo Williams
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    Where's Your Customer?