Will businesses ever learn?

Customers are all that count and, in the age of social media, there really is no reason NOT to consult them before launching any new development that ultimately affects them.

Gap learned a valuable lesson when it changed its logo last October, after it faced the wrath of a baying virtual mob, a mob that had grown rather attached to the company’s old logo. So, gap switched back to the old logo pronto.

We could throw a number of other examples at you, but we’ll focus on one of the most recent ones. Step forward, Waitrose.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…

Brands often feel the need to make changes when their existing setup is absolutely fine. And that’s why we see so many rebrand failures. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Waitrose could’ve learned a lot from that mantra. Its recent website launch, designed to help it compete with online rival Ocado, hasn’t gone down well at all. Customers flooded Waitrose’s own forum with foul feedback following the launch, complaining of slow speeds and an awful interface.

One Waitrose shopper, going by the name of ‘Priya’, wrote:

“Waitrose seems to have completely overlooked the most basic requirement for a user interface – ease of use. The old website had a simple design and no performance issues that I can remember. Using the new site for the first time was incredibly painful – extremely slow response time, and the endless scrolling that was necessary due to the very poor design meant it took me over 40 minutes to create a short order – previously done in under 10 minutes.”

And the Waitrose Facebook page is also facing a deluge of complaints, with one customer stating:

“Waitrose, your new website….NOT good. Green on a white background and even worse yellow on white. What were you thinking? The whole experience is worse not better! It has totally put me off shopping online with you guys.”

Waitrose responded:

“Hi Katrina. Thank you for your feedback. I will ensure this is fed back to the relevant department.”

Too late to listen?

So, it seems, Waitrose is listening to its customers. A bit late though, no?

There are many lessons to learn from this. With almost 17,000 ‘fans’ on Facebook and over 8,000 followers on Twitter, those are pretty large focus groups right there. Focus groups that no-doubt know the brand well and are well positioned to offer valuable insight.

Why spend £10m, and then listen to feedback from its customers? They’ve got this the wrong way ’round. It’s a no-brainer really.