Nectar: A World High

Earlier this year, HappyOrNot, the world’s leading Customer Feedback solution and the creators of the 'smiley face' feedback terminals now used by over 5,000 brands worldwide, evaluated 47 million international data points to determine the world's happiest retail site.

Photo Insert: Nectar was founded in 2013 by CEO Jeremy Pratt. Today it operates in 34 locations throughout Oregon.

From March 1st, 2021 to March 13th, 2022, the company analyzed levels of positive customer feedback ('happy' or 'very happy' button presses on HappyOrNot terminals) gathered from various retail locations around the world and discovered that the happiest shop is the Stark Street store location of Nectar, a natural cannabis dispensary chain with 34 locations across Oregon, USA.

This particular store's happiness levels have consistently been at or above 98 percent for the past year, a world "high!"

According to Joe Ruhoff, Director of Retail Operations at Nectar, “Happy, satisfied customers is the most important part of a shopping experience to us and our team. Being able to give the most enjoyable experience is what we train and strive to achieve.”

He adds, “Happy staff means happy customers, and it helps build lasting customer relations for future visits. The pandemic has taught us to maintain a forward-thinking approach. The safety and comfort for our staff and customers is our main objective. Our teams have done such an amazing job handling the day-to-day operations, keeping a smile on their faces, and helping us evolve during these trying times.”

Nectar uses the HappyOrNot solution to instill a customer-centric mindset among its employees. Given the rough year, merchants have had while simultaneously competing in a competitive emerging market, this has been crucial. Customers are at the heart of Nectar's approach, which they've used to improve operational areas like showroom store floor layouts, employee motivation, and developing action plans like marketing material renewal.

In retail, even the smallest change can have a significant impact. This can include things like staff scheduling and store design. The most difficult challenge for retailers is identifying those pain points in real-time before they negatively impact the customer experience. Nectar wanted to foster a customer-centric culture in which customer feedback would be critical in identifying and implementing in-store improvements.

Prior to implementing the HappyOrNot solution, Nectar could not receive real-time feedback from its customers. The paper surveys Nectar was using produced a small volume of responses, making it difficult to identify and improve on a continuous basis.

According to Miika Mäkitalo, CEO of HappyOrNot, “Customer satisfaction is key to the successful growth and evolution of any business, and having the happiest customers in the world is an accolade that any business should be envious of. There is no doubt Nectar has found the perfect balance between attentiveness and professionalism, and their satisfaction levels from the last three years prove their commitment to ensuring that they provide the best service they can for their customers.”

Being a customer-first retailer is critical to Nectar's continued successful growth. This means they must keep up with changing customer preferences. HappyOrNot is at the heart of these plans, providing Nectar with the tools to truly give its customers a voice.

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