Case Study: Halfords achieves frictionless, lower-cost customer service with Verint Knowledge Management

Halfords cuts contact center operating costs by 30% with Verint

Halfords, a leading UK retailer of motoring and cycling products and services, faced a massive 700% overnight increase in customer contacts during the COVID-19 pandemic. This surge led to long wait times, a frustrating customer experience, and lost revenue. Their challenge was to manage this overwhelming volume while creating a more frictionless and value-based service delivery model. To address this, they partnered with vendor Verint and implemented Verint Knowledge Management.

Verint's solution involved guiding customers to efficient digital channels and using a "value irritant" model to prioritize high-value interactions. This included deploying a chatbot to handle simple inquiries and fixing broken customer journeys. The results were significant, with Halfords reducing contact center operating costs by 30% in FY22 and 20% in FY23. Their chatbot now addresses over 50% of simple enquiries without a live agent, and they reduced their overall contact center workload by 20%.

Halfords