Voice AI and the management of seasonal peaks: an operational lever at the service of customer relationships

Each year, the end of the year period is a critical moment for Rétif. The brand, which has specialized in store equipment for over sixty years, supports hundreds of thousands of independent retailers in a market that is strongly influenced by seasonality. As the holidays approach, the concentration of orders and the intensification of customer exchanges are putting significant pressure on sales teams and stores.

“As early as November, the volume of calls increased sharply, explains Thina Cadierno, CEO of the Rétif Group. At the same time, customer reminders are becoming essential to secure orders before Christmas, even though the teams are already very busy.”

Historically, these revivals were based on commercial forces. Faced with a highly loaded context and the challenge of maintaining a high level of quality customer relationships, Rétif chose to explore a complementary solution, with a clear objective: to better manage the peak of activity while developing the quality of service for each of our customers.

The experiment was based on a voice agent based on artificial intelligence, deployed for a very targeted mission. The solution, implemented quickly, made it possible to launch outgoing call campaigns continuously, over a wide range of hours.

“This test allowed us to see that the voice agent is not limited to broadcasting a message,” continues Thina Cadierno. He is able to conduct an exchange, to reformulate and adapt to the responses of the interlocutors, which proved decisive in re-engaging some customers.”

Beyond the numerical results, Rétif Group highlights several structuring lessons from this experience:

• the ability to develop a regular contact level with the entire client portfolio, including during very tense periods;
• one better allocation of time sales teams, refocused on exchanges with higher added value;
• and the demonstration that an AI voice agent can be integrated into an existing customer relationship system without replacing it, but complementing it while being in line with the Group's commitment to service excellence.

This initiative is fully in line with the vast transformation plan initiated 18 months ago within the RETIF Group, in which technologies, data and AI play a key role in the service of excellence and operational, business and customer performance.

For Stéphanie Delestre, director of Volubile, this type of project illustrates an evolution of uses:

“Voice AI makes perfect sense when it meets a specific and clearly defined operational need. It then acts as an extension of the teams, especially in phases of overload.”

Based on this first experiment, Rétif Group now plans to deploy this system on a larger scale, especially in other European countries where the group is established, taking into account the local specificities of customer relationships.

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