Sarah Mansell is the Customer Experience Manager at Argos Brand Development who's responsibilities include developing the customer strategy, defining the experience and mapping and delivering the customer journey across all Argos channels. Here she shares her highlights from the 2011 Internet Retailing Conference where Transform's very own Emma Robertson, chaired one of the conference streams.

 "As a first timer to the Internet Retailing conference I wasn't sure what to expect but I have to say it didn't disappoint.

The key outtake from the day was clear; success in retailing lies in multi-channel strength. It’s not just about online performance, with a true cross channel approach this becomes less relevant as your channels work in harmony to build and then convert a sale. You start to measure success through the eyes of the customer, realising that online conversion rates, whilst clearly still a factor, are not always the most important metric.

It was interesting to see how Thomas Pink through use of richer content online, had achieved such success across their entire estate and how well they had translated their video content offline as well as on. It was equally as impressive to understand how o.co have experienced growth through the personalisation of their site, playing to customers desire to have a more tailored shopping experience. At Argos we were probably one of the first big players in multi channel retailing after successfully translating our catalogue platform in store and online but becoming a true cross channel retailer where our channels work in sync with one another is a journey we are still on.

Of course underpinning all of this is the customer and Track 1, where I chose to spend the morning, focused on just this. We live in a world where 75% of people are more willing to complain than in previous years and through the increased use of social networks it has become easier than ever to share bad experience therefore a vital key to success has to be our CSI.

To meet customer expectations in service we must achieve harmony from the inside out; ensuring we have alignment across our business strategy, processes, people and culture, only then will we see this translate through to the customer and improve CSI. And to prove points really do make prizes, Jo Causon chief exec at the Institute of Customer Service demonstrated a direct correlation between a spike in CSI and positive growth in share price.

So in a world where it is easier than ever for our customers to share with one another their experiences and interactions with our brand, it is vital that at every touch point we are exceeding their expectations. It is no longer enough to merely offer a multi channel experience, the channel lines that were once so well defined now need to be blurred in an attempt to offer a true cross channel shopping experience with first class, joined up customer service at every touch point."