The experience a customer has can make or break a business. A company’s ability to deliver an experience that is different from its competitors can help to set it apart from the crowd. NS Shopping, a leading home shopping network in South Korea, depends on customers having a good experience.

To help increase customer retention and improve customer satisfaction, the company is working with IBM (News - Alert) to start deploying some new tools to streamline its process and give NS Shopping more details about its consumers.

To start learning more about who is buying what, NS Shopping will use IBM’s Smart Commerce initiative. This analytics and ecommerce technology will give NS Shopping the tools to access important data on their customers, like their personal preferences, and give them more accurate suggestions of other items they might like. This new technology will work across multiple platforms, allowing NS Shopping to gain access to the data regardless of what the consumer is using to make purchases (i.e. computer, mobile phone, etc).

In addition, IBM plans to bring NS Shopping, its retailers, and its customers closer by connecting all three through mobile and social technologies. “IBM will connect mobile and social technologies to empower NS Shopping to more easily reach shoppers wherever and whenever they prefer to browse and purchase products, providing seamless integration with the company’s operations and back-end systems,” said NS Shopping.

Shoppers can also expect more improvements for online shopping, a new website look and additional capabilities to make their shopping experience a one-stop shop.

"Shoppers in Korea and around the world are in the midst of a major shift in how they engage with retailers, and are more frequently using mobile devices and social media to browse and purchase goods," said Sangjun Hyun, partner with global business services, IBM Korea. "Retailers like NS Shopping are, in turn, expanding their sales channels and leveraging advanced analytics to deliver a smarter, more personalized customer experience."

No word yet on when customers can expect to begin seeing the online modifications.