Are you using social media? I ask this because I recently had a conversation with Aldi’s customer service team on Twitter.

My wife and I bought a can of peaches from my local store, but found that it was substantially underweight when drained. I took a photograph and wrote a tweet including @AldiUK and posted it to Twitter.

Within a short time I had a reply asking me to send them more details via a direct message, or DM. I sent them a DM and quickly had a response asking me to take the packaging and receipt back to the store for a replacement or refund.

I have been testing the Twitter engagement of the multiples for some time and I’ve got a response from every company that I have tweeted. You should bear in mind that many of your customers will be on Facebook and Twitter, if not one of the other social media channels. If you do not have a social media presence then you are not in their conversation – and someone else is!

You can find plenty of ideas and tips of how to get on and use social media here on Better Retailing. And if you’re struggling with starting your social media journey, feel free to ask us a question. We’ll do our best to respond.