Phil Rubin

Customer Engagement High on Retailers' 2012 To-Do List

February 17, 2012

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Retailers plan to get all customer-centric this year by focusing on customer service initiatives, upping investments in IT, e-commerce and mobile. That's the conclusion of a new report, Benchmarks for 2011, Forecasts for 2012, from the National Retail Federation Foundation and KPMG. Where do you see the greatest opportunities for retailers to engage more effectively with customers?      [more...]

Last year, the NRF Retail Horizons survey showed that loyalty was the top strategic initiative and this year's priority is a precursor to that. Customer loyalty starts with engagement and given the tools, channels and dynamics at work, the opportunity isn't either/or in terms of online, mobile, social or in-store. It's all of the above as the retail experience, in most cases, is omni-channel.

Different customers will engage with different channels but the one constant opportunity is integrating the shopping experience itself (in-store, online, mobile, or whatever) with what happens before and after.

This is the absolute failure point for most retailers, where that pre- and post- purchase is simply an "on-sale" message rather than relationship-building ones related to customer recognition and appreciation.