Adapting to the Changes in Online Consumer Behavior

The survey listed the biggest customer connection challenges retailers are facing today:

• keeping up with evolving consumer shopping patterns (64 percent);
• getting consumers to engage online (46 percent);
• maintaining growth rates (44 percent);
• managing the online assortment (39 percent);
• uncertain consumer demand being difficult to anticipate and plan for (32 percent);
• providing more ways for consumers to connect to their brand (29 percent);
• stemming cart abandonment (27 percent); and
• balancing online growth against poor store sales (12 percent).

The report then identified the top inhibitors keeping retailers from tackling the above challenges:

• insufficient e-commerce resources (59 percent);
• return on investment is too hard to quantify (47 percent);
• existing technology infrastructure is preventing them from moving forward (45 percent); and
• brick-and-mortar stores are more important to maintain and are a higher investment priority (20 percent).

How should retailers combat these challenges and their inhibitors? Their first priority should be to enhance the customer experience. The best way to go about doing this is by making sure your company has an executive dedicated to managing the customer experience. By having a single person (with other input welcome, of course) manage customer experience, your company's vision is unified and the opportunities to connect to consumers that are a strategic fit for your business will be better managed.