Editor's Note: Experts Forecast the Retail Trends to Watch

"Customer retention rates and the variance of your 12-month buyer count are important trends to track in 2015. As business continues to shift to the web, retention rates are typically affected. While your 12-month buyer count may be growing, the increase might be coming from the number of one-time buyers on your file. Buyers who order directly from the web (i.e., noncatalog) tend to be item buyers vs. shoppers. They search the web for a particular item, find it and make the purchase with no intention of buying from that company again. Catalog buyers (and buyers driven to the web because of a print catalog) tend to be "shoppers" who enjoy flipping through the pages of a catalog." — Stephen R. Lett, President, Lett Direct