Stefan Schmidt

"Quality in a service or product isn't what you put into it," according to the late Peter Drucker, esteemed management consultant and business scholar, "it's what the client or customer gets out of it." This customer-centric ethos is certainly central to retailer success, particularly for agile web-based companies. As they try to compete with online pure-plays, many traditional retailers view the customer relationship in the same way: meeting the changing needs of the customer is the best way to inspire loyalty. Ever since digital technology revolutionized the shopping experience, retailers have been looking for ways to deliver a more consistent service across all the channels that customers use to reach them — omnichannel strategies for web, mobile and point of sale.