CRM

In episode 158 of Total Retail Talks, Total Retail Executive Editor Joe Keenan interviews Shawn Sweeney, vice president of digital experience at Starbucks, during the Customer Relationship Management Conference (CRMC) in Chicago earlier this summer. Sweeney discusses how the coffee brand is using its popular mobile application to bridge customers’ online and offline experiences, creating stronger relationships…

It’s no surprise that by creating a superior experience for consumers, brands can help foster loyalty. The better the quality of interactions consumers have with a retailer, the more likely they will continue shopping with that retailer. Think back to a great, or perhaps not so great, experience you’ve had with a retailer. That experience,…

It was only a few years ago that Sugarfina was an unknown candy store. From its sweet beginnings — pun intended (the co-founders came up with the idea while watching "Willy Wonka" on a date) — to today’s luxury candy shop, a lot has changed. Now, there aren't many places you can go without seeing the ubiquitous Rosé All Day candies in the recognizable light blue boxes from Sugarfina.

It wasn’t long ago that running out of a key ingredient for dinner meant rushing to the market, hoping for a short line, and getting home in time to get the food on the table. Just a few years ago, shopping for something more personal, like a watch, took you to every jewelry store in…

In the big business of retail, “authenticity” is starting to become a meaningless buzzword. Executives, marketers and creative agencies like to toss the concept across giant conference tables in hopes of hooking a generation of consumers. Leaders of the world’s biggest retail chains are constantly attempting to connect with shoppers through lower costs and greater convenience, but too many of them are missing the mark on a far more fundamental human need.

At its heart, marketing of any form has always been about connecting with the customer. Once a rapport is established, companies can use that relationship and trust to steer the customer toward a sale. So after years of fine-tuning and perfecting their marketing efforts, why is it still so hard for companies to measure a…

Creating an authentic, real and honest connection with your customers is critical to acquiring their loyalty. This was a key takeaway from a session yesterday at IRCE 2018 in Chicago about building loyalty through high-touch customer service. Ryan Lane, founder and CEO of Dream Beard, a men’s product and lifestyle brand, detailed the company's efforts…

The retail industry is at a crossroads with two very distinct paths. One road takes retailers to a future of rising popularity with new and exciting shopping experiences that fulfill customer needs and wants with personalized products and services. The other is wrought with a chaos of bankruptcies, store closures and obsolescence as retailers struggle…

A key trend to emerge from Total Retail's second annual Top 100 Omnichannel Retailers report was that retailers are allowing their customers to access, earn and redeem their loyalty points across the different channels in which the retailers operate (e.g., online, store, mobile, app, etc.). Of the 100 retailers analyzed for the report, nearly three-quarters…

B-to-C marketers can only learn so much from their B-to-B counterparts. Though they're both marketers, the B-to-C sales cycles is extremely different and, as a result, the marketing processes are too. For example, if your target decision maker in B-to-B is an operations manager shopping for high-end software, you can manage your interactions with that…