CRM

After months of saving for the future, consumers appear eager to embrace the upcoming holiday season. Bain & Company is forecasting that 2021 holiday retail sales could achieve the second-highest growth rate in two decades, rising 7 percent to $800 billion. When was the highest growth rate during November and December over that same time…

Customers are obviously an important driver for every business. With companies constantly competing for customers’ limited attention, it's crucial that brands understand who their customers are and how best to connect with them. When brands misidentify their customers — failing to recognize the key factors that define their choices and behaviors — they're unable to…

In episode 327 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Sarah Rasmusen, executive vice president and chief customer officer at Lands' End, an American clothing and home décor retailer that specializes in casual clothing, luggage, and home furnishings. Listen in as Rasmusen discusses Lands' End's current digital offerings, how the business operated during the…

The path to retail success sounds simple in theory: build loyalty and create sustainable growth by delivering a great customer experience. By doing this, first-time customers become repeat buyers and stick with your brand long term, allowing you to maximize their lifetime value as customers. But this strategy isn't as simple as it seems once you unpack the “customer” part of the formula. It’s especially…

In episode 326 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Sachin Shroff, vice president of CRM, loyalty and marketing technology at Michaels, the largest arts and crafts retail chain in North America. Shroff discusses the technology investments the retailer made to support its personalization efforts, how Michaels is using personalization to optimize the performance…

It’s clear that customer expectations are changing, with almost 90 percent of consumers wanting more meaningful relationships with brands. This has meant marketers are moving away from traditional marketing tactics to prioritize a customer-centric approach as failing to build relationships with consumers can be a costly mistake. To do this, marketers need to understand their…

The 2020 holiday season was riddled with frustrations for consumers and no small number of challenges for retailers as they juggled shipping delays and stock shortages among other operational hurdles. Last year's arduous season pushed retailer-customer relationships to their limits, leaving a mark on consumers, shifting their shopping habits and expectations for the upcoming season.…

It’s easy to feel like brand loyalty is dying. Consumers have so many ways to shop and with loads of brands competing for their attention, why not shop around? The numbers would seem to bear out that theory. Last year, research from McKinsey found that 73 percent of American shoppers have altered their brand preference…

Retail marketers may be unclenching their teeth knowing the digital industry has two more years to prepare for Google’s clampdown on third-party cookies. However, let’s not get complacent. Industry stakeholders need to make serious moves on solving identity — and for retailers, that means getting serious about their first-party data. If you don’t, you’ll end up…

In an already digitally expanding marketplace, the last year-and-a-half kicked the transformation into overdrive. The ability to adapt or launch at lightning speed has become the charge for established companies and startups alike. As marketing budgets continue to recover from the 2020 fallout, the ability to measure consumer engagement quickly and respond to it effectively…