Customer Data

Retailers that want to get the inside scoop this back-to-school (BTS) season can hit the books to get extra credit with shoppers. Our survey of 1,200 parents of K-12 children shows that while total spending remains flat, there are big shifts in consumer trends. Consumers are expected to spend more than double when shopping in-store,…

Retailers are facing a tough combination of several major market forces: accelerated pace of innovation including digitization, increased competition, and more empowered customers. To grow — and to beat competition — it’s more important than ever that retailers offer customers the right products, in the right place at the right time. Fortunately, retailers can focus…

For many retailers and marketers, a lack of data isn’t the problem. From customer data to product data to third-party data and more, retailers are collecting information at a never before clip. However, the challenge comes in figuring out what to do with all of that data — i.e., using it to make better informed…

In episode 106 of Total Retail Talks, recorded at the Total Retail Talks Live! event in New York City, Neda Navab, head of customer experience and innovation for Enjoy, an online technology shopping service that offers free home delivery and expert setup, talks about using customer service to enhance physical retail locations.

As competition across the e-commerce landscape continues to heat up, retailers must quickly adapt to the fluid nature of customer expectations. Research from Monetate revealed that more than 83 percent of customers expect brands to deliver a personalized experience. Retailers that fail to do just that run the risk of alienating a significant portion of…

Data analytics has proven to be an important way for retailers to glean insights into the patterns, preferences and behaviors of customers. However, getting the right customer data remains a challenge. Consumers can be hesitant to share personal information, especially when the benefits of doing so aren’t clear. They're willing to make an exchange though…

In the age of the customer, personalization has become critical to retail marketing success. Email personalization, specifically, has proved particularly effective, improving clickthrough rates by 14 percent and conversion rates by 10 percent, according to Aberdeen Group. Despite the proven value of email personalization, however, many retail marketers continue to rely on inefficient legacy tactics.…

As we witness giants such as J.C. Penney and Macy’s close a number of locations, it can seem easy to draw conclusions that the end is near. The truth is that this decline in foot traffic has much less to do with what’s coming, but more with what was always on its way. Successful retailers…

Mistakes happen. On a daily basis, everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes mistakes cause frustration, as work has to be redone. Other times, mistakes can be painfully embarrassing, as they may expose shortcomings or a momentary lapse in judgment. The redeeming factor about mistakes is that we generally learn from them. We learn what to avoid and…

2017 has been a rough year for traditional brick-and-mortar retailers. As many as 8,600 stores may close by the end of the year, shattering the previous record of 6,163 in 2008, according to a Credit Suisse report. This is due in large part to more than 300 retailers filing for bankruptcy halfway through 2017, a…