Customer Retention

Website and customer experience optimization aren't new. Both have been slowly and steadily evolving over the past decade and have become a key competitive differentiator for many retailers, especially global brands that have created a “culture of optimization” throughout their organizations. Along with this evolution comes new tips, tricks and techniques based on the previous…

Crowds are following Marvin Ellison around these days. The J.C. Penney CEO is spreading the word about what’s next for the department store chain after his predecessor, Mike Ullman, stabilized a company that had been on the brink of disaster. His strategy: focus on fostering customer loyalty.

Over the past few years, the media has painted millennials as a generation of high-maintenance, lazy and entitled people. Considering that there are more than 75 million millennials in the U.S. alone, it’s a bit faulty to lump them all together. These consumers vary drastically from one another. They’re the most ethnically diverse generation of…

The borders in retail have been broken. Would you agree that customer retention is less expensive that customer acquisition? To put it into perspective, a report by Bain & Company showed that increasing customer retention rates by just 5 percent could increase retail profits anywhere from 25 percent to 95 percent. How’s that for a…

Fact: most retailers simply aren’t doing enough to keep their customers engaged. While many retailers have taken significant strides toward optimizing their appearance and sales channels for omnichannel shoppers, when it comes to increasing customer retention, their strategies are largely still behind the curve. Before providing perspective about what organizations should be doing to increase…

The mixed success of Amazon.com’s Prime Day can teach us something about how customer retention works today. Any retailer can tell you that bargains alone don’t earn loyalty. But what specific tactics do turn deal-seekers into lifetime loyalists? I have some advice to offer about what works now. Before: Set the Table Making a good…

Starbucks is teaming up with ride-sharing service Lyft in the coffee giant’s newest effort to expand its loyalty program beyond its cafes. Under the deal, riders and drivers who use Lyft’s mobile app, which facilitates carpooling, will be able to earn Starbucks loyalty “stars,” which can be redeemed for food and drinks at Starbucks outlets.…

J.Crew has gotten a lot of flack from customers for how pricey much of its merchandise has gotten in the last few years. So to remedy that, the fashion retailer will open the first location in a new chain of lower-priced stores called J.Crew Mercantile later this month, the company announced on Friday. The first…

Custora recently analyzed data from some of the fastest­-growing online fashion, accessories and lifestyle retailers in North America ­­ — brands such as Bonobos, Crocs, Trunk Club and The Tie Bar. Our goal was to understand what makes these high-performance online retailers different than everyone else across customer acquisition and retention, resulting in a growth…

Target is shutting down its wireless telecom service after offering it just two years, marking at least the second major business the retailer has exited in six months. Customers of Target’s Brightspot pre-paid wireless service are being notified the service will be terminated by the beginning of next year. Consumers won’t be able to activate…