Customer Retention

I'm always reminded to do an annual survey of customer loyalty programs this time of year because this is when every retail and restaurant chain in America becomes my best friend, sending me well wishes and free gifts for my birthday. Happy birthday to everyone who is willing to exchange personal information for discount coupons and more junk food than is advisable to consume if you want to live to see another birthday.

Most companies want to be customer centric. The biggest roadblock to achieving that goal is breaking down the silos that exist in most companies. Sometimes these are lines of business, divisions, departments or regions. It may be as simple as your organization structure and who reports to whom. If your company is looking to overcome this challenge, then this set of five questions to ask and answer is for you.

Wal-Mart is considering a radical plan to have store customers deliver packages to online buyers, a new twist on speedier delivery services that the company hopes will enable it to better compete with Amazon.com. Tapping customers to deliver goods would put the world's largest retailer squarely in middle of a new phenomenon sometimes known as "crowdsourcing," or the "sharing economy."

About 10,000 people in the United States will turn 65-years-old today. And tomorrow. And the day after. In fact, every day for the next 19 years there will be 10,000 more Americans reaching retirement age. The numbers are staggering and a major reason why retailers need to start taking notice.

Last week, Swedish furniture retailer IKEA posted record revenues of $36 billion in 2012 and an 8 percent increase in net profit. The US market was a primary growth driver, with $4.1 billion in total sales. Since opening its first American store in 1985, the low-cost furniture seller now counts 38 stores and has become the second biggest home furnishing company in the US, behind Ashley Furniture. Mike Ward, president of the US division, believes it's just the beginning. "We're still very small," he says. "We have huge potential to grow our business here."

If you have an online catalog or e-commerce site, you already know that a critical aspect of conversion optimization is reducing your cart abandonment rate. According to comScore, 67 percent of shopping carts are abandoned just before the purchase is made. If your site stats are similar, that means 67 percent of the money you've put toward getting traffic to come to your site has gone to waste. It also means you have a huge opportunity to improve your profitability simply by addressing these three common reasons shoppers bail.

A study conducted by Reims Management School reveals that consumers are often put off by promises of lowest prices which are coupled with high-refund guarantees — contrary to the usual strategies of many top retailers. The research found that such strategies can cause consumers to become suspicious of the offer and may result in them avoiding making a purchase altogether.