Fiona Swerdlow  says, “This year has been no picnic for retailers. With Thanksgiving weekend upon us, many retailers are in the throes of the holidays and are doing all they can to achieve a strong finish to a bumpy, even bewildering, year. Retailers now must deliver rich, personalized customer experiences to win the customer loyalty battle for two key reasons:

  • Consumers are still cautious…:Almost 10 years after the last financial crisis, the national unemployment rate is low, gas prices are down, and real income is up – but continued tempered spending shows that consumers aren’t taking anything for granted. Economic and political turmoil globally isn’t helping, nor is uncertainty about the implications of Brexit and the U.S. elections.
  • …But they’re also empowered:Owning multiple connected devices is increasingly the norm in the U.S., so it’s not surprising that 42% of U.S. online adults are researching products via online customer reviews weekly if not daily– double the activity just two years earlier. In an era of “anywhere, anytime” commerce, consumers are actively using their smartphones not just on the go, but even in the store itself. And while they may be fiscally skittish, we’ve found that consumers today are willing to try new things faster than in the past”.

Three Ways That Retailers Can Step Their Game Up In 2017

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