Retail has become a one-to-one playing field. Shoppers want to believe that messages from retailers are targeted directly to their individual preferences. As many as 88% of retailers said that “deeper customer engagement to drive sales through personalized offers” was a very valuable or somewhat valuable opportunity with mobile, according to Retail Systems Research (RSR).

In a recent survey, retailers identified their top three priorities for mobile personalization strategies: new product information, product availability and pricing.

More than half of total online retail revenue will come from mobile by 2014, according to the National Retail Federation. In order to maximize the return on mobile, merchants must optimize their mobile sites to offer a personalized experience.

Based on a recent survey of retail and CPG executives, retailers identified new product introductions, product availability and pricing as the top goals for mobile personalization strategies.

Creating, managing and optimizing web and mobile architectures is a vital component of business success today. The industry has evolved to the point that web teams must retool their approaches to measuring and improving delivery performance. A recent Forrester study revealed that web and mobile users are accessing more dynamic content and expect better overall performance.

Zozotown is a leading fashion channel in Japan, largely due to its extensive inventory which features approximately 1,600 store brands. However, the retailer has garnered long-term loyalty by continually focusing on connecting with customers throughout their online browsing and buying journeys.

Leveraging the IBM Unica suite of marketing management tools, Zozotown has evolved from running occasional campaigns to offering personalized recommendations and other one-to-one communication strategies.

The introduction of Facebook's Open Graph presents a unique opportunity for brands to harness the voice of their customer advocates and leverage the power of word of mouth (WOM). Brands are now able to move beyond the 'Like' button and socialize their website and entire customer experience. These social interactions create Consumer to Consumer stories that are broadcasted through the Open Graph, significantly increasing the volume of earned media, as well as the brand's reach.

How Top Retailers Are Improving Customer Experience & Increasing Margins w/ Superior Store Ops

Today’s well-informed, resourceful consumers are demanding an omnichannel retail environment that anticipates their individual wants and needs. In order to offer innovative and personalized products and services to these shoppers, retail organizations face an imperative to use customer data and insights more effectively. These smarter retailers are delivering a smarter shopping experience, creating more effective merchandising and supply networks and reducing operational costs.

Nearly 80% of retailers currently have (63%) or plan to add (16%) a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program, according to a recent survey from Retail TouchPoints, sponsored by Epicor Retail.  These retailers know that customer retention is less costly than customer acquisition.

Wireless local area networks (LANs) carry mission-critical information to business users and must carry the same enterprise-level security and central management as their wired counterparts.

But, because these networks can require up to 80% of IT maintenance resources, leading business users are moving to on-demand versions. Cloud-enabled networking solutions provide zero-touch, auto-provisioned branch networks at costs as low as $99 per year.

"Blast" marketing strategies of the past are no longer sufficient to engage today's customers and foster loyalty. Typical campaign response rates have plummeted while customer opt-out rates have ascended, limiting your ability to converse with even your most valuable customers.  New automated dialogue strategies can help retailers create a seamless experience across all channels and engage with each of their customers as individuals, connecting every customer communication - outbound, inbound, marketing, sales or service - into an ongoing dialogue where customer insight and understanding forms the basis for each and every interaction.

With the rapid pace of technology change and the increased number of requests from their business customers, technology professionals in the retail industry often struggle to identify which solutions they need to prepare for over the next 3-5 years. They’re also searching for the technology that will meet the advanced requirements for leveraging their wireless networks for maximum benefit.

High Performance Retail:  The Art of Understanding the Customer

With more than 45% of all customers accessing product information via web sites, mobile devices and social channels before ever entering a store, the role of the merchant must continue to evolve.

More than ever before, merchants must strive to reach shoppers on a personal level and customize the shopping experience within all shopping channels. Today’s high performance retailing solutions provide critical answers that will guide retailers towards profitable encounters with each shopper.

The old retail axiom, “The customer is king,” is now better stated another way: “Customer data is king.” Today’s successful retailers are able to statistically track customer browsing behavior in-store. Visual customer intelligence can help achieve that goal by delivering analytics that can bring the power of online behavioral metrics into the store.