A top business priority for all retailers, regardless of the type of products they sell, is to turn one-time buyers into long-term, loyal customers.
However, as many as 80% of consumers buy once online, and never visit the retailer again. According to Ken Burke, Founder and CEO of MarketLive, this is because retailers are struggling to build relationships online, as interpersonal communication and interaction is nonexistent.
Building a stable and profitable business now relies on a retailer’s ability to “get more intimate with consumers and create relationships that can build over time,” said Burke in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “An online customer isn’t anywhere near as loyal as an offline customer."
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Burke added that today, the real question is: How can we merge the online and offline worlds together to garner customer loyalty? "Clearly retailers are struggling with this."
To help address this common challenge, MarketLive has unveiled a new corporate vision, called "Customer Driven Commerce."
Burke defined Customer Driven Commerce as "optimizing the customer experience, regardless of the channel they want to do business."
The general principle is similar to that of omnichannel retailing, yet the subtle difference is an increased focus on personalization and customer relationship management (CRM).
Data collection and integration is an important facet of Customer Driven Commerce, and more importantly, using that data to create customer loyalty.
"There’s a lot that goes into loyalty,” Burke explained. “It’s not about price, it’s about a relationship."
Additionally, a lasting consumer-retailer relationship ties into convenience, service and comfort, Burke added. "You want to shop with a retailer that you feel comfortable with. You want to give your money to a company that gives you a lot more in service, even if you end up paying a bit more for a product."
Along with Universal Data Functionality, MarketLive’s vision for Customer Driven Commerce includes a series of other suites, including: Insightful Analytics; Personalization and Segmentation; Retail CRM; Empowered Merchandising; and Optimized Customer Experience.
MarketLive’s core business focus moving forward, Burke noted, is to help retailers better keep pace with and take advantage of emerging channels. Acting as a piece of "middleware,” MarketLive will provide retailers with a commerce hub to succeed in light of the constant flow of technological innovation.
In the next few years, Burke predicts that the industry is going to expand into more and more channels. For example, he considers television to be the “next frontier."
"I just think that whole experience around television is going to completely change,” Burke said. “It’s all going to be Internet-based and highly interactive. It’s a whole other level of personalization we’re just beginning to conceptualize."
To that end, the customer experience, as a whole, is going to become more personalized, Burke added. "Now, many retailers are taking a ‘one-to-many,’ segmented approach. As we go forward, things are going to get more personalized and responsive, which will help create that intimacy between customers and retailers."
What do you think of Customer Driven Commerce? How do you believe retail will evolve in 2014 and beyond? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
