In the report titled “Predicts 2012: Retailers Turn to Personalized Offers Through Mobile and Social but Will Struggle With Multichannel Execution,” analysts in Gartner’s Retail Industry Advisory Services share detailed insight on top retail trends. John Davison, Managing VP and Research Director, Retail, and Mim Burt, Research Director, indicate that multichannel efforts will fail due to gaping silos and channel-centric strategies. As shoppers continue to implement cross-channel browsing and buying behaviors, decreased loyalty will be an amplified risk.
“Customers will have greater visibility of retailers’ offers — for example, product, pricing and promotions — across their channels,” the report explained. “As the channels converge and overlap, inconsistencies will be magnified. As a result, any channel-specific policies will come under greater scrutiny. Many retailers recognize this and employ work-arounds as mitigation against the risk of customer dissatisfaction, such as using price-matching policies when customers become aware of inconsistent pricing across channels.”
Read why Facebook Commerce is failing to take off for retailers here.
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