With the holiday shopping season quickly approaching, industry experts surveyed by the Retail TouchPoints editorial staff point to the continually growing trend of the omni-channel consumer as a key driver for successful retail strategies. This new breed of shopper is constantly connected to multiple platforms and searches, browses and buys through the mobile web and emerging social media channels, such as Facebook storefronts.
In the upcoming Retail TouchPoints (RTP) annual Holiday Outlook report, industry experts will share in-depth insight on the expectations and shopping behaviors of the omni-channel consumer, and how retailers can best deliver on experience to optimize sales and loyalty during the 2011 holiday season. The report also will detail the potential of near field communication (NFC) technology and mobile payments, as well as the anticipated growth of tablet adoption for both customer-facing touch points and streamlining backend operations. The report’s roster of experts emphasizes the need to cater to these new consumer-facing trends to develop customer-centric strategies and maximize holiday sales.
“You need to be where your consumers are, not where you want to be,” said Joy Liuzzo, Senior Director of InsightExpress. “It’s not something that you get to pick and choose where you are. It’s the same idea of you don’t open a store in the middle of nowhere because that’s where you want to be and that’s where the land is most cost-efficient.”
Advertisement
To that end, Laura Davis-Taylor, SVP, Managing Director of BBDO/Proximity ShopWork, provided her perspective on the importance of developing a cross-channel strategy. “Think about what consumers are doing with technology,” Davis-Taylor said. “Consumers are either passively or actively looking for insight, searching for alternatives to shopping in order to make their shopping experience easier.”
Generating Jingle Via Technology
To find the hottest deals and most efficient delivery options to suit their hectic schedules, empowered consumers are using an array of shopping platforms, including tablet and mobile technology, which have become hot devices for retailers hoping to amp up customer engagement. As the use of mobile technology has expanded exponentially during the past few years, industry insiders, including Larry Freed, President and CEO of ForeSee Results, and Gary Schwartz, President and CEO of Impact Mobile, believe this will truly be the year for mobile. They largely attribute this prediction to the continued rise of the “screen-connected consumer.”
“We’ve heard ‘This is the year of mobile’ for four or five years,” noted Freed. “I think this truly is the year that mobile is going to make a big impact on online retail — not only in sales but also as a research tool — and as a companion shopping tool in store.”
In turn, retailers must create a consistent and seamless experience to drive shoppers to their mobile stores and facilitate the ability to complete purchases either online or in-store.
“Screens are portable and handheld — they live in the store, the kitchen, bedroom, even the toilet,” Schwartz said. “This is the new battle ground for media this decade, so you better be consistent, fluid and frictionless, across all these touch points.”
Social media usage also is expanding at warp speed, and the 2011 holiday season offers a ripe opportunity for retailers to reach social shoppers as they share gift-giving ideas and peer reviews with their friends and families. By getting involved in social media, retailers will increase brand awareness and spread information about new products, brand news and sale information. One recent growing trend for retailers to watch is daily deal sites, which may become a potential threat to retailers’ holiday sale initiatives, as shoppers grow hungry for peak deals on designer goods.
The in-depth Holiday Outlook will provide retailers with unique information and tactics provided by industry insiders including Bill Martin, Co-Founder of ShopperTrak and Paula Rosenblum, Managing Partner at RSR, among others.
The complete 2011 Holiday Outlook will be published in the Thursday, August 4 RTP weekly newsletter, as well as online at www.retailtouchpoints.com.
