Chapter 3: Brands and retailers are evolving their customer experience strategies

In the face of changing shopping habits, fewer than half of retail executives have completely defined their customer experience strategies.

IN RESEARCH AND REPORTS, MARKETING, RETAIL AND CONSUMER GOODS

Time to Read: 5.5 minutes

Chapter 3: Brands and retailers are evolving their customer experience strategies

Michelle Grant
Senior Manager, Strategy and Insights, Retail and Consumer Goods

The top three barriers to a well-defined customer experience strategy are:

Lack of organisational alignment and processes across channels

Lack of agility to turn data into insights and actionable information

Complexity with consumer data

While 66% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations, only 32% of retail executives say they have the full ability to turn data into personalised prices, offers, and products in real time across channels and touchpoints.

Part of the challenge is that the average retail organisation uses an estimated 44 different systems to manage customer experiences. This puts loyalty at stake because 80% of shoppers will abandon brands after three bad experiences.

“Data’s important, but we’re using it in places that are not accessible, and in today’s digital transformation, it needs to be there for everyone.”

“Data’s important, but we’re using it in places that are not accessible, and in today’s digital transformation, it needs to be there for everyone.”

Karen Beebe CIO and SVP, Operations of vineyard vines

KAREN BEEBE
CIO and SVP, Operations of vineyard vines

Retail executives are responding by bringing on more data scientists and evolving the technology stack.

Data scientists help brands and retailers operationalise data

To help untangle complexity and democratize data and insights, retail executives estimate that they will employ an average of 76 data scientists by the end of 2021. The number of data scientists employed by the retail industry is expected to grow a further 44% through 2023.

Brands and retailers adopt unified engagement platforms

Retail executives are also investing in technology that will help their organisations increase agility and streamline the end-to-end shopping journey. This includes a unified engagement platform, which enables retailers to access and operationalise customer data across marketing, commerce, and service functions. This drives personalised and relevant engagement across the increasing number of physical and digital channels.

The top five reasons retail executives plan to adopt a unified engagement platform are to:

Increase agility

Create a seamless customer experience across channels and devices

Increase store associate productivity

Make data-driven decisions

Deliver personalisation in real time

The majority (55%) of retail executives say their organisation is still in the planning stage for this type of platform. They are exploring their options or creating formal plans. Only 16% of retail executives say their organisations are in the “realisation stage,” operating a unified engagement platform and measuring its benefits to gauge future investments.*

Stages of the adoption journey for a unified engagement platform, including no/don’t know, exploration, consideration, strategy, execution, and realization

*Brand and retailers’ state of adoption are broken down into the following categories:

No/don’t know: Does not see a unified engagement platform as a priority and does not anticipate any resources being focused on it in the near future
Exploration: Currently monitoring the unified engagement platform market and gathering information for educational purposes.
Consideration: Actively discussing the viability of a unified engagement platform approach but has no formal plans or budget in place.
Strategy: Creating a formal plan, developing a business case, and seeking a budget for a unified engagement platform.
Execution: Implementing a business and technical strategy for a unified engagement platform to manage change.
Realisation: Operating a unified engagement platform and measuring its benefits to gauge future investments.