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Have you seen The Customer-Focused Marketing Playbook?

This comprehensive and practical guide to the latest ideas in customer-focused marketing hands you over 200 packed pages of strategy, best practices, do's and don'ts, practical know-how, facts and figures, and ideas to optimise your marketing strategy, boost sales, market share, increase ROI and profit.

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Report identifies trends to boost retail holiday sales

What retailers can do to boost micro-shopping moments

On the heels of Amazon Prime day and after record-setting year-end holiday sales in 2017, retailers will need to plan ahead for the critical 2018 holiday sales season to meet the high expectations of consumers who are demanding convenient, easy and seamless shopping experiences.

According to Alliance Data's "2018 Holiday Retail Outlook" white paper, authored by experts in Alliance Data's card services business, Epsilon, Conversant and LoyaltyOne, the retail outlook heading into holiday 2018 is positive, and 5,000 net new store openings are forecasted before the end of the year - on top of 4,000 net new store openings in 2017 - presenting more choices for consumers who are increasingly creating their own individual shopping journeys, whether in-store or online. Their decisions are made in the moment, and retailers need to stay one step ahead, anticipating what shoppers need across every channel.

Among the insights derived and eight key trends identified based on marketing and loyalty programs developed for the company's 2,000 global clients:

Put the customer experience first. As customers navigate their own shopping journeys, retailers should ensure they're providing the tools that meet their immediate needs. While shoppers want convenient choices when it comes to payment options, customer service and shipping, retailers shouldn't lose sight of the importance of well-trained in-store associates who can provide guidance on what to purchase.
Maximize mobile. With more than 90% of consumers now owning a smartphone, the mobile shopping experience is a critical component of any brand's holiday strategy. Consumers "hang out" on their smartphones, and shopping happens anytime and anywhere, whether waiting in line or commuting on a train. Smart retailers will deliver a streamlined experience that enables a purchase to be completed in quick moments with just a few steps, while also giving customers easy access to their accounts and rewards.
Drive multi-channel purchases. Customers approach the in-store holiday shopping experience with a far different mindset than the digital experience, but a holistic approach will help brands win more customers during the holidays and keep them engaged. Proprietary data shows that, during 2017, omnichannel shoppers made more than 3.2 more trips at a given retailer compared with single-channel shoppers.

The paper concludes that the holiday selling season is a key opportunity to introduce customers to a brand and deepen connections with existing customers, so retailers should ensure their loyalty programs provide meaningful rewards to create authentic connections.

Sources: Alliance Data Systems / The Marketing Factbook.
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Categorised as:

Customer Experience
Customer Loyalty
Knowing The Customer
Marketing Know-How
Marketing Technology

Have you seen The Customer-Focused Marketing Playbook?

Learn the insider's tricks and techniques to turn every customers into a 'super spreader' for your brand. It's better than free advertising. Once you start this ball rolling, your brand can grow rapidly through word-of-mouth, advocacy, influencers, and customer loyalty. Super-charge your company's marketing strategy, build up your market share, and make more sales through repeat business and customer loyalty.

Find out what works - and what doesn't - and who's succeeded, and how they did it. See how the world's top brands keep their competitive edge against all odds.

The Customer-Focused Marketing Playbook walks you step-by-step through the techniques, metrics, reporting, analysis, marketing models, technologies, tools and innovations for successful marketing strategies - both traditional and emerging - with expert guidance from thought leaders in every major market. Find out the best ways to gather, analyse, and act on customer data to increase profitability, build your brand, empower your customers, beat the competition, reduce churn, and increase customer profitability. This is a marketing book you simply can't afford to be without.

This book aims to hand you all the facts, figures and research data you need for the best decisions for a more profitable, more engaging marketing strategy. It also highlights all the facts, forecasts and trends identified by our experts from the global Marketing Factbook's vast database of market data, news, studies, research and articles, and presents you with an invaluable library of ideas and practical support you can call upon at will.

With The Customer-Focused Marketing Playbook at your side, you'll have instant access to a true goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, research and market data, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid, profitable marketing strategy.

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