Print and Digital Marketing Challenges for Retailers
Based on all of these current challenges with budgets, proliferation of channels, workflow, production of print and digital marketing and measurement of results, what can retailers do?
It is critical that retailers deliver a seamless customer experience. They need an integrated strategy that aligns talent, physical space, processes, marketing and merchandising to meet consumer demands. The strategy should be supported by emerging technologies and partnerships and continually adapted to remain relevant to tomorrow's shoppers.
Deloitte says a robust retail strategy must include:
- A strong vision of the experience the customers desire across all channels
- A nimble operating model that can adapt as the retail environment changes
- A deep understanding of how to support the vision through inventive digital solutions and retail technologies, such as playbooks to operationalize the multi-channel strategy
1. Create a relevant customer experience. Personalize the experience at every point of interaction by leveraging the most appropriate technologies for the physical stores and digital world. Mobile currently contributes 5.1 percent of total retail sales and will increase to 17-21 percent ($628-752 billion) of total sales by 2016. On top of that, customers who access retailers' apps while shopping have a 21 percent higher conversion rate. Experian research reveals that personalized promotional mailings have 29 percent higher unique open rates and 41 percent higher unique click rates than non-personalized mailings. Furthermore, the most successful retailers will maintain locally relevant Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages while looking to the next big development in social media.
2. Invest in the core. Targeting the connected shoppers of today requires structural changes to deliver experiences and compete. The key is flexibility. Retailers have to quickly embrace operational changes brought on by new technologies and anticipate integration of emerging solutions that don't exist yet. A flexible infrastructure should integrate existing and emerging applications and be channel-agnostic.
