Loyalty Marketing

To effectively service shoppers at store-level, managers need to evolve beyond their sales roles and become “problem solvers.”   This means store managers must learn to master the combination of order fulfillment, inventory visibility and staffing to keep up with customer demands, according to the “Voice of Store Manager Survey,” a study from JDA Software Group. The second annual study is based on responses from 252 US-based retail store managers compiled in August.  

As retailers consider how to best use physical spaces in a digital world, Nordstrom is going "local," debuting a small-format concept that has no dedicated inventory.

Centralized operating platforms help retailers become digitally competitive, according to Jimmy Duvall, chief product officer of BigCommerce. Duvall told Chain Store Age that integrated platforms are key for brands that want to deliver exceptional, targeted customer experiences.

What trends are changing the game for omnichannel retailers — especially those that are not digitally native?

Starbucks Corp.’s online store has officially closed its virtual doors.   The e-commerce site, which sold Starbucks’ branded merchandise — from mugs and coffee brewers to coffee, tea, and flavored syrups — shut down on Sunday, Oct. 1. The coffee giant decided to close the online store to focus on integrating its physical and digital channels, and to establish stores as destinations, according to Business Insider.  

Retailers industrywide are pulling out all the stops to stay connected with their customers — but not all are succeeding.

Omnichannel customers expect that their favorite retailers deliver a seamless, consistent, convenient and fast experience regardless of whether they shop online, on their phones or in a store. While retailers are striving to create a unified omnichannel journey, they still struggle to keep up the pace.

Global beauty giant Sephora continues to disrupt the beauty category, rolling out new technologies — online as well as in store — and new formats. Its latest retail concept is positioned in the category’s fast-growing sweet spot: personalized customer services.

Consumers are growing increasingly comfortable using connected devices for daily tasks — and shopping is not far behind.    As more devices connect to chatbots and virtual assistants, an increasing number of consumers are ready to embrace the automation and convenience delivered by IoT technologies. Nearly half of consumers (48%) said they would feel comfortable with a connected device, such as a refrigerator, ordering items on their behalf.  

Tailored Brands has taken steps to identify shoppers and drive customer satisfaction.   The menswear company operates more than 1,400 locations in the U.S. and Canada, as well as digital channels, across a variety of brands. By partnering with ForeSee, Tailored Brands now has a solution that manages all customer experience (CX) intelligence from one centralized location.