Tech Guest Viewpoint - How Can Retailers Reach Holiday Shoppers?

By: Sunil Oberoi, Symphony Teleca Corp.



With the holiday shopping season officially in full swing, many retailers are facing the challenge of reaching consumers during this traditionally noisy time of year. And since today’s consumer is more connected than ever, they expect retailers to meet the demands of their omnichannel lifestyle, meaning they want their shopping experience to be personalized to their interests and needs.



Today’s shoppers are always on the go, and want to be able to find the stores and products they love easily, whether they’re on their PC, tablet or phone, and from anywhere, at anytime. While accessibility is key, consumers also want retailers to engage with them in a personalized way. Whether it’s reaching them with special promotions and sales when they are ready to buy or making sure they know exactly where the pair of shoes they loved online can be found when they are in the store, shoppers expect retailers to make their shopping experience simple, quick and tailored to their needs.



So how can retailer’s hope to best engage with consumers during the holiday season?



Create a rich and engaging cross-channel user journey. The increasingly connected consumer has made an omnichannel approach imperative for modern retailers. Simply having a website for online shopping is not enough, retailers need to ensure consumers will have the same online experience when transistioning from screen to screen, whether mobile, tablet, PC and so on.



Implement seamless engagement both online and offline. Beyond the digital connection, retailers need to guide their consumers through the shopping process in-store as well. Today’s shoppers want a luxury experience, even when visiting their everyday department store. Location-specific technologies make this experience possible by bridging the gap between the online and in-store shopping experience, and give retailers insight into how best to target, engage and ultimately drive sales.

This allows retailers to maximize their impact during the holiday shopping season by tracking a customer’s digital footprint to make a seamless in-store connection that can offer customized coupons, deals and so on to let retailers stand out from the competition.



Take action using real-time analytics. By leveraging real-time data analytics, retailers can completely transform a customer’s shopping experience. The innovative technology offered in the market today is customizable to best fit the needs of a given retailer and can make it easy to integrate analytics into an existing system, or create a new system to target shoppers.



In implementing data analytics, retailers can gain unprecedented insight into a customer’s behavior allowing them to better predict consumers’ habits based on previous browsing and shopping history. This information gives retailers the power to intercept consumers at the most opportune moments, with the best deals that will entice sales.



Holiday shoppers are expected to come out strong this year, with the National Retail Federation predicting $616.9 billion in spending during the 2014 holiday season, up 4.1 percent from 2013. In order to maximize on these sales and attract busy holiday shoppers, it is vital that retailers implement an omnichannel strategy by leveraging technology solutions and service providers that can help them to engage with consumers in a personalized way.



Sunil Oberoi is senior VP and global business head for retail, brands, and omnichannel commerce at Symphony Teleca Corp.