RSR Research: Retailers doubt marketing proficiency

Walnut Creek, Calif. – While the percentage of retailers who think they know about their customers is rising, fewer retailers think they are proficient in using that knowledge for marketing purposes. According to a new study from RSR Research, “Retail Marketing 2013: Organizational Drift,” 36% of retail marketers said their customer loyalty program is a foundational element of their marketing strategy in 2013, compared to 32% last year.



In addition, 28% of retail marketers said their company knows who its best shoppers are, compared to 22%. Yet only 15% said their company is proficient at targeted marketing across channels, compared to 18% last year.



Other findings include:

• The top three marketing business challenges are customer retention and loyalty (61%), keeping up with new ways consumers are using technology (49%) and too many communication channels have unproven effectiveness and keeping up with new ways to engage consumers (42% each).

• The most common owners of customer experience are chief marketing executive (43%), CEO (38%) and VP of stores (35%).

• The top three marketing opportunities are more effective targeting (53%), greater emphasis on customer experience (48%), and driving store traffic via digital channels (44%).

• RSR conducted an online survey from May - July 2013 and received answers from 122 qualified retail respondents.