Consumers want seamless retail experiences
In today's world, retail marketing usually involves multiple channels of advertising and customer engagement. New technological innovations have lead to the rise of online sales and new expectations among customers for faster responses and greater options for making purchases. As retailers branch out to take advantage of additional points of interaction with shoppers, they should make sure that they're maintaining a consistent, unified brand and experience. Seamless interaction across channels will be crucial for the coming era of retail, according to The Guardian's recent roundtable of industry leaders.
The roundtable cautioned that expanding into multiple channels can cause brands to splinter or lose their consistency. Instead, merchants should integrate their operations as much as possible and make sure they're sending a unified message to consumers, taking into consideration shoppers' preferences and need for convenient options.
"Consumers are very impatient, they always look at the best in class," one of the roundtable participants said. "It is very hard to create that friction-free world and adapt your internal technologies at the rate you have to."
Business Reporter also emphasized the importance of giving customers a consistent experience. Consolidating data from digital platforms also enables merchants to derive insights and form a more comprehensive view of their patrons, the source added.
