Category Archives: Industry Trends

by Jennifer Bosavage

Hispanic Shoppers Embrace Omnichannel

shutterstock_104670257

Hispanic shoppers are more likely to have smartphones than the population as a whole, and they rely on their phones and computers to make purchase decisions.

It’s not just Millennials that appreciate the ease and convenience of online shopping. Hispanic shoppers are more likely to have smartphones than the population as a whole, and they rely on their phones and computers to make purchase decisions. They embrace the omnichannel experience.

In particular, Hispanic shoppers plan to increase their online purchases of grocery products from large retailers at a significantly faster pace than non-Hispanics, according to a recently released IRI Hispanic Shopper Study. At Amazon, for example, the grocery uptick is expected to be more than 40%.

That’s in large part because the Hispanic population has taken to the convenience of online grocery shopping. And even when they don’t place their orders through a website, 38% look online for deals and coupons before making a shopping trip, and 33% look to blogs or social media for beauty product recommendations.

The Hispanic segment is hugely important to retailers: U.S. Hispanic spending is expected to reach $1.7 trillion by 2020, according to the Latin Post. And a large part of that is going to go to groceries. The segment generally has larger families than the other parts of the population, so it tends to spend more on regular, routine trips to the store, as well as “quick runs to the corner.” And, according to Retailleader.com, Hispanics often bring their children along when they shop, so the youngsters influence purchase decisions, further increasing the value of their shopping carts.

With such a large market opportunity, retailers should implement a plan of action to attracting Hispanic customers online, whether to complete the transaction using e-commerce or to entice them into a brick and mortar. Social media is particularly effective with this group: According to a Pew Hispanic Center Research study, 68 percent of Hispanic Internet users are active on Facebook, Twitter, and other social network sites, compared to 58 percent of all U.S. Internet users. The audience is there – but how to engage it?

The EC Hispanic Media report U.S. Hispanics and Facebook: The Generation of Growth found that one of the best strategies to motivate Hispanic customers was to offer discounts and promotions. Not all interaction needs to be coupon based, however. By asking for ideas, comments, and opinions, retailers can connect effectively with the second-largest consumer market in the United States.

 

 

Going Omnichannel?

You know it’s critical to create a consistent customer experience across all sales channels – but you can’t afford for your omnichannel efforts to be seen as omni-failures. 

Get this whitepaper to discover how to simplify omnichannel!

Get whitepaper

 

 

 

 

 

by Jennifer Bosavage

Are You Making the Most of Social Media?

The importance of social media is not lost on retailers - many businesses are on the sites to promote their products and help consumers resolve their service issues.

The importance of social media is not lost on retailers – many businesses are on the sites to promote their products and help consumers resolve their service issues.

Many retailers have a presence on social media, at a minimum in an attempt to get the word out about their brands. Some – a few – go the extra mile and parlay their presence into a real relationship with customers, answering questions and offering feedback.

One of the main reasons retailers use social media networks is to reach new customers, According to CustomerThink.com, social media use is pervasive: 75% of all Internet users are on some type of social network. Retailers need to communicate with shoppers through every available channel.

Research has found that once an in-store customer posts on social media about a brand or store, a store representative  has only a very short period of time – say, two to three minutes – to send a response. Is that window closing on your responses? It likely is.

Still, according to a Boston Retail Partners report a whopping 69% of retailers see opportunities to use social media to enhance their customers’ experiences. However, many are likely to be short on time and resources to act on this action item.

Social media monitoring tools are available that can help organize this new chore. They can track online conversations that mention brands and retailer names, which can have very real consequences. However, the Boston Retail Partners study found that a large number of retailers using social media to interact with customers — 81% of respondents — indicate that their processes need improvement.

Participating in social media provides information to the retailer enabling them to understand who customers are, what they want, as well as when and where they want it. Responding to individual’s posts and offering appreciation for their patronage — such as coupons for “liking” a page — aim to improve the customer experience for all their guests.

But what about when posts are not glowing and may even be negative? Retailers can that take the opportunity to respond and get ahead of the situation. By posting a quick response, a retailer demonstrates not only that they are aware of the problem but are eager to fix it. That leaves customers feeling empowered, happy with the outcome, and secure with the knowledge they can return to the store and not face the same problem.

The implementation of social media monitoring tools, lets retailers easily understand their customers’ desires, and tailor their products and services accordingly, a crucial competitive advantage in the current global retail world.

 

How well do you know your customer?

Get this whitepaper to see how a 360° view of your customer can help you give her the retail experience she wants!

Get whitepaper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Jennifer Bosavage

Omnichannel Retailers Use Supply Chain to Lower Shipping Costs

samuel zellerOmnichannel retailers struggle with shipping costs: Charge too much, and customers flee, but charge too little and retailers are left with dwindling profits.

Customers who abandon shopping carts online, it often is a signal that your shipping costs are too high. It’s not uncommon: According to Baymard Institute, 67.45% of carts are abandoned. And CPC Strategy found retailers lose $18 billion annually due to shopping cart abandonment.

But lowering shipping costs while providing products at reasonable prices is a difficult balancing act. Solvency depends on making a decent margin on goods, but if prices are perceived as too high (because shipping is built into that figure), then the retailer risks having languishing product.

Customers often want free — not just inexpensive —shipping, delivered within a day or two. Many retailers struggle mightily trying to satisfy those demands. But for smaller chains, who may have less purchasing power with their suppliers, fulfilling that request is often impossible.

However, an omnichannel program with a strong foundation can help retailers identify where products are within their supply chains, and deliver them most efficiently to their customers. Ship-to-store capabilities help companies sell inventory wherever it resides, whether that’s at a store in Sacramento, CA, or Newark, DE.  Once located, retailers can direct the product to a store where it’s needed, or have it shipped directly to a customer. Not only does that “save the sale” but it also nurtures customer loyalty.

A ship-from-store strategy can reduce delivery costs for the customer because the retailer uses its own outlets as fulfillment centers. The closest location takes delivery of the product and ships it to the customer. The retailer must use its supply chain in the most efficient manner possible, and that includes being diligent about inventory visibility. Retailers must have up-to-date inventory count at all locations to reduce delivery costs.

It is a practical solution to the “delivery problem” to fulfill an order from a customer who lives virtually around the corner from a retail store with product from that location rather than have it shipped from a distribution center hundreds of miles away. Being able to take a close look at inventory lets retailers provide customers the delivery they want, without sacrificing good business sense.

 

Going Omnichannel?

You know it’s critical to create a consistent customer experience across all sales channels – but you can’t afford for your omnichannel efforts to be seen as omni-failures. 

Get this whitepaper to discover how to simplify omnichannel!

Get whitepaper

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

by Jennifer Bosavage

Customers Welcome Flexible Shopping Options

Ecommerce alone may not perform as well as omnichannel offerings.

Ecommerce alone may not perform as well as omnichannel offerings.

It’s a fact of retail life: Out of stocks can cost retailers not only one sale, but also future sales. Once the customer is disappointed, he or she may never walk through that business’ doors again. The sale is gone, along with any store loyalty. That’s why it’s critical for retailers to implement omnichannel strategies that let customers shop for and take delivery of products in the ways that fit their lifestyles.

According to a new report from AGC Partners, “The Retail Industry Disruptors: Specialty Online Retailers and Marketplaces Take Center Stage,” most shoppers welcome technology that lets them take advantage of retailers’ omnichannel strategies.

A solid omnichannel strategy lets shoppers buy online, buy in-store or do a combination: buy online and pick up in-store (BOPIS), for example. Increasingly, customers are “taking control” of their shopping experiences. They are well researched, both in terms of what products they want to buy, and where they want to purchase. They are “smart shoppers,” who more than ever before are able to dictate how they want to purchase merchandise.

The report notes that now, shoppers are looking for what seems to be the inverse of BOPIS: They want in-store mobile technology that allows them to order a product from a retailer’s e-commerce site, if it is not in stock at the store. 64% of consumers responded that they are more likely to frequent stores that offer such technology, and 73% said that such an offering provides a “superior” customer experience.

Retail is an enormous, $22 trillion market worldwide. Right now, online retail only makes up 7.4% of that total. Retailers that can “rescue” an order that cannot be filled at a physical location by routing it to its e-commerce site, will increase revenue and build customer appreciation. In addition, online sales will grow. A sale is a sale, no matter where it originates or to where it is delivered. As long as a retailer provides the channel, customers have no reason to seek the item elsewhere.

Still, a number of hurdles need to be overcome, according to AGC:

  • Only 33% of all U.S. retailers can order out-of-stock products via a mobile device
  • Only 26% offer free Wi-Fi
  • Only 12% can have customers scan products and have them shipped home

That represents an enormous opportunity for retailers and their technology partners. Increased shopping on mobile devices is likely to drive overall growth in online retail. And many shoppers, particularly millennials, enjoy using smartphones and other mobile devices to shop: Of 2,000 millennials surveyed by Coupofy, 28% reported preferring to shop on their smartphone than on their computers. Therefore, by implementing solutions that allow customers to be flexible in how they shop, where they take delivery – and even make returns – retailers can grow revenue as well as customer satisfaction.

 

Going omnichannel?

You know it’s critical to create a consistent customer experience across all sales channels – but you can’t afford for your omnichannel efforts to be seen as omni-failures. 

Get this whitepaper to discover how to simplify omnichannel!

Get whitepaper

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Jennifer Bosavage

In-Store Apps Help Drive Customer Personalization

Get the right product to the right customer at the right time: That’s the retailer’s credo. Every new technology implementation, every piece of marketing is launched with that sentiment in mind. Today, mobile technology is helping retailers attain that trifecta.

Wal-Mart wants customers to use mobile apps.

Wal-Mart wants customers to use mobile apps.

It’s not only the relatively new, small, specialty retailer that “gets” how to reach today’s customers. Older, much more established players have also seen how mobile technology can boost customer activity. Walmart is a great example of a well known, long established retailer that has successfully embraced technology to increase revenue.

Customers that have Walmart’s mobile app spend significantly more and shop in-store two times more than the average shopper, according to the Arkansas retail giant. Part of the reason for that is Walmart has taken the app one step further than other retailers by incorporating a payment system. Walmart Pay requires the cashier to scan a QR code on the phone screen to charge a credit, debit or Walmart gift card that’s linked to the account. That’s significantly different than competing payment platforms such as Apple Pay, which use Near Frequency Communication (NFC) technology.

The advantage for Walmart is that it retains control over the information it gleans from its customer base; it gathers and stores shoppers’ information directly. All the data from the app — including that which would typically go to the credit card company — stays with Walmart to can be used to improve the shopping experience.

Daniel Eckert, senior vice president of services at Walmart U.S., told the Detroit News that data from the app will be used to improve the shopping experience, with the customer’s permission. Past shopping behavior can be analyzed, for example, in order to build a personalized shopping list. The customer can then delete or add items manually or by scanning in-store barcodes. In addition, geo-location alerts shoppers to in-store specials and new items.

The retailer has reported that more than half of its shoppers come into the store with a smartphone, which paves the way for allowing Walmart to communicate with consumers in-store. By taking advantage of devices that customers are already comfortable using, Walmart can provide a more personalized shopping experience. And that is resulting in rising revenue.

 

Going mobile?

Get this whitepaper to see how the retail technologies you select can help you stay ahead of the curve in the Mobile 2.0 retail economy, and request a demo of the natively mobile Retail Pro Prism® today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Ulyana Avetisov

Ensuring retail success in the post-peak era

shutterstock_122884453

Retailers have been pushing to extend peak seasons like Christmas to gain more sales, but modern consumers shop on their own schedule and retailers must adapt and cater to their off-season needs.

By Kerry Lemos, CEO, Retail Pro International

 

Christmas coming earlier every year might be a cliché for most people, but for the retail industry it’s a simple fact.

We’re already seeing retailers prepare for the festive season, identifying the key products that will be this year’s must-haves and gearing up their Christmas campaigns.

This is very much in line with the traditional retail business models built around spikes in activity brought on by peak shopping periods. With stock piled high and temporary recruits boosting numbers on the shop floor, activity can be ramped up for a few weeks before returning to normal levels.

In recent years, however, these peaks have become much less well-defined.

Take Christmas, for instance. The season now covers much more than just a few weeks. It now spans the extended period from the build-up to Thanksgiving through to Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the January sales, where some retailers might hope to do half of their annual business.

This period of retail chaos means retailers are in direct competition for the same limited number of festive shoppers for an increasing amount of time, with both shoppers’ attention and supply chains becoming squeezed.

 

A new world

At the same time, Christmas is no longer the only peak period retailers need to be aware of.

In the UK, the growth of festivals such as Eid, Diwali and the Chinese New Year has introduced new periods that retailers may need to prepare for. Beyond these major festivals, there are other times of the year that could be seen as a peak period to some, or all, of the population, from the first day of spring to the beginning and end of the summer holidays.

What all of these periods show is that many retailers’ approach to consumers needs to change. Customers cannot be treated as a single mass who all shop at the same time, in the same way, and for the same things.

Focusing attention on a single, defined peak period is a strategy that retailers must move on from: individuals have their own approach to shopping, and as such have developed their own personal peak shopping periods.

 

Giving the public what they want

 

The question for retailers then is, how do they support these individual peak periods without losing the ability to maximize the potential of established shopping seasons?

Here are 3 actions retailers can take that will tip the odds in their favor.

 

Cross channels

We haven’t just seen an evolution in when people shop, but in how they shop. Customers won’t restrict their peak shopping period to simply visiting a select number of brick-and-mortar stores.

On the other hand, few consumers will do a hundred percent of their shopping online, instead welcoming the opportunity to browse for certain items in the flesh. Retailers should ensure these customers have a seamless experience, whether shopping online or in-store, with access to the same information and interactions however they purchase their products.

Ideally, a customer should be able to begin their shop in-store and complete it online, or vice versa, in a consistent, omnichannel exchange.

 

Map the landscape

With “peak” periods becoming more of a constant presence, it’s important that retailers understand exactly when these periods happen.

For instance, the Christmas period now begins in November and ends in January; but within this, there are individual days which show still-increased activity or relative slowdowns.

Not only this, but retailers must decide how they switch to peak periods; does activity accelerate overnight, or is there a slow build-up and deceleration to ensure they can attract shoppers who are operating on a slightly different timetable?

 

Build profiles

While predicting and supporting the shopping habits of every single individual is beyond the reach of retailers, they should still ensure they have categorised how their customers behave in peak periods and act accordingly.

For example, what proportion of shoppers do their holiday shopping early, and which wait until the last minute? How many spread their shopping across the whole period, and how many spend everything on one or two occasions? And when exactly do their customers flock to the store?

Using this information, retailers can build profiles of their customers and anticipate their needs throughout the year as appropriate.

 

By offering an omnichannel experience, mapping out the peak calendar and ensuring they have profiled their customers, retailers can ensure that they are supporting peak shopping for all their customers; whether it happens at Christmas or Candlemas.

 

Building your omnichannel strategy?

Discover how to simplify omnichannel with these 3 critical tips in our whitepaper!

get-whitepaper-23

 

 

 

by Jennifer Bosavage

Do You Offer a ‘Wow’ Shopping Experience?

shutterstock_212753965

Much like their marketing strategies, sales procedures and product development efforts, retailers must put time into creating the ideal customer experience.

It’s one thing for a retailer to announce it wants to create a more experiential experience for customers, and quite another to do it.

Talk of creating a compelling retail experience has been around for several years, driven in large part by the competition to brick and mortars by e-commerce. In a day and age in which shoppers can shop quickly and efficiently online, retailers need to offer customers a compelling reason to step foot inside a real building.

The irony is that experiential shopping isn’t new, rather, it harkens back to a golden age. Back in the 1950s and 60s, shopping was an event. Stores provided hair salons and restaurants for “ladies who lunch,” for example. While clientele has changed greatly in the past 60+ years, the lesson to be learned is that shoppers enjoy being catered to. Retailers that build memorable experiences will be rewarded with larger shopping carts and loyal customers.

Case in point: Ulta, a purveyor of beauty products, has found it very profitable to provide customers an entire spectrum of items, some costing pocket change and others the price of a fancy dinner for two. The reason Ulta has become a destination, explained a Wall Street Journal reporter to NPR recently, is that it took the bold step of including such a wide array of products. Typically, manufacturers are loath to share floor space with brands that are elsewhere on the value chain, i.e., luxury and bargain brands don’t mix. But at Ulta, they do. And customers are thrilled.

Ulta management theorized that women who use a $8 mascara might want to come in and buy that product — and perhaps also indulge in something new or “special.” Combining that idea with free services such as mini-makeovers, and they had a winning formula. As a result, revenue rose nearly 24-percent last quarter, and a total of 970 stores are planned by the end of the year.

The strategy not only exemplifies how destination shopping can improve the bottom line, but it also speaks to the importance of promoting complementary purchases. In essence, Ulta counted on customers making at least one “impulse” buy while they were at the store: that mascara could use eyeliner; this foundation might benefit from concealer, etc.

In addition, the personal touch is not forced, rather, it is sought after by the customer. Associates greet each guest, and they offer to apply products and make suggestions — all at the request of the shopper. The customer is enjoying herself, doesn’t feel harassed and feels in control.

And that is a beautiful retail experience.

 

 

Rethinking your customer experience?

Discover how to improve your brand’s CX with these 4 clienteling tips!

get-whitepaper-23

 

 

by Ulyana Avetisov

How To Simplify Omnichannel with Inventory Management in Retail Pro®

 

inventory-Prism

 
The omnichannel expectation set by Tier 1 retailers has quickly trickled down to specialty retail and retailers everywhere are feeling the pressure to deliver. Retail Pro helps retailers simplify the inventory management across channels for omnichannel retail.

 

What’s wrong with omnichannel inventory management

 

The modern retail experience is composed (often) of several entirely different, disconnected software, so you are forced to keep disparate inventories for your e-commerce orders and your in-store sales – with all the duplication that entails.

In the very big picture, it doesn’t matter all that much if your systems are disconnected and duplicated. They still get the job done.

But if you examine the process more closely, you’ll see the pockets of chaos you keep tolerating when you segregate your channels, the collective negative impact of which compounds when extended year over year.

Inefficiencies in replenishment

Extraneous steps in the workflow

Underutilized resources

Gross inventory and labor duplication

 

And it hinders you from making more intelligent use of your inventory across the enterprise – especially later in the season, when you might be faced with stock outs (lost sales) and overstocks (unprofitable markdowns).

 

Stop retail chaos

 

Omnichannel in its most practical sense is intended to stop retail chaos like this through the simplification and streamlining of retail processes and technologies.

chaos

 

Connecting your back office inventory, e-commerce, POS (and etc.!) systems in the Retail Pro Prism platform gives you unified visibility into your operations and performance, and simplifies data sharing – so you can make data-driven optimizations and achieve benefits like these:

  • Shopper autonomy Empower shoppers to look up, order, or purchase available store inventory online or at another location
  • Reduced shipping costs Allow customers to pick up or return online purchases in-store or at satellite locations
  • Increased inventory turn Rebalance inventory across the enterprise and fulfill online orders from the nearest store instead of from the warehouse

With all your technologies connected in Retail Pro Prism, you can then deliver the inventory visibility your customers expect from omnichannel.

 

Deliver on the omnichannel expectation

 

Your customers have learned to expect little conveniences like being able to go on your website to look up whether a particular item is in stock at the store nearby and reserve or purchase it.

Little customer-facing conveniences like that can actually require a major operational upheaval, depending on the state of your inventory and whether you can tie your e-commerce to your inventory management software.

With Retail Pro Prism, you can do that. e-Commerce and POS at every location can be seamlessly integrated to the Retail Pro platform (whether you use the native applications or opt for other software of your choice), so they can share transactional data in real time (or whatever interval is optimal for your operations) with the inventory management tools in Retail Pro.

This ensures that your inventory data is up to date when a shopper is looking for a particular product at your store. You won’t have to ask your customers to wait while you go get a different device to look up the inventory information. You can easily look up whether you have that item in stock from any device you use for your everyday operations, including iPod, iPad, Windows, Android, laptop, and desktop – because all of the same features are accessible on every device, even from the POS.

You can also see whether your other store locations have the particular item your shopper is searching for. With Send Sale transaction is Retail Pro Prism, you can record a sale at one store and fulfill the transaction at a different store that has available inventory, so you save every sale and your customer leaves satisfied.

 

Send Sale

With Send Sale transaction is Retail Pro Prism, you can record a sale at one store and fulfill the transaction at a different store that has available inventory, so you save every sale and your customer leaves satisfied.

 

Reconcile digital and physical inventory counts

 

To offer customers this kind of visibility into what you have in stock, it’s critical for you to be on top of your physical inventory. Retail Pro Prism helps you keep accurate counts of your physical inventory and determine whether any loss has occurred.

  • Confirm your inventory on a store-wide or warehouse-wide scale, or on a bin or shelf
  • Record physical counts data by scanning barcodes, RFID tags, or manually typing item identifiers
  • Use current On Hand inventory values as start quantities in your physical inventory file
  • Identify and review discrepancies easily with a separate Discrepancies list

 

Physical Inventory in Retail Pro Prism®

Retail Pro Prism helps you keep accurate counts of your physical inventory and determine whether any loss has occurred.

 

With your inventory levels confirmed in Retail Pro Prism, you can increase in-store fulfillment accuracy for online orders being picked from your store shelves, and improve replenishment rates.

Sporting goods and apparel retailer Massey’s Outfitters uses Retail Pro to keep lower inventory. They rebalance their goods between stores and send directly from the vendor via integrated dropship rather than pulling from the warehouse. Warehouse-based replenishment for web sales accounts for only 25 – 50%, resulting in significant efficiency gains.

Inventory accuracy is foundational to every omnichannel strategy. Take control of your inventory today with complete visibility in Retail Pro Prism.

 

 

Discover omnichannel simplicity

Want to see how you can simplify omnichannel inventory management with Retail Pro Prism? Learn more in this brochure or request your free consultation today!

 

Request my free consultation

 

 

 

by Jennifer Bosavage

Retailers Try Virtual Reality On for Size

 

Virtual reality is the latest retail innovation.

Virtual reality is the latest retail innovation.

 
Used to be, virtual reality was technology reserved for gamers. Today,  as stores search continually for innovative solutions to help them best the competition, VR is taking hold in retail environments. In fact, some see it as the future of retail: Data from CCS Insight notes that roughly 2.5 million virtual and augmented reality devices were sold in 2015, with that number soaring to more than 24 million device sales in 2018. The CCS Insight analysts estimate that more than 12 million virtual reality headsets alone will be sold in 2017.

Virtual reality offers a way to let consumers go for a test drive in markets they never could before. For example, Lowe’s is using the technology to create an immersive, contextual experience that bridges the digital world with the physical one. The massive home improvement chain branded its solution the Holoroom: “a digital power tool for kitchen and bath design.”

The Holoroom debuted last November and is aimed at helping customers take the guesswork out of their home projects. Using the Lowe’s Holoroom app, renovators can design kitchens or bathrooms using products sold by the retailer. When they designs are finished, they are turned into YouTube360 videos for customers to enjoy and share. So far, the VR technology, including Oculus Rift or Google Cardboard, has rolled out at only a handful of stores. That tech is at two ends of the spectrum: Google Cardboard is a VR platform developed by Google for use with a head mount for a smartphone (a VR for everyone concept), while Oculus Rift uses state of the art displays and optics designed specifically for VR.

Either way, the role VR will play in retail will likely be transformative. Said Ben Wood, CCS Insight’s Chief of Research: “Most consumers find virtual reality a mind-blowing experience the first time they try it. We believe it has tremendous potential and it’s not just about expensive high-end devices such as the Oculus Rift. For only a few dollars, consumers can dip their toe in the water with an inexpensive cardboard holder for a compatible smartphone. We expect this democratization of the technology to deliver growth not just in affluent mature markets but also in emerging markets where smartphone penetration is stronger than ever.”

As for the Lowe’s customer, it’s fun and also practical. VR provides an easy way to understand and edit each of the components of an interior design. Design can be overwhelming and difficult to visualize a final product, VR can bring it into sharper focus for many.

Retailers should also find benefits beyond customer satisfaction. In the Lowes example, every product selected by the VR-enable customer can be purchased at the store. That makes for easy add-on product selling, which adds up to a high-value shopping cart. In addition, the software should help speed up design times and reduce returns. After all, customers who are not blessed with a sharp “mind’s eye” will be able to get a pretty accurate idea of how their designs will look.

by Ulyana Avetisov

“Omnirelevant” Experiences Are Key to Building Brand Loyalty

shutterstock_192063263

Retailers must deliver more effective digital interactions between consumers and their brands through omnirelevant strategies, said Globant, a digitally native technology services company that creates digital journeys for its customers, in its quarterly Sentinel Report.

Brands must focus on asserting and maintaining relevance to consumers, who are constantly inundated with technologies that compete for their attention, explains the report. Companies that are in tune with their users can identify important moments in the customer journey, and leverage this insight to deliver more relevant, impactful interactions.

“Without awareness of the digital journey, brands will fail to impress consumers and win their trust and engagement,” said Martín Migoya, Globant CEO and co-founder. “Focusing on relevance and quality of user interaction over quantity of touch points is at the heart of effective digital strategy. This requires consumer-centric thinking from the outset.”

The report highlights five elements that must exist in equilibrium in order to achieve omnirelevance:

  • Harmony  – The deeply-rooted connection and affinity that this series of interactions has with a user’s flow, producing a pleasant effect
  • Familiar Security  – The feeling of familiarity and trust customers experience at each moment of their journey, fostering an intimate and sage relationship between the customer and the brand
  • Contextual Content  – Content that is able to fulfill a user’s needs at any given moment
  • Sensory  – Creating brain stimulus that will give a physical reality to the experience
  • Surprise  – The level of unexpected momentum to an experience or an interaction must have to catch the user’s attention and leave a lasting, positive impression

“Omnirelevant Experiences” represents the fifth edition of Globant’s Sentinel Report – a quarterly analysis on global market trends and consumer behavior insights and their application to various industries. Furthermore, the report includes stories and business case studies that show how omnirelevance is already being pursued in the technology, retail and entertainment sectors.

Adapted from Erie TV News.