Survey Uncovers the Top 10 Engagement Strategies That Separate Retail Leaders from Laggards
SHOPTALK – LAS VEGAS, March 21, 2017 – Boosting efforts to personalize interactions across channels and prioritizing cross-channel information consistency — these are two key strategies that most leading retailers are embracing to enrich their omni-channel customer engagement initiatives, according to a new survey from retail technology provider Aptos Inc.
Findings from Aptos’ “Omni-Channel Engagement Strategies of Retail Leaders” survey were revealed during Shoptalk, a retail and eCommerce event that kicked off March 19 at the Aria Las Vegas Hotel & Casino Resort, and runs through March 22. Aptos is a sponsor of the event, which is expected to draw over 5,000 attendees.
The survey of 100 retail marketing and eCommerce executives attempts to benchmark marketing and order management strategies to identify best practices that the leaders have in common.
Consistent with growth in smartphone and social media usage, leading retailers are leveraging mobile (83 percent) and social (89 percent) channels to engage with customers. Some 70 percent of leaders serve up personalized content and offers based on purchase history, and 58 percent personalize content and offers based on browsing behaviors.
To address consumer demands and expectations for order fulfillment in a buy-anywhere, fulfillanywhere world, retailers leading in customer engagement have flexible order management and supply chain capabilities that revolve around serving the customer:
while 29 percent have implemented customer history and status-based rules for order
brokering and fulfillment (e.g., free two-day shipping for top-tier loyalty members).
Moreover, leaders continue to prioritize improving the consistency of cross-channel information (4.3 out of 5) and most are seeking even deeper personalization of interactions across channels (4.2 out of 5) — efforts that will continue to foster improved customer engagement.
“In the retail environment today, all-encompassing omni-channel customer engagement strategies are absolutely critical,” said Dave Bruno, marketing director, Aptos. “Our goal in conducting this research was to understand what separates leaders from laggards and identify best practices in this area. The survey findings make it abundantly clear: Leaders are committed to leveraging technology to drive engagement strategies and to power personalized content along with the agility to support seamless omni-channel experiences.”
Aptos will be demonstrating its Singular Commerce™ platform to support omni-channel customer engagement in Booth #1510 throughout Shoptalk. An integrated, end-to-end retail suite in the cloud, Aptos’ Singular Commerce platform integrates the extended omni-channel enterprise to enable truly seamless customer experiences, no matter where, when or how customers shop.
Serving as the commerce hub of the Aptos Singular Commerce platform is Aptos Enterprise Order Management, a cloud-based solution that orchestrates complex omni-channel journeys by providing a single view of customers, inventory, orders and more.
Aptos Enterprise Order Management functions across all in-store and digital touch points, including complete integration with Aptos Store for point of sale, to unify the online/offline intersection of commerce and consistently fulfill customer expectations for order delivery/pickup flexibility, options and speed.
With over 125,000 stores live on its Singular Commerce platform available in the cloud, more than 500 retail brands across the globe rely on cloud-ready Aptos solutions.
Survey Methodology Aptos commissioned Gatepoint Research to conduct an online survey of 100 marketing and eCommerce executives from Q3 to Q4 2016. Respondents were senior decision-makers of retailers ranging from Fortune 1000 enterprises to SMB retailers with less than $250 million in revenues.
About Aptos “Engaging Customers Differently” In an era of virtually limitless choice, sustained competitive advantage only comes to retailers who engage customers differently – by truly understanding who they are, what they want and why they buy. At Aptos, we too, believe that engaging customers differently is critical to our success. We are committed to a deep understanding of each of our clients, to fulfilling their needs with the retail industry’s most comprehensive omni-channel solutions, and to fostering long-term relationships built on tangible value and trust. More than 500 retail brands rely upon our Singular Commerce platform to deliver every shopper a personalized, empowered and seamless experience…no matter when, where or how they shop. Learn more: www.aptos.com
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Aptos, the Aptos logo, “Singular Commerce,” and “Engaging Customers Differently” are trademarks of Aptos, Inc. All other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners. The product and service offerings depicted in this document are produced by Aptos, Inc.
Contact:
Kristen Miller
Aptos, Inc.
+1 678 695 6566
kmiller@aptos.com
Erin Lutz
Lutz PR for Aptos
+1 949 293 1055
erin@lutzpr.com