According to numerous retail experts, this year is looking to be a record-breaking holiday season for retailers. Predictions are being made. Will retailers have a better year than last? What will be the most popular gifts? How will weather impact the holiday shopping season? So many questions! And, so many opportunities!
Just last week, a group of IBM’s industry experts and influencers (of which I’m a proud team member) had an online meetup to answer some holiday questions prepared by IBM that focused on what retailers need to be thinking about for the most important shopping days of the year. IBM has solutions focused on helping retailers be more effective in managing a blend of in-store and online experiences, handling inventory issues, tracking weather that can impact delivery and store traffic, and more. And, while the focus of this article is on retail, there is plenty of insight to be found here, regardless of the type of business or industry you are in. So, with that in mind, here are some of the important trends that retailers need to consider:
Personalization Will Help Sell More
Want to sell more? The answer to that question is obvious. The solution could be just as simple. Personalize the experience for your customers, both in-store and online. By personalization, we’re talking about what appears to be a customized experience for the customer. It includes suggesting merchandise that can accompany what the customer is buying, and even more powerful, suggesting merchandise that customers would like based on their past purchases. Use data to track the history your customers have with you. Every returning customer has a profile that includes past purchases. It’s important for your salespeople to have access to that information. It could help them sell more. And, even if they can’t access it, they can personalize the moment. It’s critical that they be smart enough to make the right recommendations to up-sell or cross-sell the customer what they need to accompany the gifts they are purchasing. A most simplistic example of this would be the customer buying a gift that requires batteries. It’s just common sense to suggest that the customer purchase batteries along with the gift. I refer to this as the “ethical up-sell.” This is even easier to do online. The computer knows what to suggest when a customer is buying specific items. Think of the suggestion of buying batteries as an example for the many items you can suggest for virtually anything the customer may be purchasing. By the way, proof of this concept can be found in the 2017 State of Personalization Report from Segment, a company that helps their clients define and segment customer personas for the purpose of creating a more personalized experience. Their research found that 49% of shoppers purchased something they didn’t initially plan to buy after receiving a personalized recommendation – and 40% say they purchased something more expensive because of the recommendation.
Weather Can Change Everything
Someone once said that no matter how rich you become, or how famous or popular you are, the number of people who come to your funeral will depend on the weather. It’s the same in retail. Did your merchandise arrive at the store in time for the final holiday rush? Did that last-minute gift that the customer ordered, which was promised to arrive two days before Christmas, show up on time? Both of these questions can be answered the same way: it depends on the weather. Track weather data. Find out before it’s too late how weather can impact everything from gifts being shipped to your customers, to inventory control. Not having inventory because of weather delays can cost your business all the profit that comes from the bountiful holiday season. And, consider this: online consumers won’t think about the weather. They just expect their packages to show up on time.
Keep Customers Informed
Let customers know when a new shipment of the most popular games is going to arrive. Let them know when the weather is impacting their gifts being delivered before the customer calls you with a problem. Engage with your customers via social channels, and even on the phone, to keep them informed of any issues. If the weather is the reason a package is not going to arrive on time, it is better to proactively reach out to the customer than to find yourself reacting to an angry customer whose gift didn’t arrive on time.
Customer Will Buy Online And In-store
Can you offer your customers the “best of both worlds” – an amazing online and in-store experience? According to IBM, shoppers who buy online and in-store have a 30% higher lifetime value than those who shop using only one channel. That’s a lot of loyalty. The retailer who can understand the balance of online and in-store, and can get the customer to make purchases on both channels, has an incredible advantage.
With the predictions coming in of this holiday season being a big one in the retail world, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to boost sales. There are always variables that are outside of our control, but there are also plenty that are within. Make sure you’re doing everything within your power to create a great experience for your customers. And even if overall holiday retail records don’t get broken this season, maybe yours will.
