Following a webinar Session AI held with Brendan Witcher, VP and Principal Analyst with Forrester, we conducted a Q&A session with attendees and captured the insights for a new eBook. The focus of the webinar was on how to achieve the retail trifecta – Conversion, Revenue and Loyalty. In the follow-up, we explored how to improve customer experience, drive better results for retailers’ objectives, and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to help create a competitive advantage, as well as other related topics for the eBook.
Vital topics in the eBook include:
1. How are leading retailers measuring the success of their digital strategy and commerce channels?
Some leading retailers focus on measuring conversion rates channel revenue, which could be providing a false or inaccurate view of performance impact. The key is to compare and examine measurements in multiple channels, such as frequency of visits, clicks per view, cross-channel conversion, email opens and CTR, and even social media purchase reviews. While some channels might perform well and others poorly, it’s important to understand that channel performances are related to some degree and adjustments need to be made accordingly.
2. What is the biggest mistake retailers make to achieve better business outcomes?
A company-obsessed strategy is built around metrics that solely present the company’s business status, with little to no impact on customer experience. Learning how to shift from a company-obsessed model to that of a customer-obsessed strategy can better serve today’s digitally savvy consumers.
3. What online engagement strategies should retailers employ to improve customer experience?
Two strategic goals that can help drive significant positive outcomes for retailers are to create better real-time, relevant in-the-moment experiences that add value to an unknown shopper’s buying journey, and design paths to purchase that inspire them to provide data that helps the retailer better serve customers in the future.
4. How can ML & AI help retailers gain a competitive advantage and overcome business challenges?
The smartest application of ML/AI solutions is to focus on operating with the majority of customer interactions that require little or no oversight – not simply automating everything and hoping for the best.
5. What are the most successful ways that retailers engage and personalize experiences for unknown site visitors?
Learn about the three most successful strategies that have a direct and positive performance impact for unknown visitors on a website:
- The listen and respond strategy
- The value/data exchange strategy
- The just-one-thing strategy
Key findings in the eBook
For retailers to increase conversions, boost revenue, and gain loyalty, they must develop a new, customer-obsessed model. In addition, they should implement online engagement strategies that better serve known and unknown consumers and leverage ML/AI to turn customer behavior data into actionable insights. Doing so will enable retailers to create relevant, in-the-moment experiences that add value to the customer’s buying journey, also inspiring consumers to provide data that helps the retailer better serve them in the future.
For a valuable deep dive on these and other topics to help achieve the Retail Trifecta, download the eBook now.
