Brendan Witcher

VP, Principal Analyst

Forrester Bio

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Blog

What’s Hot (And What’s Not): The Top Retail Commerce Initiatives For 2024

Brendan Witcher February 23, 2024
We share some of the top retail commerce initiatives that retail business pros will invest in for 2024.
Blog

The Future Of Retail: Building Physical Stores For A Digital World

Brendan Witcher October 25, 2023
Transform traditional retail stores into dynamic, customer-centric spaces that enhance experiences and drive business outcomes.
Blog

Maximizing Retail Return Strategies Beyond Margin Recovery

Brendan Witcher July 31, 2023
Retail returns, when handled strategically, are an opportunity for retailers to gain a competitive advantage.
Blog

Unlock True Customer Understanding: The Power Of “What” And “How” Data

Brendan Witcher June 16, 2023
We highlight some examples from our latest report on how companies can capture and optimize customer data using the 6C Strategy.
Blog

Retailers: Give The Gift Of Personalization Through Omnichannel This Holiday Season

Brendan Witcher November 4, 2022
Use personalization through omnichannel to drive value-driven product recommendations for your customers this holiday season.
Blog

Predictions 2023: Bold Shifts In Retail Models Will Be The Salve For Uncertain Times

Brendan Witcher October 26, 2022
In 2023, retail models will need to adapt to tap into new sources of profitability, which will become more critical amid economic headwinds.
Blog

Retailers In A Tough Spot After Major Sales Events Announcements

Brendan Witcher September 28, 2022
Wise retailers will be highly detail-oriented in their holiday strategies, especially given the macro-level conditions across many global markets.
Blog

The Real Amazon Question: Can Amazon Retain A Day One Culture When The Only Person From Day One Departs?

Brendan Witcher February 5, 2021
What will it really take for Andy Jassy and Amazon to retain the culture that has made it so successful in so many areas of business? Here are the five key attitudes that Amazon must retain – and that other companies should learn from.
Blog

Predictions 2021: Retailers, Brand Manufacturers, And Mall Operators

Sucharita Kodali October 20, 2020
In the wake of the pandemic's deluge of disruption, retailers, brand manufacturers, and ecosystem players such as mall operators are entirely rethinking their businesses, heralding much change ahead. Read what we predict for retail in 2021.
Blog

Distinguish Hot From Hype In Retail Tech Investments For 2020

Brendan Witcher May 12, 2020
In the highly competitive world of commerce, retailers and brands must invest in tech initiatives that will differentiate them, drive revenue growth, and keep their customers satisfied. For our annual “The Top Retail Technology Investments In 2020” research, we interviewed over 60 retail and brand professionals to understand which technology initiatives they are prioritizing in […]
Blog

Hot Or Hype: The Top Retail Tech Investments For 2019

Brendan Witcher July 9, 2019
We interviewed 40 retail industry professionals to see where they're putting their technology investment dollars, and where they firmly aren't.
Blog

My Top NRF 2019 Takeaways (AKA, News Vs. Nonsense)

Brendan Witcher January 18, 2019
I say this as both an analyst and a recovering retail professional: NRF is like drinking Red Bull . . . from a 50′ beer bong . . . for three days straight . . . on Jupiter. You just know what’s coming, but there is almost no way to prepare for the deluge of […]
Video

Omnichannel And Personalization: Make A Lasting Impression In The Marketplace

Brendan Witcher December 13, 2018
With the holiday season in full flight, creating a memorable customer experience is more imperative now than ever. Watch the video below to learn how omnichannel and personalization tie together to generate a lasting impression for a consumer. Have questions on how you can better differentiate your brand through omnichannel and personalization? Schedule an inquiry to dive deeper.
Blog

Omnichannel Order Management Systems: The Unsung Hero Of Digital Commerce

Brendan Witcher September 25, 2018
Summer is ending and you’re searching for a grill on sale, and you find the perfect one online. On the website, they say that the grill is currently available at your local store. However, to your dismay, when you arrive at the store, they’ve just sold out of that specific grill. If only the retailer […]
Blog

Just Released: Top Retail Tech Investments For 2018 — Overview

Brendan Witcher May 31, 2018
In today’s increasingly crowded digital commerce market and with increasingly tighter budgets, retailers have to make smart choices about which technologies to invest in and which they should forego for now. To help retailers sift through the options, we conduct an annual top trends study. This year, we interviewed more than 30 retail industry professionals to ask about retail […]
Blog

Transform Your Personalization Strategy At Forrester’s Consumer Marketing Forum

Brendan Witcher March 19, 2018
Where are you on your company’s journey to personalize the customer’s experience? Are you one of the 89% of digital businesses that are investing in personalization – companies like Coca-Cola, Fabletics, Netflix, Sephora, USAA, and Wells Fargo. What’s new now? Businesses need to evolve their definition of personalization – from tactical segmentation, to strategic individualization. […]
Blog

NRF 2018: Back To Basics…And That’s A Good Thing!

Brendan Witcher January 22, 2018
This year’s NRF Show was a surprise, in that it lacked a lot of the hyped-up tech in year’s past (VR in 2017, Beacons in 2016, etc., etc.). That left plenty of room for themes and solutions to shine that let retailers improve in the areas of customer experience, operational efficiency, and incremental, bottom-line profitability. […]
Blog

Walmart And Google’s Voice-Assisted Commerce Partnership Highlights The Next Big Disruptor In Retail

Brendan Witcher August 24, 2017
Walmart and Google have announced an important new partnership that directly addresses the growing markets for voice-assisted shopping and free expedited delivery. Marc Lore, president and CEO of Walmart US eCommerce, wrote on Walmart’s blog: “Starting in late September, we’ll be working with Google to offer hundreds of thousands of items for voice shopping via […]
Blog

Busting The Big Myths Of Retail: The Real Reasons Retailers Are Missing The Mark

Brendan Witcher June 12, 2017
If you believe what you’ve heard in this year’s earnings calls, retailers are losing every dollar of business to Amazon. Are they? No. They’re losing some, but the estimates on Amazon’s pure, non-marketplace growth don’t even come close to every other retailer’s declines. Amazon’s growth is a symptom of – not the reason for – […]
Blog

Time To Assess Your Omnichannel Maturity

Brendan Witcher May 24, 2017
It's a fact: Every time customers are exposed to improved shopping experiences, their expectations are immediately reset to a new higher level. Today’s empowered customers expect seamless brand interactions across every touch point, forcing organizations to replace outdated thought-processes and legacy systems with new ways of doing business. That said, many digital strategy and commerce […]
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