Featuring:
Sucharita Kodali, Principal Analyst, and Michelle Beeson, Analyst
Show Notes:
It’s a classic holiday disappointment. A young tot, filled with hope and cheer, rips open a promising box. Is it the toy of their dreams? Alas, it’s socks. “Don’t children need socks?” well-meaning Great Aunt Mabel asks. Perhaps, but a fundamental disconnect between want and delivery has broken trust. For Great Aunt Mabel, this means being left out of the next round of finger paintings. For retailers, such broken trust can be deadly.
In this episode, Principal Analyst Sucharita Kodali and Analyst Michelle Beeson discuss how retailers can optimize operations to truly serve customers, thereby earning a better chance at raising revenue and garnering that elusive ingredient for success: loyalty.
Retailers’ attempts often fail because they aren’t customer-centric. For example, companies annually annoy the public by running holiday promotions early. Retailers hope that by lengthening the season, they’ll increase spend and reduce the fulfillment crunch. It hasn’t worked. Holiday spending is flat. Buyers have been conditioned to expect deep discounts during the holidays and will put off purchasing until then.
Instead, retailers must focus on helping employees deliver great in-store experiences and creating a seamless flow between brick-and-mortar and digital.
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