Retailers have been saying it for years, “We need to put the customer at the center of everything we do.” The “customer-first” message has been everywhere from vision boards to brand taglines to campaign slogans, even inspirational plaques on the marketing leader’s desk.

Leaders use these statements to communicate to internal teams and to market that the company is focused on the customer, but the mantra alone doesn’t ensure action. Retail leaders need to have specific and measurable accountabilities across the organization.

Impact 21 believes that now is the optimal time for retailers to move beyond “customer-first” as a phrase and put real Customer Strategy and action behind the sentiment. As retailers begin to execute their plans to support 2024 revenue and profitability goals, four customer-centric initiatives must become core tenets of a retailer’s playbook to find, grow, and keep high-value customers.

 

1. Add Customer Strategy as a Corporate Imperative

Customer-centricity is a noble aspiration but without focus and action, it’s just a feel-good mantra for the team. To put this aspiration into meaningful action, companies must create a separate and distinct Customer Strategy corporate imperative. All retailers set annual imperatives, which are the three to four most important goals that drive the business forward and are usually exclusive to driving revenue and growth. When executive leaders add a corporate imperative focused on Customer Strategy, all teams within the organization will know that customer-centricity is a priority and that they’ll be accountable for helping to achieve the stated goal. For the teams, this imperative provides a guidepost while they plan supporting activities, programs, and identify resource needs and budget along with the offerings, channels, operating model, and capabilities needed to implement it.

A Customer Strategy goal is also an effective tool in informing how the company prioritizes investments in its people, systems, processes, and data. When all teams are aligned and accountable to contribute to this goal and its KPIs, downstream decisions are made more effectively. Ultimately, a retailer’s Customer Strategy corporate imperative will ensure the right communications, prioritization, and trade-offs are happening, allowing the company to more nimbly, and profitably, respond to ever-changing consumer behaviors, attitudes, and needs.

 

2. Use all Customer Signals: Transactional, Behavioral, and Attitudinal

The best way for retailers to establish a crystal-clear view of their customers – what they want, how they shop, and what they’re worth – is to analyze all their engagement signals, not just their transactional data. Each time a retailer’s customer opens an email, interacts on social media, writes a review, browses in-store or online, saves favorite items, downloads the retailer’s app, responds to surveys, or doesn’t, it is a valuable signal that contributes to the overall Customer Strategy. Retailers now have more technology, tools, and techniques to capture and use these data points to achieve the most accurate understanding of the customer.

To ensure all sources for transactional, behavioral, and attitudinal data are available, accurate, and consistent, convene the group of data source owners, end-user stakeholders, decision makers, and the Customer Strategy owner to create a baseline inventory of currently available data points that are clearly defined and available when, where, and how users need them. Establish regular communication and meetings to continue cross-team collaboration and information sharing. When enterprise data is consistent, trusted, and readily available, your analysts and strategists are transformed from data generators to business intelligence generators, feeding rich insights to inform Customer Strategy activities.

 

3. Assess and Close the Gaps in the Customer Journey

When the pandemic caused restrictions in the way consumers shopped, most retailers weren’t prepared for the sharp increase in ecommerce and mobile commerce. They rushed to add digital and online capabilities to meet immediate customer needs, but the experiences were often clunky and disconnected. As retailers added more and more features and touchpoints, many lost sight of the overall customer journey. Customers may still be feeling the friction points today and may show frustration by shopping elsewhere when their favorite brands can’t meet their needs.

The good news is that retailers recognize the divide between what consumers want and how they’re able to deliver.

To avoid losing revenue and customers, retailers need to assess their entire customer engagement ecosystem, providing them a clearer understanding of the current customer journey and the gaps to delivering the ideal state. Leave no stone unturned – from messaging to copy placement to links and banners to online and offline connectivity – evaluate every touchpoint. Once all gaps are identified, work with stakeholders and partners to prioritize needed fixes and take action. The investment in giving customers the experiences they expect has many benefits including:

• Increased customer spending and retention
• Eliminated costs of older architecture and unnecessary tech debt
• Updated infrastructure that provides flexibility, scalability, redundancy, and improved operational efficiency
• Reduced friction through the closure of obvious gaps
• Business alignment that delivers a predictable, intentional, and consistent retail brand experience at each touchpoint

 

4. Get a Loyalty Program Tune-up

One of the best customer engagement levers is a retailer’s loyalty program, which can be the most effective tool to increase engagement, retention, overall lifetime value, and brand advocacy. One of the most valuable assets loyalty programs offer retailers is accessibility to rich customer insights. When customers join a loyalty program, they give the retailer permission to capture and use their data and opt into marketing communications. Yet, retailers often don’t realize the full strategic impact and incremental value that loyalty programs deliver.

If your brand isn’t reaping the full benefit of your loyalty program, it’s time for a tune-up. To maximize impact for the organization and to keep loyal members satisfied, loyalty programs need to be monitored, refreshed, and optimized regularly. The assessment should include all aspects of the program:

• Value proposition including rewards and benefits
• Financial goals and measurement
• Loyalty member attitudes, behavior, and KPIs
• Awareness building; marketing copy, placement, and cadence
• Member enrollment experience
• New account nurturing, education, and early member engagement
• Rewards and benefits delivery and redemption experience
• Personalization and relevance
• On-going engagement and retention efforts
• Reactivation criteria and marketing plan

 

When a program is running on all cylinders, retailers will drive more revenue AND improve the brand’s positioning in their customers’ hearts and minds, helping them get even closer to the brand they love.

Impact 21 knows the value of an intentional and proactive customer focus and has dedicated an entire practice to it. Our Customer Strategy & Experience practice offers a range of services that enable brands to create intuitive, prescriptive, and connected engagement and purchase paths, maximizing customer value, advocacy, and loyalty. Find out how our team can help turn your customer-first aspirations into incremental impact for your organization.

Let’s talk Customer Strategy!