Retail is changing and in 10 years’ time, we won’t be worrying about selling more products to
our customers...!
Yeah I know, a bold statement, safely made during the summer holidays, so that this Blog
doesn’t get too much exposure in case I’m wrong...
However, for once, I believe that I am right in thinking that in 5 to 10 years’ time the most
important person on the Board is not the CEO, the Chief Commercial Officer nor the Chief
Digital Officer.
Relax! It doesn’t mean that these individuals will have to find new careers, however it will
mean that there will be a new kid on the block – the Chief Data Officer.
At a time where customers have higher and higher expectations when spending their money,
it will become increasingly more important to understand and know what those expectations
are. There are expectations around sustainability, product quality, customer service, after
sales service, brand credibility, shopping experience (on and off line), durability,
fashionability, etc, etc, etc.
Knowing who our customer is and what they expect will occupy our every being.
How do we communicate with them and what do we communicate to them. What are
their interests and why are they buying from us – is it our environmental credentials, is
it our stance on gender equality or do we just have a damn good website and a cool
store environment?
Once we know, how do we keep meeting their expectations, how do we win their trust
and how do we develop a deep relationship with them beyond just selling them our
product?
How do we make that relationship so strong that when they are in buying-mode, they
will only come to your brand and not another. This goes far beyond the best CRM
system available at present, this is all about the one customer view.
Most multi-channel businesses own a mountain of data, often on different (legacy)
systems and the race to change that date into usable information starts now.
As most of you know, I’m not a technical person, so I keep it simple.
In my view retail business need to create a wire frame for all the data that they require to
build a picture of their customers that will tell them how to interact, how frequently, what type
of messaging, etc, all in order to develop a long lasting relationship.
Equally, what as a brand, do we need to do to be relevant, what do we stand for?
Some brands (think Patagonia) are way down the line with their messaging and brand
credentials, although I do not know one brand where their one-to-one communication is such
that they are always top of list when their customer is ready to shop – and that, my friends,
will be the challenge for the next 10 years.
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