While e-commerce has levelled the selling field, artificial intelligence is propelling e-retail players forward, says Keren Zimmerman. Personalisation is the key to winning customer loyalty and repeat business and brands that leverage AI will turn that key. The technology is now becoming more affordable, so here’s how to compete with the bigger brands and use AI to power your audience data.
Using the example of a food chain based in the north of England – that offers the hugely popular and now famous Yorkshire pudding wraps – Rob Meakin details how well personalised customer loyalty schemes can work and how shoppers expecting speed, efficiency and simplicity in every step of their retail experience can tap into a ‘membership economy’.
Research shows that online shoppers often ditch their potential order if delivery charges seem too high – so can free delivery help win back those consumers? And how can smaller businesses afford to absorb the cost? Mark Bigley has some advice.
Developing a good, relevant and personalised experience has been proven to help marketers with building customer relationships. Research shows that brands sending birthday offers are likely to improve the experience for more than half the 18-21 age group, but for less than a third of the 50+ age group. So who wants personalisation and who doesn’t? Take a look:
In today’s digital landscape, retail innovation is ever-present and it is clear that retailers failing to meet customers’ shifting habits and abiding love of e-commerce will not prosper. What vendors cannot do is refuse to transform in a world that is being disrupted by technology. Amazon is a leader in the retail sector and understands that you can’t sit still in an industry that is always changing to meet the customers’ demands. Hugh Fletcher takes a deeper look at Amazon’s achievements.
Recently, the possibility of selling data collected by a robot vacuum cleaner triggered a debate about legality and ethics. But why would marketers vacuum up data and how would they use information about a home’s square footage, furniture and other personal details to reach customers? Tim Scargill discusses the many ways marketers utilise data analytics to predict consumer behaviour, improve targeting and personalisation and determine the ROI of their marketing efforts.
‘Healthy’ brands are ranked highly around the world for making people’s lives better, shaking things up, communicating effectively and memorably and winning admiration. So who’s doing that well and who could do better? Which brands are rising stars? The BrandZ Global Top 100 has been monitoring which brands show potential and which have been displaying vital signs for more than a decade – here are the findings:
Clever PR tactic or high-level marketing strategy? Does this new weather personalisation tool highlight how innovative data analytics and personalisation can elevate consumer engagement? Personalisation is among the year’s biggest trends and a shopper’s experience is becoming as important as product and price, says Michelle Huff. With the right technology, personalisation can be integrated into any marketing strategy quickly and effectively.
Phase 1 was about information (internet availability) and Phase 2 mobile technology (social media). But Phase 3 of the digital evolution will have a faster adoption curve and a higher impact due to some fundamental differences, says Steven Van Belleghem, author of the award-winning book, ‘When Digital Becomes Human’.
Today, marketers have more than 120 different ways to communicate with their customers and prospects through a vast array of digital and analogue channels, which all purport to add value to the customer relationship. So, we should use them all – right? Er . . . wrong!