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No. I recently visited the NCR RFID lab in Atlanta, where Chris Herwig, the technology director of the lab said, "RFID tags and readers are just another third-party product for service groups to support." No hype there -- or here. We'll be writing a lot of
RFID reality-checking research in 2004 to help clients separate fact from fiction. In the meantime, search our site for "RFID" to see what we've written so far.
We will be attending NRF in NYC. Analysts Kate Delhagen and Josh Walker will be working the show floor, and Kate will be speaking on Monday, January 12, from 2 to 3 p.m. Eastern time on the topic of online retailing. Visit www.nrf.com for the full agenda.
We will also be at the Shop.org meeting January 13-15. Analysts Kate Delhagen and Harley Manning will lead a usability day for shop.org members. Visit www.shop.org for details.
If so, contact Sam Stern at sstern@forrester.com to learn how Forrester can help. We offer several types of Web site evaluation services, including one designed to assess a multichannel retailer's experience.
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How To Get To Multichannel Merchandising, by Carrie Johnson
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Retail Tech Spending Profile For 2004, by Josh Walker
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Store Kiosks That Work, by Kate Delhagen
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Checking Out Self-Checkout, by Kate Delhagen |
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Heading into the holiday shopping frenzy, I have one thing to say:
loyalty schmoyalty. An increasing number of shoppers say that price trumps brand, and the number of shoppers who say that they stick with brands they like continues to decline. Furthermore, many so-called "loyalty programs" don't work: Nearly two-thirds of US shoppers belong to a retail loyalty program, but most shoppers' wallets are jammed with competing cards. How does that cultivate anything but price-shopping? And if that doesn't make you worry, our research shows that nearly every retailer shares its shoppers with at least one direct competitor.
It's not pretty out there. So what's a retailer to do?
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Fight the good fight.
It will be hard work, but retailers can generate and sustain shopper loyalty despite price pressures and consumers' fickle behavior. Chris Kelley just published research that describes how an effective
continuity marketing program can differentiate your brand and lead to more loyalty.
To succeed, you must first face the music: Regardless of your category, your shoppers are not that unique; they are shopping around. Your job is to figure out how and why they are unfaithful and build plans to address their reasons.
Then, you need to determine the best ways to reach your shoppers before, during, and after each transactional event. Here's some good news: Most shoppers want to hear from retailers. They like getting relevant newspaper sales promotions, direct mail, and email from you. And they like positive in-person contacts, such as a helpful conversation with a sales associate.
Our research shows that there are many effective ways to reach shoppers and rebuild loyalty, but winners adhere to some common themes: Their programs build bridges between presale, sale, and post-sale interactions. Here are two of my favorite examples of
continuity marketing done right:
1) Presale/sale: Gap just sent a cool direct mail booklet with a coupon to about a million of its direct customers (good thing, since it's losing some of its best shoppers to Target and Kohl's). It's a mini-catalog of hot products, and it includes a mystery discount coupon. You can reveal the coupon's value by visiting a store or by going to gap.com -- a nice touch -- and you can redeem the coupon in stores or online. You might argue that it's just a simple price promotion; I disagree. The company will measure response -- including cross-channel redemption -- and use that data to better understand its most valuable shoppers and market to them in 2004.
2) Sale/post-sale: I bought a sofa from Pottery Barn. It messed up the order by sending the wrong slipcovers. But rather than make a huge ordeal out of processing the return, it took the errant items off my hands, issued a profuse apology, handed me a $25 coupon good for my next purchase, and sent me home -- sans slipcovers but with a smile on my face. Again, you might argue it didn't need to give me any money. And you might be right. But the positive post-sale experience (the slipcovers arrived three days later) and the goodwill gesture virtually guarantees my future business. That's not easy to do, but that's precisely how retailers must think about linking every single customer contact to an even better next contact.
I know it's hard work, but retailers can rebuild customer loyalty. And don't wait until 2004 -- start this holiday season.
Happy Black Friday to our North American friends and
Best Wishes for a busy holiday season to all!
Kate Delhagen
Principal Analyst, Retail
P.S. What retail technology topics do you want us to explore in 2004? Send your ideas to katedelhagen@forrester.com.
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