This article originally appeared in the May 2012 issue of INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine.
A new report from the NRF Foundation and KPMG LLP called Retail Horizons: Benchmarks for 2011, Forecasts for 2012 looks at retailers’ top strategic initiatives for 2012.
The survey of 247 retail executives from various sectors indicates that nearly 67 percent of companies rank customer satisfaction as the top strategic initiative for 2012, while 82 percent say customer service strategies will be their top priority in the coming year, up from 75 percent last year. Leveraging communications is likely to be a key method through which these retailers move to address that priority given the fact that, for the first time in the survey’s 10-year history, retailers’ websites or online channels eclipsed physical stores as the top channel for marketers (81 percent for brick-and-mortar vs. 86 percent online).
Indeed, retailers surveyed said enhancing handheld efforts like mobile point-of-sale efforts will be a core focus over the next 18 months. And 45 percent of the companies surveyed said they are developing widgets, gadgets or advanced links that can be incorporated with their social media pages, and another 41 percent working to develop these items in the next 18 months.
INTERNET TELEPHONY recently spoke with Mark Larson, KPMG's global head of retail, about other key takeaways of the study, as well as how retailers are being impacted by – and moving to gain benefits from – communications technologies such as wireless.
If there's just one thing retailers need to know about the findings of the recent NRF/KPMG report, what is that one thing?
Larson: Customer visibility and customer engagement are more important than ever. Retailers see customer satisfaction as the key conduit to accelerating sales growth, particularly amid declining retention rates and increased fragmentation. Retailers have stepped up efforts to buildcustomer engagement and loyalty in response, with investments targeted at personalized, one-to-one marketing and customer-specific promotions – and technology plays a huge part in that.
How are retailers being affected by the rise of the smartphone and other wireless technologies like tablets?
Larson: Smartphones and tablets are empowering the consumer like never before. In a recent KPMG study of consumers and technology adoption/convergence, 38 percent of consumers said they use their mobile device to access coupons while in the store, and one in five scanned aproduct barcode while in the store to compare prices or obtain more information. Retailers must come to grips with this and use it as an opportunity for positive customer engagement. The ones who develop the right strategies and approaches to the mobile platform will be in muchstronger position to capture more consumer wallet share. According to this year's KPMG/NRF Retail Horizons study, respondents indicate that mobile payment platforms for consumers to make purchases either in store or online will continue to gain momentum in 2012. Four in 10 say building out their mobile shopping and payments capabilities will be a key strategic priority over the next 12 months, a 15 percent increase over this year.
What retailers have been most successful in using the popularity of wireless devices to their advantage?
Larson: The customer experience in the Apple (News 
- Alert) Store is a very good one. The store associate can help the customer through the entire shopping experience – from providing product information to executing the entire sales transaction with the use of a smartphone.
What else can and should retailers be doing on this front?
Larson: Retailers need to embrace the concept of omni-channel. Omni-channel refers to the integration of each of the touch points with the customer – the physical store, online, mobile and social media. The idea is to offer a consistent look and feel across channels. With the explosion of e-commerce and m-commerce, it is more important than ever for retailers to enhance the experience in their physical stores. One of the advantages a physical retailer has over avirtual one is the store associate. When trained appropriately, the store associate can help improve the customer experience and drive sales. And technology – tablets, smartphones, kiosks – can be employed by the retailer to arm the store associates with tools to enhance thecustomer experience.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi
