Digital disruption, emerging technologies to drive retail revenue in 2015

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Oct. 30, 2014

Innovating the customer experience to adapt to shifting consumer preferences and emerging technology capabilities will be top of mind for leading retail brands in 2015, according to predictions by real-time omnichannel personalization firm Certona.

"The retail industry is at a tipping point, as customer experience claims a greater influence over retail conversion than any other business process or output," Certona CEO Meyar Sheik said in a statement. "However, improving and personalizing the customer experience requires the right mix of new technologies, processes and strategies designed to address the changing marketplace of consumer demands and needs."

According to Gartner research, "In many industries, hyper-competition has eroded traditional product and service advantages, making customer experience the new competitive battlefield. Competitors and alternatives abound and product innovation is subject to accelerating commoditization. Customer experience innovation remains the secret to lasting brand loyalty."

With the increasing power of the consumer and resulting disruption of traditional business operations, Certona predicts the following changes across the retail industry in 2015:

• E-commerce, m-commerce and in-store commerce will evolve closer into simply commerce. The battles between brick-and-mortar stores and digital channels such as Web and mobile will abate, and instead, each channel will be designed to direct the customer down the most likely path to conversion.
• Access to APIs will pave the way to more personalized consumer experiences: Merchants will actively pursue open APIs to develop more predictive apps that allow sharing of information and leveraging new functionality in real time to better personalize the user experience.
• Discounts will be in high demand by customers, threatening retail margins. Retailers will be forced to offer discounts and free shipping to meet consumers' demands during the peak shopping season. However, retailers will also have the opportunity to make up the gap in revenue with personalized offers and recommendations. Ultimately, this will allow brands to deliver in-demand discounts, while recovering margins through recommended add-ons.
• Customer data will claim its position as a company's DNA. Businesses with datacentric cultures will thrive, while companies that ignore the discipline of data science will lose to competition.
• Mobile device makers revamp hardware and software strategies to specifically cater to mobile commerce. In response to consumer demand for streamlined commerce, device makers will make strategic decisions based on improving geotargeting, integrating payment technology, user authentication, messaging and inter-app communication.

Certona is a provider of real-time omnichannel personalization for brands including Charlotte Russe, GameStop and Steve Madden.