Personalization becoming key component to omnichannel mix

BENGALURU, India — With as many as 64% of retailers implementing an omnichannel strategy, the multi-faceted approach to reaching shoppers within their channel of choice has evolved into a cost-of-entry strategy for many retailers, according to a Happiest Minds survey released Tuesday. 

 

“We are in the midst of a perfect storm of omnichannel, with in-store transformation, analytics driven personalization, data and infra security and executive leadership commitment forming the bedrock of change,” Salil Godika, chief strategy officer for Happiest Minds, said. “The holy grail for retailers continues to remain the same - to ensure true continuity of consistent and delightful customer experience.”

 

According to the survey, 38% of retailers enable their customers to engage with their brands across stores, kiosks, the web, mobile, social and call center. However, the place where retailers need to step up is in certain foundational capabilities - like single view of customer, products and inventory, which is crucial to delivering a connected and context-aware experience, Godika noted.

 

Personalization is becoming a differentiating factor for retailers in their goal to reimagine customer experiences, with 60% of respondents having initiated analytics and big data programs to shape their personalization strategy.

 

But stores continue to be the primary channel for majority of the respondents. More than 60% of retailers have embarked on transforming in-store customer and associate engagement with connected experiences and capabilities. Stores are driving the change today and are on their way to becoming mini-fulfillment hubs.

 

And as customers switch from channel to channel, continuous security and compliance is necessary to manage risk, protect data and comply with regulations. Nearly 75% of retailers are investing in threat management, vulnerability and data security solutions and tightening their internal identity and access management solutions.