Recent retail sales figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) highlighted the pressing need for retailers to focus on making the customer experience more innovative and engaging, according to ecommerce systems integrator Tryzens.
The integrator has urged retailers to review and update their digital capabilities to weather the current storm. Announced recently, the BRC KPMG retail sales monitor report revealed the sharpest decline in retail sales since 1995. UK retail sales fell by 4.2 per cent on a like-for-like basis compared with April 2017, reinforcing the notion that the UK may see negative growth in 2018, making the UK one of the declining retail markets in the world.
Commenting on the figures, Andy Burton, CEO of Tryzens, said: "Whilst one set of analysis should not be a precursor of things to come, these numbers should act as a cautionary note to retailers that continued economic and geopolitical uncertainty can markedly a ect overall sales. Consumers are still spending, but how, where and when they do is dramatically changing.
"Retailers now need to fight harder to win their share of customers' wallets and ensure that their channels are aligned with the market. At the same time, they need to make customer engagement a consistent, intuitive and engaging experience for the consumer. The retailers that are winning in the market today are the ones that have perfected their digital customer-engagement strategies and have the ability to adapt quickly to market changes. This is because they have cracked the challenges of achieving a single view of their customers and stock, coupled with a flexible enhancement delivery model."
He continued: "The digital revolution we are going through means that there are some relatively simple steps that they can take to improve their performance. Retailers have never had the amount of access to consumers and their shopping data as they do today to gain insights into their target market and how their customers shop and spend, which can be leveraged to improve service and engagement.
"To succeed in this climate, it is essential that retailers showcase great products, demonstrate good value and provide consistency of o ers (and access to them) across channels with a strong responsive design across device types to drive sales conversion and loyalty."
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