Retail TouchPoints

DECEMBER 13, 2023

After years of lockdowns and digital-driven behaviors, consumers’ actions have shown how crucial the store experience is to how they shop and interact with brands. Retail TouchPoints asked experts across the store design, experience and technology realms to share the trends they believe will drive brick-and-mortar innovation.

Sporting Goods 323

Sporting Goods Technology Omnichannel Operations 323

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 6, 2024

Returnless refunds are improving the almighty customer experience, and in turn, their potential customer lifetime value. Image courtesy Ryder According to Ryder’s 2023 ecommerce consumer study of 1,077 U.S. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished.

Customer Experience 289

Customer Experience Shipping Costs eCommerce Improvements 289

Retail TouchPoints

DECEMBER 25, 2023

Consumers today expect a better in-store shopping experience from brick-and-mortar retailers, and retailers that can give it to them will continue to thrive even in the face of ever-increasing convenience from online competitors. Delivering Exceptional Customer Experiences Collect and use your in-store data.

Customer Experience 282

Customer Experience Customer Retail Point of Sale 282

Forrester eCommerce

APRIL 30, 2024

Healthcare consumers’ expectations for easier, faster, retail-like experiences are not fading away. It is no longer enough to offer a digital front door alone — healthcare organizations must intercept consumers and customers as they navigate an increasingly complex and diverse healthcare ecosystem.

Customer Experience 243

Customer Experience Customer Consumer Retail 243

Retail TouchPoints

JULY 10, 2024

Big Box Lessons One way of understanding this topic is to evaluate how major retailers respond to changes in aggregate consumer habits. In the current economic space, the brand’s popularity has grown markedly, a trend that brought with it customer demand for additional on-site services.

Retail 261

Retail Social Media Point of Sale Information 261

lateshipment

APRIL 28, 2024

Stands for the increasing and ever-changing customer expectations with your business and the answer of meeting or rather exceeding these expectations stands for what one would call ‘ a great customer experience ’. The Need To Focus On CX In Today's Business Landscape Customer demands are never the same.

Customer Experience 130

Customer Experience eCommerce Customer Merchant Services 130

Retail TouchPoints

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

The letdown customers experience when their orders don’t arrive on time, or at all, results in uncertainty and distrust that’s difficult — if not impossible — to remedy. Retailers can expect that customers will turn to other vendors; once this happens, they’ve lost both the sale and the customer’s trust and loyalty.

Shipping Costs 264

Shipping Costs Customer Experience Supplies Improvements 264

Retail TouchPoints

JUNE 29, 2022

Direct to consumer, that is. That means they are thinking more holistically about the brand experience. Regina Bailey, Senior Director of Retail Strategy for Menasha, chatted with Andrew Gaffney about the hot trends and topics guiding CPG investments. CPG brands are looking to go DTC.

Customer Experience 242

Customer Experience Customer Consumer Retail 242

Retail TouchPoints

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Brands, in their never-ending quest for relevance, must dive deep into human experiences, connecting with consumers at an emotional level. Each employee or consumer must feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves. What can you show, tell and teach the consumer? Purpose-Driven Design. ??The

Customer Experience 289

Customer Experience Customer Social Media Arts 289

Retail TouchPoints

JULY 18, 2024

For example, apps with both associate-facing and customer-facing user interfaces [UIs] allow associates to support the customer’s own research and also facilitate transactions, including endless aisle capabilities and ship-from-store.

Customer Experience 277

Customer Experience Customer Retail Workshop 277

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 4, 2024

The customer experience is paramount to the success of today’s retailers. This includes enhancing in-store inventory, delivery services and even the personalization of customer service. However, when it’s time to check out, how do payment options factor into that customer experience?

Payment Services 289

Payment Services Consumer Small Business Retail Banking 289

Forrester eCommerce

OCTOBER 22, 2020

One of the things I was most looking forwards to in 2020 as I returned to focus on our European consumer research was CX EMEA. I’ve always enjoyed Forrester events, both as a customer more than a decade ago, as an analyst presenting, and as a research director acting as MC. It’s a chance to […].

Customer Experience 307

Customer Experience Customer Presentation Events 307

Forrester eCommerce

SEPTEMBER 2, 2024

How will consumers engage with GenAI in the future? As my colleague Audrey Chee-Read summarized it in a recent blog post, consumer adoption of GenAI with brands will happen unnoticeably. As such, consumers […]

Consumer 300

Consumer Blog Technology Customer Experience 300

Retail TouchPoints

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

“Many systems can now identify sales trends, understand customer behavior and gauge employee performance. The integration of real-time customer feedback mechanisms and predictive analytics tools are other exciting developments, allowing businesses to proactively adapt to customer needs and trends.

Point of Sale 262

Point of Sale POS Payment Services Merchant Services 262

Retail TouchPoints

APRIL 4, 2022

But as consumers, businesses and markets settle into something like a new routine, what changes will commerce experience in the year ahead? B2C and B2B Experiences Will Keep Converging and Optimizing. Live commerce may not be the hottest trend of 2022, but 18 months from now, it may take center stage. by 2024.

B2C 328

B2C B2B Supplies Conversion Optimization 328

Forrester eCommerce

MARCH 15, 2022

Luxury brands continue to grapple with their evolving digital go-to-market strategies in the face of ingrained traditions, placing a premium on the in-store customer experience. Year on year, Forrester’s consumer surveys show that luxury consumers are more digitally mature than their mainstream counterparts.

Customer Experience 195

Customer Experience Customer Consumer Marketing 195

Forrester eCommerce

MARCH 28, 2024

As is often the case with poorly understood tech that promises to change the world, consumers worry about its ethics and human impact. Yet a vast majority of these skeptics will use (and love) genAI during 2024, whether they know it or not. Like it or not, know it or not, genAI will seep into […]

Consumer 504

Consumer B2B Customer Experience B2C 504

Retail TouchPoints

FEBRUARY 13, 2024

Brick-and-mortar stores teamed up with brands to determine the optimal placement and positioning of products to entice consumers and their wallets. These days, however, consumers are the ones driving product placement, and owning the digital shelf has everything to do with the technology behind the scenes.

Consumer 290

Consumer eCommerce Supplies Technology 290

Retail TouchPoints

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

From ordering groceries to meeting new people, the convenience and speed with which we can do almost anything is extraordinary — and it isn’t something consumers are going to give up. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re seeking the same experiences as before. Blurring boundaries: physical vs. digital.

eCommerce Design 306

eCommerce Design eCommerce Travel Mobile 306

Retail TouchPoints

DECEMBER 7, 2022

Allow time to learn how to maximize features and capabilities — and ensure that you keep up with products and trends. Think like a customer. While an enormous technical fabric supports today’s digital experiences, all roads must lead to value for the customer. That’s what creates an exceptional customer experience.

Customer Experience 317

Customer Experience Payment Services Customer eCommerce 317

Retail TouchPoints

OCTOBER 28, 2024

Gen Z is undoubtedly revolutionizing the consumer landscape. How can brands develop successful consumer promotions that actually draw in the often-elusive Gen Z shopper? This might include custom merchandise or personalized experiences that make the winner feel special and valued by your brand.

Consumer 274

Consumer Social Media Recommendation Travel 274

Retail TouchPoints

AUGUST 17, 2023

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data highlights a significant deceleration in inflation, now standing at half of last year’s peak. This moderating trend in inflation is an encouraging development, but it is not without its caveats, particularly within the dynamic and complex terrain of the retail and consumer goods industries.

Consumer 246

Consumer Payment Services Food and Beverages Supplies 246

Forrester eCommerce

MARCH 11, 2024

European consumers are forming four distinct groups with regard to how their consumption habits impact both the environment and their daily lives: Country-Level Stereotypes No Longer Apply: Southern Europe Leads […]

Consumer 404

Consumer Customer Experience B2C Customer 404

Retail TouchPoints

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024

Because while they may feel they are communicating something weighty, it doesn’t mean consumers will hear it, let alone act. Additionally, consumers still have pandemic-related and sustainability concerns, ranging from reluctance to shop in crowded stores to environmental issues around the use of cardboard and plastic-heavy displays.

Consumer 263

Consumer Vend Point of Sale Download 263

Forrester eCommerce

SEPTEMBER 2, 2024

It helps explain customer mental models and why people don’t always act the way they say they do. This is especially important when it comes to environmental issues: Many consumers would like to adopt greener behaviors but struggle to do so due […]

Consumer 273

Consumer Customer Customer Experience B2C 273

Forrester eCommerce

SEPTEMBER 27, 2024

A year ago, we predicted that the number of green consumers would stay constant in 2024, despite climate chaos and backlash. Despite evidence of accelerated weather-related disasters and a desire among many consumers to act sustainably, we predicted that inflation and the cost of living would heavily influence buying decisions.

Consumer 195

Consumer Customer Experience B2C Customer 195

Forrester eCommerce

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

With a new administration set to take office in 2025, a different set of economic policies will come into play, shaping consumer sentiment and driving spending behavior. We aren’t sure quite yet exactly what these policies will be – just as for brands, campaign promises often diverge significantly from the delivered experience.

Consumer 195

Consumer Customer Experience B2C Customer 195

Retail TouchPoints

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

Additionally, several retailers are bucking the conventional wisdom of supermarkets seeking the widest possible customer base and instead are creating stores designed to appeal to specific ethnic or national groups via merchandise choices and even stores’ design.

Mobile 275

Mobile Operations Consumer Shopify 275

Retail TouchPoints

MAY 3, 2023

Let’s dive straight into it and unriddle the mystery of creating modern, highly personalized customer experiences while increasing performance in the cookieless future. Identifying customer trends and behavior required analyzing data in volume and speed that were beyond the capabilities of their in-house teams.

POS 276

POS Customer Experience Customer Technology 276

Retail TouchPoints

FEBRUARY 12, 2021

With COVID-19 case counts declining and vaccination efforts underway, eager consumers and retailers are both looking hopefully toward a future return to normal. The pandemic has forever altered consumer behavior, and this year in particular consumers find themselves in a kind of limbo — hope is on the horizon, but “normal” isn’t here yet.

Consumer 347

Consumer Omnichannel Events Customer Experience 347

Retail TouchPoints

APRIL 21, 2022

Retail industry professionals know how vital it is for them to stay abreast of the latest consumer and societal trends. Social Commerce Strategies Consumers are embracing shopping as a social activity, whether it literally occurs on a social platform or reflects their membership in a community of like-minded individuals.

Retail 278

Retail Workshop Events Consumer 278

Retail TouchPoints

JULY 13, 2022

Between staffing shortages, rising labor costs, supply chain disruptions, heightened compliance requirements and record-high inflation, food retailers are facing a myriad of market challenges with ripple effects that directly influence consumer behaviors. A recent Wall Street Journal report indicated that nearly 70% of U.S.

Customer Experience 292

Customer Experience Customer Retail Operations 292

Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 2, 2024

To drive customer retention and loyalty, most brands and retailers continue to rely on purchase discounts ( 77% ) and loyalty program points ( 61% ), according to Retail TouchPoints research. However, a Deloitte survey reveals that consumers’ loyalty program preferences and expectations are evolving.

Consumer 309

Consumer Shipping Costs Customer Retention Information 309

Retail TouchPoints

JUNE 1, 2022

There are 10 Trends unfolding before us right now, very much worth watching. Consumers are learning that the prices retailers charge for items purchased online are actually higher, and delivery to home can come at a cost of $15 to $20 all in. The fact is, when it comes to what’s ahead for retail, no one really knows. BOPIS is growing.

Retail 299

Retail Games Magazine Demo 299

Retail TouchPoints

MAY 24, 2024

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued an interpretive rule confirming that buy now, pay later (BNPL) lenders are in essence credit card providers, meaning they will be required to provide consumers with legal protections and rights, including in cases of disputed charges and issuing refunds. 1, 2024.

Consumer 264

Consumer Payment Services Books Marketing 264

Forrester eCommerce

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that we’ve been measuring precisely how the emotional toll of the COVID-19 pandemic is influencing consumer appetite for commercial exchange — we do this by applying Forrester’s Consumer Energy Index, our data-driven framework that captures how ready and willing consumers are to reach out to brands.

Consumer 468

Consumer Blog Customer Loyalty Customer Experience 468

Retail TouchPoints

OCTOBER 24, 2023

Culture and Community are Core to Success The idea of building community around a brand has firmly moved from “new trend” to “necessity,” particularly for brands targeting younger consumers or playing in ultra-competitive categories. We lean into a lot of trending moments, games that are launching and cultural moments.”

Food and Beverages 278

Food and Beverages Workshop Games Consumer 278