| | March 20178CIOReviewin my opinionThe 2016 holiday season is in the books and the impact of eCommerce, and Amazon, is clear. According to First Data, October 1, 2016 through January 2, 2017, eCommerce sales grew 12 percent, while brick-and-mortar sales grew only 1.6 percent. Brick-and-mortar share of total sales fell to 79 percent, -six points from the comparable 2015 period. According to Slice Intelligence, Amazon garnered 37 percent of eCommerce sales between November 1 and December 16. Many multichannel retailers have reported comparable store sales declines and growth of eCommerce activity but none are vying with Amazon for online market share. Amazon, for good or bad, is the pacesetter for retail now, including physical bookstores and Amazon Go. The fear of what Amazon might do, often dominates how retailers are thinking about competitive threats. Some retailers want to be it, some live in dread of it, some admire it, but all think about it. Remember this, you cannot copy your way to success, each retailer's strategy will be unique, based on customer expectations. Digital is not a One-size-fits-all Strategy Many multichannel retailers mistake an eCommerce strategy for a digital strategy. Clearly eCommerce is a likely component of a digital strategy, but digitizing retail requires a comprehensive, "brand-right" strategy. Each retailer must respond differently with an effective digital strategy. The store will continue to be the leading channel for most multichannel retailers and must function as the hub of multichannel activity. Retailers will use a variety of digital technologies as they enhance the customer experience. These include advanced analytics, algorithms, smart machines, internet of things (IoT), mobility, data security, and virtual personal assistants (VPAs). Use your understanding of these technologies to engage the business in developing customer centric retail strategies that can be enabled through technology. For example ensuring that pricing, promotions, and offers are consistent across channels for individual consumers or using IoT to develop automated replenishment of consumables in customer's homes. If you Don't Have a Digital Strategy, it's Almost too LateThe expectation for harvesting results in the next year is high for those already executing an effective digital strategy. The pace of change in technology is allowing consumers unprecedented control and choices in how they search, purchase and fulfill their consumption. For retailers that are not yet delivering on a digital strategy, the future is in fact significantly more uncertain. Competitive pressures require significant action now to avoid loss of market share.Customer Experience is the Key Differentiator for Multichannel RetailersIt all has to go back to the consumer, for each environment, you have to assess what the consumer will interpret as value. Rather than trying to create one view of the customer, retailers will benefit most from using digital technology to demonstrate to their customers that regardless of channel, they can expect a single unified experience. In this way customers can confidently transact across the retailers channels without any artificial boundaries. Regardless of the number of Digitizing the Retail Customer Experience and What it Means for Multichannel Retailers TodayBy Bob Hetu, Research Director, Gartner
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