A Marketer’s Discussion: The Changing Face of Stores

Brian Newberry - VP, Brand Leadership

Tomorrow, I’ll be participating in the Columbus Chamber of Commerce Retail Summit 2019. So, why does a marketer care about supply chain and logistics? Because your battle to provide great customer experience is either won or lost in the trenches of supply chain and logistics. A recent Harris Poll indicated that 48% of U.S. marketers believe brands have an excellent ability to provide an exceptional customer experience. However, only 22% of customers believe brands and retailers provide an exceptional customer experience.

E-commerce has reshaped retail and forever changed the customer experience, radically transforming behavior in two important ways: expectations and empowerment.

Customer expectations have been reset and evolve as rapidly as technology. Research by Assurant Consumer Insights indicated that best-in-class experiences raise customer expectations not just for similar companies – 83% of customers think best-in-class experiences raise their expectations for all companies. As a result, customers expect the product to be available, expect to get the best price and expect delivery at their door in two hours.

With the widespread adoption of social, mobile, cloud and other technologies, customers have more power today. With infinite resources available on multiple platforms, choices can be made based on nearly perfect information. And customers can share their purchase experience, the good, the bad and the ugly. Fair or unfair, their experience becomes part of your brand.

Customers expect a seamless, frictionless experience, and supply chain and logistics are the backbone of creating that great experience. So, I encourage all marketers and brand builders to join the discussion. Check out some of the best practices from Target and other retailers. Think about customer use cases, reverse engineer the process and identify ways you can create a better customer experience. And as a marketer, maximize your opportunities to leverage supply chain and logistics as a brand differentiator.

Find more information on how to tune into the discussion and others taking place at the Retail Summit here.

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