Keeping one step ahead


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again - that shirt is on the house”. A strategy of surprise and delight, backed-up by solid data, financial modelling and real-time POS and ERP integration, is just one interesting way that things are heading.


WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL BE THE GREATEST CHALLENGES FACING RETAILERS IN THE FUTURE? One challenge that’s been in the spotlight recently is data management. With GDPR coming into play next year, there’s more pressure than ever for retailers to figure out how to use customer data effectively, creating personalised experiences without overstepping the bounds of customer privacy or comfort. Because that’s the biggest issue – customers are concerned about what retailers do with their data, but at the same time, they want increasingly personalised experiences. The personalisation-privacy paradox is very real. Another key challenge we’re seeing retailers


face is that of delivering joined-up customer experiences as channels multiply and tech develops. As technology changes, so do consumer expectations of how they’ll interact with your brand. AI and machine-learning, augmented and virtual reality, connected homes and devices – they’re all hot topics at marketing events, in industry publications and so on. But it’s not just marketers that are talking; consumer publications – newspapers, review sites, blogs – are all teeming with reviews and recommendations for connecting your home, car and other devices. This sort of tech hasn’t gained widespread


acceptance yet, but it’s on its way. And it’s constantly changing too. That will be the biggest challenge for retailers – not just figuring out appropriate, effective ways to implement these new technologies, but future- proofing their efforts.


HOW ARE YOU AS A COMPANY HELPING RETAILERS TO MEET THOSE CHALLENGES? A lot of retailers - and not just retailers, by the way - start by building a cloud-based data warehouse, evaluating expensive new systems and middleware, and planning ahead to new mobile apps, wearables, augmented reality,


and a bunch of other technology-oriented goals. Our first and most important question to them, is “why? what for?”. Quite often, they simply haven’t thought that far ahead - hoping that technology is the answer. It’s not. As a company, we’ve developed an extensive


‘Discovery’ process that firmly puts the cart back behind the horse, by helping businesses to identify the compelling use-cases and experiences that will deliver a sustainable uplift in profit. Only then should they look for the best, cheapest and fastest way to deliver that vision. We take a structured, pragmatic and “human-first” approach to customer loyalty, and our clients really appreciate that honesty.


WHAT TYPE OF CUSTOMERS DO YOU WORK WITH IN THE RETAIL SECTOR AND HOW DO YOU HELP THEM? One of our key retail customers is a B2B wholesaler. Loyalty schemes are less common in the B2B world, so it’s been an interesting journey, working with them to create a programme that serves business customers really well. They’ve seen great results - their loyalty members have 15% higher order values than non-members. Our client services team works quite closely


with them to execute the programmeme - running promotions, sending highly personalised emails to loyalty members and so on. We’re currently in the phase of helping them gather member feedback and optimize the programme. We also have customers in fashion retail,


petrochemical, hospitality, telecommunications and insurance. While some of those sectors may not be thought of as ‘retail’ in the traditional context of a high-street, their challenges are actually quite similar - to differentiate their offering through more personalised marketing, sales and service. Fundamentally, it all boils down to acquiring


the right data, using it wisely (knowing ‘when to sell and when to serve’) and spotting genuine - timely - opportunities to promote sales and customer advocacy. A primary focus at HTK is the pursuit of advocacy, which we see as the ultimate expression of customer loyalty (and the fastest way to a sustainable increase


Centre:mk’s AW17 Live event


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