Tips to jump-start strategies for the 2017 holiday season

Digitally-savvy customers will be contributing to a high volume of holiday traffic — and they have high expectations for retailers.



Seventy-six percent of U.S. consumers expect their interactions with a brand to be easy, according to “The Holiday in July 2017 Holiday Retail Outlook” report from Alliance Data This will be a mantra this holiday season, regardless of the channel shoppers use to connect with their favorite retailers.



Many brands are off to a good start in making this happen, as they have spent the last six months preparing for the changing retail landscape — a move that includes creating operational efficiencies and developing more personalized messaging for targeted audiences. Now they must focus on shifts in consumer expectations — including shoppers’ increased access to technology — if they want to grab their attention during the holidays.



Here are some tips from the report on how to connect with shoppers — and claim their wallet share — throughout the holiday shopping season:



-Get in sync with your customers. Cross-channel experiences that focus on the customer have become table stakes. Speed and convenience now compete with price as priorities for the time-starved shopper. Brands need to uncover what their customers really need and want, beyond basic promotions, to make their holiday shopping experience a good one. This includes creating frictionless experiences, from optimizing in-store and online shopping experiences to offering time-saving services, such as in-store pickup and easy gifting options.



-Build a data bridge to your customers. With 80% of shoppers buying online and shipping gifts to the recipient; 51% reading reviews in-store, and 51% buying online and picking up in-stores, digital services are not only the future of retail. They will rule the holiday shopping season, as well. Brands need to develop digital methods of interacting with the consumer that complement, not distract from, their shopping experience.



-Meet the demand for greater personalization. When it comes to the consumer's journey, personalization is key. The more individualized a shopping experience is for consumers, the better impression they will have of the brand. Retailers are encouraged to dive deeper into profile data sets, including life stage, demographic, and location data — factors that can reveal changing customer needs and determine what is most important to them.



-Connect on a deeper level. Even during busy seasons in retail, it is important for brands to emphasize loyalty. Customers frequent brands that make authentic connections and hold values that are similar to their own. As a result, retailers are encouraged to drive loyalty through simple messaging, a strong value proposition and the adoption of more digital tools — including mobile apps that deliver easy access to information and services such as mobile payments.



-Cut through the noise. Due to the increasing volume of brand communications, consumers are overloaded with options for where, how, and when to shop. To cut through competitive noise and customer distractions, retailers need to re-think what sets them apart and provides value. This includes relying on alternative data sources, such as prescriptive indicators, channel preferences, psychographic and demographic attributes, transactional and browsing history. Armed with this information, retailers can identify the appropriate media mix to maximize ROI, and even create self-service tools like chatbots to find meaningful gifts, build wish lists, and shop by personality type.