With just weeks before 2025 approaches, RetailCustomerExperience offers a rapid hit compilation of most-read articles in 2024.
Readers were particularly interested in the ways in which brands are transforming the customer experience and the rapid changes in consumer behavior, despite the rapid advancement of AI in retail.
The following are the four most frequently viewed publications in 2024. Click on the titles to read more.
No. 1: Top consumer behavior trends in 2024
Consumer behavior trends are top of mind for brands and retailers in the quest to drive sales, boost loyalty and deepen customer engagement.
However, as history has shown, consumer behavior is not a fixed or consistent phenomenon from year to year.
This is due to the vast and ever-evolving array of factors that influence and alter consumer behavior trends over the course of a year, a few months, or almost instantaneously, as evidenced by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which sent the retail sector into a tailspin.
Today’s consumer is all about a connected interaction with brands and retailers — a personalized journey when perusing and purchasing and they don’t mind if it takes longer than in the past. In fact, 80% of consumers prefer a good customer service experience that takes longer over a faster one, according to Kearney research.
No. 2: The Chief Information Officer of JCPenney discusses the establishment of a robust technological foundation and the $1 billion customer experience strategy.
JCPenney, a retail brand established in 1902 in Kemmerer, Wyoming, is investing over $1 billion to improve customer experiences across its 650-plus stores and e-commerce platform. The company is concentrating on a variety of initiatives, including the optimization of operations and the enhancement of digital capabilities.
Following the introduction of JCPenney Beauty and store refreshes, the company has implemented a substantial customer experience strategy. The retail titan is focused on upgrading its website as well as its mobile app, improving online search functionality and developing customized product and styling recommendations. More than 50,000 employees are employed by the organization.
Sharmeelee Bala, who assumed the role of CIO at JCPenney in January 2022, is overseeing the extensive to-do list. She is accountable for the IT organization and global technology systems that support JCPenney’s stores, operational centers, supply chain, and corporate functions, and she reports to CEO Marc Rosen.
No. 3: The ten indispensable attributes of retail personnel who work in the front lines
Whether in a physical store, online, or through a social media purchasing interaction, the front-line retail employee of today is essential for the retail customer experience, brand loyalty, and customer satisfaction.
Competence in tallying up sales, piling inventory and organizing displays was once the primary essential strengths of a retail associate but the position requires many more essential strengths given the changing retail environment dynamics.
In layman’s terms, the front-line retail employee is a brand ambassador on every purchasing front and must possess significantly more than the three essential strengths. The article contained a list of the ten most critical strengths of front-line retail employees.
No. 4: The technical fellow at Home Depot discloses his computer vision strategy.
The Home Depot is ensuring that the shelves are stocked and that store associates have access to technology that will help them prioritize work tasks as consumers return to physical retail stores to shop and browse. Additionally, the company is preparing for the upcoming holiday season sale, which is the largest retail event of the year.
RetailCustomerExperience conducted an email interview with Hari Ramamurthy, a technology fellow, to ascertain the manner in which The Home Depot is implementing technology, specifically computer vision. The Home Depot technology team built technology dubbed Sidekick, in-house developed app, to eradicate the disparity between supply and demand not just for the busiest purchasing time of the year but year-round.
Ramamurthy explains how the home improvement retailer is leveraging computer vision to plan the retailer’s stores.