opinion
Retail strategy
Creating that holiday feeling for
shoppers throughout the year
By: Jessica Bryant, Senior Director, Retail & Hospitality Marketing, NCR – www.ncr.com
We’ve now officially entered the holiday
shopping season, which has expanded
from the traditional Black Friday to
include Small Business Saturday,
Cyber Monday, and Tech Tuesday. This
concentrated and sometimes frenzied
shopping sprint is projected to bring in
up to $682 billion this year, according to
the National Retail Federation (NRF) – an
increase of 4% over 2016. But the same
NRF report shows that holiday shopping
begins much earlier than November.
While only 33% may have purchased
items in October or earlier, more than
18 KIOSK solutions
half were conducting research and
planning during that time.
With this in mind, it’s to retailers’
advantage to employ tools and
methodologies to help them not only
grab a piece of the holiday shopping pie,
but create relationships with shoppers
that foster year-round engagement and
loyalty. Strong relationships between
brand and consumer are key to staying
top of mind no matter what the shopping
occasion may be. A few examples of how
to achieve this:
Think beyond the sale
Today’s shopper looks for more
from retailers than just products –
experiences are the new currency of
shopper engagement and loyalty. In the
store, events such as demos, classes,