Why Retailers Should Focus on Value, Personalized Service and the Local Market

2. Personal service needs to be the bottom line. Personal service is now an expectation. Online retailers, specifically Amazon.com, have changed consumer behavior with suggested selling based on purchase history. Consumers, liking this convenient benefit, have shown they're willing to part with highly personal information for it. For brick-and-mortar retailers, this means the customer service paradigm under which they've operated forever needs to be rethought. Shopper data is critical, whether for online or brick-and-mortar retailers, so some sort of database tool is required.

Loyalty programs are a good place to start … for rethinking, that is. Most people belong to several loyalty programs and yet have no idea why. They see no value to being part of the program. Loyalty programs should be easy to use (hint: forget the key tag and go mobile) and provide ongoing and relevant benefits.

3. Local relevance trumps national presence. Retail, like politics, is a local issue, and becoming more so. Millennials are a diverse group; retailers taking a one-size approach with millennials will alienate them. Marketing must also feel homegrown and genuine. Insincerity will be called out loudly via social media, and forgiveness will come slowly, if at all. The corollary here is that what other shoppers say about your brand is far more important than what you say about it. While that's always been true, access to peer reviews is now the first stop for consumers looking for information.

First-mover advantage is still a possibility in many segments, as middle-market retailers struggle with the changes and how to address them. Speed is critical, and while mistakes are likely — even necessary — it's best to be open and honest when they're made. Transparency is here, like it or not, and the truth will come out. It's always best to attack head on than wait for the wave to wash over you. Just ask Target.