Customer Data

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the gradual shift from brick-and-mortar shopping to e-commerce in ways that were previously unimaginable. Seemingly overnight, consumer habits have changed across generations — and for many, there’s no going back. Even for those companies that were well-positioned for this shift, or that quickly pivoted to accommodate new surges in online…

Companies that closed or filed for bankruptcy in recent months couldn’t have predicted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But for many retailers that were already struggling to engage customers, the crisis was simply the final straw. Iconic retailers such as Lord & Taylor and Pier 1 Imports shuttered, while those that pivoted toward an…

The November partnership between Target and Ulta Beauty exemplifies how retail disruption in 2020 forced brands, particularly brands in niche segments, to rethink go-to-market strategies in the wake of fewer in-store visits, declining sales, and consumers’ increasing preferences for contactless interactions. Like many retailers, Ulta was hit with store closures, experiencing a 27 percent year-over-year…

Kroger Co. said in a statement Friday that personal data, including Social Security numbers of some of its pharmacy and clinic customers, may have been stolen in the hack of a third-party vendor’s file-transfer service. The third-party vendor, Accellion, was used by Kroger as well as many other companies for secure third-party file transfers. Accellion notified Kroger that…

From small local boutiques to iconic department stores, no corner of the retail sector has been untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the separation between winners and losers has never been so stark. For every mall chain declaring bankruptcy, there’s a competitor that’s quickly responded to the new normal and is reaping the revenue benefits.…

The consumer experience has never been more vital for the success of your brand. If you’ve mastered selling through your channel partners, now you have a new challenge ahead: shifting to direct-to-consumer (D-to-C), with the global pandemic accelerating this transformation. Product-based marketing doesn’t work anymore. Consumers are no longer thinking in terms of just buying…

No industry sector has experienced a year quite like 2020. For retailers, the pandemic caused massive upheaval to in-store shopping, supply chains, marketing budgets, and more. Retailers that relied heavily on brick-and-mortar sales were forced into e-commerce seemingly overnight. But the truth is the pandemic arrived at a time when retailers were already grappling with…

2020 might be over on the calendar, but there’s still much we’re learning and adjusting to as we begin 2021. The pandemic forced retailers into a digital acceleration unlike anything we’ve seen before. Add to that drastic changes in consumer behavior. Needless to say, as we begin this new year, there are many trends retail…

With smart data use a key driver of growth in recent years, increasing customer privacy protection presents a challenge for online retailers. However, it also creates an opportunity to be proactive when it comes to data management and make a streamlined approach to privacy a business asset. The result of an ongoing collaboration between a…

As we begin a new year, it's a good time to take a look at what lies ahead for retailers and online merchants. While COVID-19 brought many retailers to the breaking point in 2020, it also accelerated retail technology trends that had already been infiltrating the industry over the years. Here are some of the…