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Retail Customer Journey

The secret to retail success: How retailers find their strong suit to enhance brand experiences

12/15/2022

by Kaylynn Sanchez

What makes a retailer a household name?

For retailers, becoming a household name doesn’t happen overnight. Retail companies spend time, money, and resources honing their growth strategies to align with their mission and the latest consumer trends, including increased omnichannel customer experiences and more frequent autonomous fulfillment.

Consumers have so many retailers available to choose from. So, how can you stand out in such a competitive market? Like any company looking to achieve its business goals, a good place to start is with strategic planning to identify a mission, a vision, and a path forward. Those movements often include new systems implementation with the technology to support these business goals. And you can’t forget about the employees, the heart of a company, that may experience changes in their day-to-day as the company shifts and require change management to adopt new business processes and systems.

While the path to becoming a retail industry leader is long and includes lots of strategic planning, supporting technology, and change management, the definition of success may vary from retailer to retailer. By focusing on your unique offering, the definition of success, and your consumer, you can create a name customers will share with others. What do you want consumers to think of you as a retailer and how does that tie into what they want as consumers? I have a feeling this is what Amazon, Target, and H-E-B have asked themselves many times as they have been able to become household names by standing out in an ever-changing industry.

Did Alexa create autonomous fulfillment?

When you hear the word Amazon, “Alexa” may be the next word that comes to your mind. “Instant gratification” may be another phrase that you associate with the brand, especially when considering the one-click buying process. Whether it’s Alexa answering a question or Amazon’s mobile app managing our monthly subscription order, everything with the brand feels fast and easy. This is autonomous fulfillment and delivery of both knowledge and product from Amazon. But how did Amazon achieve this?

Starting over a decade ago, Amazon started to develop strategies to predict customers’ product needs before they asked for them. This started with an overhaul of their supply chain process to support quick delivery services and automate as many steps in the process as possible. Fast forward to today and consumers can now create product subscriptions one time at their preferred delivery frequency and Amazon delivers in accurate time windows without us having to lift a finger again.

A decade of process improvement is no small feat but starting with an initial project to upgrade your supply chain processes does not have to take that long. Building a strong strategic supply chain plan is a solid place to start. Beginning a new vendor selection process for robust supply chain software is a smart investment to prepare for long-term goals.

What brands do you follow on social media?

Have you heard of the Instagram account Target Does It Again? With over 1.4M Instagram followers, two die-hard Target customers started this account to showcase their favorite Target finds from clothes to home décor. And you can’t forget the official Target Style account with over 2.3M followers that showcases specific fashion and style with Target products on social media. These are just two ways Target holds a strong social media presence. This new-ish method of speaking to customers on social media applications and via mobile devices was both planned and organic since 1999 when they introduced their website and in 2009 when they launched their mobile application. The result: Target had $19.7M in eCommerce sales in 2021, making them one of the top eCommerce retailers.

How did Target plan for something that feels very organic every time I see a #targetfind on TikTok? With the advancement of mobile devices, Target built a robust mobile application to mirror its already very well-built website. Aligning their brand experiences across devices allows customers to seamlessly start a shopping trip on a desktop browser and move to a mobile application for checkout putting the customer in control of their shopping trip. When social media allowed for links to be attached to posts, Target was ahead of the game as content creators linked their website that would then track user shopping history and able to then “target” customers both on social media and via email.

This is just one way to engage customers in a way they engage with the world today. Retailers can start this engagement by focusing on one technology-friendly way to speak directly to customers. That could include starting a social media presence, creating very easy-to-use mobile applications, or making personalized recommendations to customers in a weekly email.

We all have a favorite grocery store

What makes a grocery store your favorite? Personally, knowing what to expect is one of my top priorities. When I visit Texas-based H-E-B, I know I will see a variety of product offerings and a smiling Sales Associate available for my questions. My other top priority for recommending H-E-B more than any other grocery store is knowing I’m financially supporting a business that is in the business of making their customers’ lives better. This includes offering products at multiple price points, supporting employees’ continued education, donating to local communities, and committing to sustainability as they expand stores.

Brand transparency is a newer retail trend, but H-E-B has been doing this for years. As they work to improve the communities they operate in, they have been very transparent about what they offer customers both inside and outside of their stores. Transparency may sound easy in theory, but it requires getting on the same page as customers, setting very clear goals that include customers in mind, and then measuring progress towards these goals to then relay this information to customers in the right format. Real-time data leads to accurate customer insights, robust reporting, and building key performance indicators that can provide guidance for decision-making. Overall, these changes with data and reporting can ensure a retailer is staying in tune with their customers and communicating back to them company decisions that directly impact them.

Ready to make a name for your retail company through brand experiences?

The most recognizable brands all started in the same place: assessing and planning. Assess where your retail operations are today and ask yourself where they can be in five and ten years. What investments can be made today that will reap benefits for years to come? Analyze from multiple lenses: people, processes, and systems. Combine these small steps to formulate a plan unique to your retail goals. Sendero can help in any step of the process as we have for clients before.

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