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09.09.09 Successful Retailers Focused On CRM  By Mike Sachoff Better performing retailers are more likely to use CRM as more than a marketing initiative, according to a new report from RSR Research. While almost every retail survey respondent reported marketing's extensive role in CRM, the report found that the most successful retailers place greater value on involvement across the organization, from store and ecommerce to supply chain and finance. "Not only do better performing retailers - what RSR calls Retail Winners - engage more of their company in CRM initiatives, they also do more to track the performance of customer programs and the overall health of their customer relationships," says Nikki Baird, RSR Managing Partner and co-author of the report. "In today's economic environment, retailers have to do everything they can to drive sales. Our research found that keeping up with shifting consumer behavior and both attracting and retaining customers are some of retailers' biggest challenges for customer programs today. A majority (89%) of respondents indicated that building deeper relationships with existing customers is key to success in the current economy and 75 percent agree that personalized communications are critical to winning and keeping customers. In addition, 66 percent know who their best shoppers are compared to 0nly 44 percent in 2008 and 37 percent say they have a strong, single owner of the customer experience vs. 27 percent in 2008.
Other highlights from the report include: Only 14% of Winners believe product data is more important, vs. 22% of all others 86% of Winners believe personalized communications are critical vs. 69% of all others 93% of Winners believe building deeper relationships is key to success vs. 84% of all others 71% of Winners say they know who their best customers are vs. 60% overall. "Unfortunately, 'CRM' has come to mean something negative within many retailers today," says Steve Rowen, Managing Partner at RSR and co-author of the report. "But the amount of customer data that is available and the speed at which consumer behavior is shifting means that without some kind of automation to track and analyze it, retailers are going to be lost." About the Author: Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news. |
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