ENGAGEMENT-CENTRICENGAGEMENT-CENTRIC
RETAILINGRETAILING
There are numerous reasons for retailers to actively engage their customers, but the biggest one is also
the most obvious: the number of people walking through stores using their mobile devices. (You may have
bumped into them during the holiday shopping season—literally.) Every measurement points to rapidly increasing usage of smart mobile devices: according to a survey conducted by ForeSee Results, between 2009
and 2010 the percentage of consumers who indicated they had used their mobile phones to shop jumped
from 24% to 33%.
That’s impressive growth, and heartening to retailers that have moved aggressively into mobile commerce.
But talk about your double-edged swords: the ubiquity of smart handheld devices “mobilizes” the information overload that has become a key retail challenge. Retailers that want to break through the noise to get a
customer’s attention must compete with all the exciting offerings on the mobile screen, in addition to those
Enhancing Customer Engagement
SMART RETAILERS ARE LEVERAGING SHOPPERS’ OWN ENTHUSIASM, WHETHER FOR SOCIAL GAMING
OR CREATING “HAUL” VIDEOS, TO ENRICH THEIR CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
on the TV, PC and tablet screens. And in terms of influence, retailers are one voice among the expanded
circles of social network friends, experts and fashionistas—all of whose opinions are also easily accessible
via consumers’ mobile devices.
Target uses customer analytics
to personalize its mobile coupon
offers, and provides one “smart”
2D barcode that can be used for
any or all of the discounts.
