Beyond credit cards and eager children, customers are bringing something even more important with them while shopping this holiday season: big expectations for retail brands. This year, both the digital and in-store brand experience must work together as one.
In our company’s 2017 research study, we asked over 400 U.S. individuals about their expectations of brands, experiences and marketing at large.
Three key themes emerged:
• Customers prefer the world at their fingertips
• Quality engagement is making or breaking brands
• A brand’s footprint should span multiple touchpoints
Each day, the holiday countdown dwindles a little more. Shopping, planning, hosting — customers have a lot to check off their lists. What can retail brands do to proactively meet their heightened expectations?
Staff Beyond The Storefront
Ramping up in-store efforts will certainly help increase sales during major holidays. But adequately staffing digital support teams will help those sales remain steady after the holidays have ended.
Brands need to ensure customer service representatives and social media managers are supported and encouraged to align with common goals. During the holiday months, it’s best to increase staffing of social media managers and take additional measures (such as utilizing chatbots) to help when regular staff is enjoying time off with family.