Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 45 seconds

Consumers Still Flip Channels Despite Digital Popularity

Even as digital shopping continues to occupy a major chunk of retail business, marketing professionals are grappling with technology challenges and still paying fair mind to offline efforts.

Marketing executives have broadly acknowledged the importance of marketing technology, but admittedly are struggling with its implementation. According to a report from CMO Council and SAP Hybris, 67% of senior marketers say marketing technologies were “very important, if not essential,” to marketing’s effectiveness and performance.

However, when asked if the technologies were reaching beyond “the walls of marketing” and lining up with other functional areas, like sales and support, marketers say they had not reached “synchronicity” with other stakeholders. A mere 3% say technology has aligned “very well,” while 54% say they are “working on it,” according to the report.

Further, data from PWC’s Total Retail Survey 2016 illustrates just how prolific online retail activity is--or will be--in the near future. This highlights online marketing and technology’s importance.

According to the survey, 34% of consumers report they think their mobile phone will eventually become their primary purchasing tool and 67% say either reading or writing online reviews and comments influences online shopping habits. Further, 54% of shoppers say they buy products online at least monthly.

“As digital disruption continues to upend retail and global consumers are more empowered than ever, retailers are struggling to remain relevant," it reads. "The speed of technology adoption has raised the stakes for both retailers and their consumer packaged goods partners.”

However, the CMO Council report points out that as abundant as online shopping is, consumers have not completely turned the digital corner. In fact, many marketing professionals reported paying close attention to traditional, non-digital outlets.

“Customers aren’t content to stay in a single lane, and marketers know it," the report reads. "While headlines love to predict that customers are shifting from a wholly traditional engagement pattern to a totally digital one, marketers are aware that the reality is far more complex. Nearly half (47%) of respondents indicate that their customers engage across a multitude of channels, but when there is a problem, they pick up the phone and want immediate human attention.”

Naturally, the bottom line stands to be bolstered by well-executed marketing technologies; however, reality does not always manifest from the theory, some say. A quarter of marketers say they think marketing technologies accelerated the rate they engage with customers and reduce costs, but only 16% say marketing technology’s “greatest impact” has been driving revenue growth.

“The answer is not as simple as ramping up technology faster or even automating more of the engagement process,” the report reads. “In reality, marketing must look at the critical intersection when people, process and platform all intersect. This is the point at which marketing becomes relevant—where it drives value for both company and customer, and when technology stops being the difference and experience becomes the competitive differentiator.”

Even as marketers are committed to delivering top notch experiences both online and offline, gaps remain, according to the CMO Council report. “While praise for preparation and individual campaign execution remains high, marketers have yet to truly reach a state of delivering rich, contextual experiences to customers," it reads. "While marketers are more clearly defining what the customer experience is and should be, challenges across the organization threaten to derail even the best-laid plans."

Read 3341 times
Rate this item
(0 votes)

Visit other PMG Sites:

PMG360 is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal data we collect from our subscribers/agents/customers/exhibitors and sponsors. On May 25th, the European's GDPR policy will be enforced. Nothing is changing about your current settings or how your information is processed, however, we have made a few changes. We have updated our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy to make it easier for you to understand what information we collect, how and why we collect it.