Tara Daly

Sr. Director of Product Marketing, Loop

To make the most of peak season, retailers need to not only embrace returns, but improve the returns experience for their customers. Now more than ever, shoppers expect a streamlined, easy to use returns experience as part of the shopper’s journey. And often, they will gladly pay for premium returns offerings, like the ability to schedule an at-home pickup for a return, for instance. When retailers treat the exchange as another valuable touchpoint with their customers, they stand to retain revenue, increase customer loyalty, and even earn upsell revenue on gift exchanges during peak season especially. 

Tara Daly, Sr. Director of Product Marketing, Loop

Tina Williams

VP of Client Success, Ware2Go

Shoppers are going to be looking for bargains this year, and 84% of retailers are planning more aggressive promotions to attract deal hunters. To ensure a profitable holiday season in light of all this discounting, merchants need to be working on their demand forecasts now and revisiting those forecasts regularly. Measuring performance against their demand forecasts regularly will allow retailers to ride the wave of consumer demand this year and adjust their promotional schedules accordingly. Retailers should also consider non-promotional strategies to attract customers, such as offering more diverse delivery options. Today’s consumers expect a variety of shipping options from scheduled delivery times to in-store pickup. Offering and advertising those options can give retailers competitive advantage in a crowded market.

Tina Williams, VP of Client Success, Ware2Go

Niki Hall

Chief Marketing Officer, Contentsquare

We know very clearly what hurts a retailer on their ecommerce channels: difficult navigation on mobile, disjointed checkout processes, and content design that favors quantity over quality; too much of anything on a website will push people to leave. Data also shows that people spent most of their time on product and category pages so aligning inventory and content and having very attuned recommendation engines is a priority area for retailers. When the CX is intuitive and clean, you not only make a customer happy in the moment, but that moment serves as a building block for trust and longevity. They'll keep coming back because they had a great experience, which they'll share, becoming a micro-ambassador of your brand. For retailers, this is the holy grail of customer engagement, and it starts and ends with the experience.

Niki Hall, Chief Marketing Officer, Contentsquare

Noah Hoffman

VP, North American Surface Transportation, CH Robinson

This holiday season, rethink the supply chain for your loss leaders. You count on them to attract customers and boost sales, but inflation has taken a toll on your ability to discount. If your high-volume seasonal items cost more this year, you can still find savings upstream and downstream. For purchase orders you can hold a day and consolidate on a set schedule, you could potentially save 10-15% on your transportation. Or your products could come into a different port or multiple ports closer to your fulfillment centers, cutting travel distance and cost once they’re put on a rail car or truck.

Noah Hoffman, VP, North American Surface Transportation, CH Robinson

John Collins

This holiday season, brands that leverage data and AI to better understand customers — and in turn create better experiences for them — will be the most successful. According to our recent consumer research, 95% of shoppers would prefer to talk to AI rather than wait 15 minutes for a human. This isn’t just about convenience; when you have the right data, you can also provide deeper personalization on digital channels, including recommendations that drive increased sales. There’s a massive opportunity for brands to put ‘AI elves’ to work generating better outcomes for both their customer and their bottom lines.

John Collins, Interim CEO, LivePerson

Ben Flaccus

Holiday 2023 presents several challenges for retail: Consumers are saddled with higher non-discretionary costs, more consumer debt and elevated interest rates. While inflation is slowing, prices continue to remain higher year-over-year.

To address these headwinds, retailers must take 3 critical steps to win the season:

1. Prioritize value-driven messaging and implement strategic, targeted promotions aimed at attracting budget-conscious customers. Adoption of AI-driven content generation and decisioning will allow savvy retailers to deliver more targeted messaging, increasing the relevance of promotional content and offers.
   
   
2. Meet consumers where they are, acknowledging the continued importance of both in-store as well as online shopping preferences. A new generation of robust and engaging shoppable ad experiences now allows consumers to explore products, receive recommendations, compare offers, and convert, allowing for a more seamless e-commerce experience, all within the ad unit.
   
   
3. Start now.  With holiday shopping expected to start earlier than ever, it’s crucial that retailers get an early lead, securing share of wallet before consumers reach the constraints of their holiday budgets.

Ben Flaccus, Managing Director, Retail & CPG Commerce, Undertone 

Audrey Hogan

To meet customer demand, control costs, and boost employee satisfaction during peak season, Workforce Planning Software is critical. It allows retailers to utilize advanced tools for precise demand forecasting and efficient communication, and implement AI-powered scheduling for swift shift-swapping. Demand-Optimized Scheduling lets you customize employee schedules based on real-time analytics to avoid overstaffing and reduce labor costs. Multi-Location Staffing Balance empowers your team to optimize staffing across locations by facilitating temporary transfers. Leverage Part-Time Labor by hiring seasonal staff and providing quality training. Recruiting and Retention are key - offer competitive benefits, training, and recognition to attract and retain talent, and involve your team in problem-solving and initiatives. Invest in technology, embrace data, and maintain an engaged workforce to exceed customer expectations and enhance profitability both during and between peak seasons.

Audrey Hogan, Chief Operating Officer, TimeForge

Rob Schuurman

Director of Analytics and Principal Economist, Prevedere

As we head into peak holiday season, the majority of consumers, particularly millennials, will modify their spending habits due to the resumption of student loan repayments and rising interest rates creating higher interest obligations. In light of this, retailers should focus holiday planning on four priority areas: brand awareness, promotional activity, online presence, and budget-friendly price point alternatives. By identifying their core demographic and tailoring their promotional plans to accommodate the shifting behaviors, retailers can still have a successful holiday season.

Danielle Marceau, Director of Analytics and Principal Economist, Prevedere

Brian Cardona

President, AtData

Sylvain Mansier

VP, Strategy & General Manager, Retailer Incentives & Loyalty, Inmar

Consumers today have heightened expectations for personalized experiences across all brand interactions. Retailers stand to benefit significantly from the delivery of effective personalization, as it translates into enhanced engagement, ultimately driving increased spending levels. While first-party data serves as a potent catalyst for fostering shopper engagement, it is imperative to recognize that data alone does not suffice. To harness the full potential of this data-driven approach, it is necessary to channel this data into sophisticated analytics engines capable of automating the formulation of optimized strategies. These engines should harness the power of artificial intelligence to extract valuable insights from vast data sets, uncovering subtle patterns that might otherwise remain hidden. Importantly, these data-driven insights should seamlessly translate into actionable marketing tactics. Achieving this level of integration between analytics and workflow automation tools is pivotal for streamlining execution.

Sylvain Mansier, VP, Strategy & General Manager, Retailer Incentives & Loyalty, Inmar

Brian Cardona

President, AtData

It’s evident that while first-party data has the potential to propel retail’s growth, it remains underutilized due to inconsistent collection and hygiene methods, siloed information, and not enough focus on data governance. Instead, too much emphasis is placed on quantity versus quality. The focus needs a shift from mere data accumulation to strategic data completion and resolution to lay the foundation for actionable insights. When used effectively, first-party data doesn't just inform decisions— it drives them. It's the conduit for improving cross-sell recommendations, preventing fraudulent behavior, and delivering a personalized omnichannel experience. With the right strategy inclusive of hygiene, validation, and email address intelligence, behaviors and preferences can be extrapolated and used to meet evolving consumer demands and drive sustainable growth.

Brian Cardona, President, AtData

Janine Flaccavento

EVP, Vertical Lead, Merkle

In the attention economy, there’s nothing more important than understanding your shopper - how they interact with your brand across multiple stores or retailers; how they engage with your advertising; how much they engage your loyalty program, etc. This level of understanding can’t happen in siloed organizations with multiple databases and technology.

A shopper expects you to know them and use what you know to deliver exceptional experiences. But while 80% of retailers think they are delivering on a unique experience, only 8% of customers believe they are getting a great experience. This expectation gap is what can be closed with a connected data strategy that aims to put the customer at the center of every experience.

Janine Flaccavento, EVP, Vertical Lead, Merkle

Scott Conine

CEO, TrueData

The omnichannel retail world creates unique challenges when collecting and using 1P data. Retailers must bridge the gap between multiple screens, online and offline purchases, and third-party partners. This ecosystem creates the potential for significant data fragmentation. Retail leaders must come up with creative solutions that propel business growth. Maximizing the potential of their 1P data sets is crucial to success. A lot of retailers collect 1P data but there are often gaps in the data. I always encourage retailers to look at the gaps in their data sets and recommend creating complete customer profiles. Layering an independent identity solution on top of their 1P data will ensure retailers are set up for long-term growth.

Scott Conine, CEO, TrueData

Barry Padgett

First-party data is poised to be the driving force behind retail's growth. However, it's concerning that many retailers are still missing the mark in terms of harnessing its full potential. First-party data isn't just about gathering information; it's about turning that data into actionable insights. In today's highly competitive landscape, personalized experiences are the name of the game, and first-party data is the key to unlocking this. When collected, unified and structured effectively, it provides a deep understanding of customer preferences, behaviors, and pain points. Armed with this knowledge, retailers can put their customers at the center of the experience by tailoring their marketing, product offerings, and customer service to meet individual needs.

The real power of first-party data lies in its ability to generate actionable insights. Retailers must move beyond mere data accumulation and focus on extracting meaningful information. Armed with this knowledge, they can put their customers at the center of the experience to decipher buying patterns, predict future trends, and identify customer segments to enhance personalization, optimize inventory, and refine marketing efforts. In essence, first-party data is the fuel that can power retail's growth engine. Retailers need to invest in unifying, managing, and making their data actionable to unravel its true potential and stay competitive in an increasingly data-driven industry.

Barry Padgett, Chief Executive Officer, Amperity

Nicole Kivel

Retailers are understandably keen to chase the advertising budget that seems destined for their properties, but to succeed they have to learn how to act as media owners. This means collecting and presenting first-party data in a unified and consistent way - common methods, common metrics, common language. Brands will need a different level of insight than when they were mere suppliers, and many will look for retailers to provide audiences with some kind of unique value, such as the in-store piece.

 Success lies in building solutions that provide advertisers with a one-stop capability for building and launching campaigns that include omnichannel inventory, the ability to see live campaigns, and standardized measurement tools. With these fundamentals in place, first-party data can truly deliver better consumer experiences, greater customer loyalty, and increased vendor and retailer sales and bottom line.

Nicole Kivel, Managing Director, Northern Europe, Criteo

Kayla Broussard

We’re seeing an uptick in first-party data, especially in collaboration with brands and consumer packaged goods (CPG) partners. As consumers interact with physical and digital touchpoints, they generate valuable data that can be used to improve all areas of their business. The key is creating a single consumer view that aggregates the data across all consumer touchpoints. Retailers who get this right, can even look to capitalize on this as a revenue source. Recently, we helped a retailer that’s heavily embraced phygital technology build their business model on this foundation. This retailer is now successfully collecting and selling meaningful data to its brands and retail partners, so everyone can have a better understanding of consumer behavior and product interest. 

Kayla Broussard, US CTO of Consumer & Travel and Distinguished Engineer, Kyndryl 

Michael Gabay

The growth opportunity in in-store shopper data is so great that retailers cannot afford to leave it untapped. As computer vision AI applications are leveraged more and more to turn traditional stores into smart stores and facilitate automation, they also enable retailers to collect and process anonymized shopper data on a new scale. This is incredibly valuable. We already see in-store data powering better stock management to avoid waste and stockouts and protect against supply chain disruptions. The store of the future will have more effective planograms informed by shoppers' footfall and product interactions, more accurate product offerings, personalized promotions, and event-based marketing that earn customer loyalty. That is why computer vision AI is at the core of retail innovation.

Michael Gabay, CEO and Co-Founder, Trigo