The rapid innovation we’ve seen in AI in the last year is exciting and changing the landscape. SAP Emarsys is using AI to innovate both the art and the science of marketing – meaning both content and data. Marketers at retail brandsare empowered to anticipate shoppers’ next moves and engage them with relevant, in-the-moment content and offers – boosting personalization and unlocking revenue. The efficiency that AI and automation brings to retailers allows them to focus on revenue-driving activities.

Shoppers expect brands to recognize them across every device and for their experience to be personalized and unique to them. We make it possible for marketers to bring in their data – from across the enterprise – and make it actionable. Actionable data, industry-specific automations,AI-powered insights, and a rich partner ecosystem sets SAP Emarsys apart.

Marketers' worlds are getting more and more complex. They are constantly being challenged to do more with less—keeping up with new platforms, new channels, and their customers’ changing preferences and expectations. Our continuous product enhancements are aimed to simplify a marketers world and find the efficiencies needed to become truly customer obsessed! For example, TikTok has been one of the fastest growing social media platforms, with 1.06 billion active users, and we know marketers are looking for way to expand their reach to this channel. We recently announced the integration of TikTok for Digital Ads to the SAP Emarsys platform. This new feature allows digital marketers to extend their social reach, and enables the creation, synchronization, and expansion of audiences to reach their customers where they are on TikTok.

Marketers are under pressure right now to quickly pivot and mitigate the impact cost-of-living increases are having on how consumers are spending their money. In reaction, we often see brands turn to discounts and incentives to keep their customers coming back. However, an interesting trend we saw in the recently released SAP Emarsys 2023 Consumer Loyalty Index, is that the reality is incentives are having less of an impact than ever before! In fact, Incentivized Loyalty dropped by 20% this year. Rather than relying on often fleeting Incentivized Loyalty, brandsshould focus on offering personalized and excellent customer experiences – ultimately building True Loyalty.

Every retailer wants and is chasing a true 360-degree picture of the customer. But getting actionable data to inform campaigns is easier said than done.SAP Emarsys does this through an integrated data layer that removes silos and consolidates data from across the enterprise to give workers a complete understanding of the consumer. For brands who are just starting their journey, step one is to evaluate your team’s KPIs and define the data you need.

Now, Puma is thinking in a completely customer-centric way by integrating its referral data with holistic customer profiles and outbound marketing campaigns. This way, they can capture more contactable customers, reward them for their referrals, and segment them based on their referral activity.

One brand that embodies excellent customer experience is Reformation. By understanding how people used its original store, Reformation was able to recreate these experiences online, meeting customers where they are and speaking to them in the way they want to be spoken to. And with the right technology, Reformation has empowered its marketers to manage these experiences with ease.

My responsibility as a CEO is to light up the people around me, I aim to bring an energy that allows the expertise of our team shine. By doing so, I believe we can deliver solutions that truly make a difference for our customers.

SAP Emarsys research shows 70% of people want to feel like a brand ‘gets them’. While I don’t have a crystal ball to know what trend, technology or channel the next priority for consumers and marketers will be, I feel confident in saying that as well as omnichannel becoming increasingly important, customer engagement will also continue to prioritize value exchange. For retailers that means making the most of those crucial moments when customers really connect with a brand.