The holiday season might still be months away, but America's retailers are setting themselves up now to profit from the end-of-the-year shopping season.The old retail model for the important holiday selling season locking down products and promotions by July and pulling the trigger on Black Friday was built for an era where retailers had greater influence in directing a consumers path to purchase.But the path has changed. The promotional window is opening wider, stretching the holiday selling season. Speed and convenience are also competing with price among time-starved consumers. As a result, consumers are disrupting the traditional retail model, and theyre moving from browsing to buying much faster than ever before and on their own terms.According to the data-driven marketing companies of Alliance Data, here are four things smart retailers can do to make the holiday season successful.1. Fine-tune your customer segmentation and increase personalizationFor the first time in history, retailers are faced with five generations of shoppers. If retailers dont meet the needs of individual customers, those shoppers will go somewhere else. And every generation wants something different. For example, Alliance Data card services Generational Perspectives Study found that 60% of younger generations want personalized offers through their mobile devices, compared with 21% of older generations.2. Create a digital bridge to customers through one-to-one messagingDigital tools are as much a part of the holiday shopping experience today as bustling crowds. A survey by data-driven marketing company Epsilon revealed that more than 46% of consumers look online and buy in-store, making it important that brands develop ongoing conversations with consumers across their devices. Epsilon also found that 59% of consumers report using loyalty rewards when holiday shopping, so brands should up the ante by reaching loyalty members with reward and redemption reminders via online advertising, mobile, and email to make the shopping experience more convenient.3. Test new technologies and make sure your website is designed for the customerBefore the increased holiday traffic, test new technologies such as chatbots and artificial intelligence that can help remove purchase barriers for customers. In addition, use journey mapping sessions and other quantitative and qualitative data to identify the top drivers that are most enjoyable and frustrating to customers. Use this to inform fixes for cart abandonment, conversion, and navigation issues.4. Identify the appropriate media mix to maximize ROIAccording to global loyalty program leader LoyaltyOne, more than two-thirds of consumers strongly agree that companies, retailers, or brands send them too much irrelevant communication. So, retailers should use test scenarios now to narrow down their channels of choice and help identify the appropriate media mix to maximize ROI and inform their overall approach during high-volume holiday traffic moments.While the holidays will always be a time for consumers to create memories with family and friends, for retailers, the goal should be to turn customer interactions into memorable moments. A few smart actions now will optimize the in-store and online channel experience, allowing customers to quickly navigate your brand and product, and seamlessly get through checkout and on their way.Learn more about planning for this years holiday retail season here.This post is sponsored by Alliance Data. | Content provided and written by Alliance Data.Join the conversation about this story
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