The 2018 Digital Trends in Retail report explores the effects of digital disruption in the sector, providing guidance to organizations that want to stay ahead of the curve.
It highlights the key digital trends, challenges and opportunities which retailers need to be aware of during 2018, covering topics ranging from customer experience and mobile to data-driven marketing and artificial intelligence.
The research, conducted by Econsultancy in partnership with Adobe, is based on a sample of almost 600 retail respondents who were among around 13,000 digital professionals taking part in the eighth annual Digital Trends survey.
The following sections are featured in the report:
- Retailers focus on omnichannel
- The use of data to enhance CX
- Investment is the recipe for retail success
- Actionable tips to help future-proof your retail business
Findings include:
- Retailers prioritize omnichannel approach to help them differentiate through customer experience. Content and experience management and omnichannel marketing are the top priorities for retailers in 2018. More than half of respondents indicate that each of these areas is a top-three priority and, in the case of omnichannel marketing, a quarter (25%) of all retailers surveyed make this their number one priority for the year ahead.
- Companies recognize the need to master data capabilities in order to adopt a more personalized and scalable approach to marketing. While, in hindsight, only 9% of retailers saw data-driven marketing as the most exciting opportunity for 2017, more than double that percentage (19%) regard it as the foremost opportunity for the year ahead.
- Focus on real-time personalization to enhance the customer experience. Looking ahead three years, the most exciting prospect for retailers is delivering personalized experiences in real time (cited by 37% of respondents).
- Digital marketing budgets are on the increase, but investment in digital skills and investment is being neglected. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of respondents plan to increase digital marketing spending during 2018, a significantly higher percentage than the average across all sectors. As reported in the main 2018 Digital Trends report, around two-thirds (67%) of all companies surveyed are planning to boost their digital marketing budgets this year.
Econsultancy’s Digital Intelligence Briefings, sponsored by Adobe, look at some of the most important trends affecting the marketing landscape. You can access the other reports in this series here.