It’s digital crunchtime for retailers – here’s how they can navigate it

After a difficult 18 months, it finally feels as though there’s room for retailers and marketers to reflect on how their businesses are faring. 

The assessment of this will depend very much on their online presence. While there were peaks and troughs throughout last quarter, the main trend from our Q2 sales data continued to be that the pandemic has solidified the shift to online retail. Compared to the same period in 2019, Q2 2021 online sales were up a staggering +64%.

That means one thing for retailers: crunch-time. The businesses without a satisfactory online offering must stop musing about digital transformations and make it a reality. Despite exiting lockdown slightly boosting in-store sales numbers, it’s clear that online shopping is here to stay.  

The race to close the digital gap

Consumers don’t just want to buy products online; they want a good experience while they do it. We’ve all seen how Amazon has set the bar for quick and low cost delivery.

Multichannel retailers that previously relied on their physical presence to compensate for a poor digital offering can no longer do so. We may be emerging from the pandemic, but the  gap between these businesses and their online competitors is growing wider everyday. The time to close it is running out.  

For me, integrating digital into your business strategy means rethinking how you build relationships with your customers. This spans all the way from unlocking new acquisition channels to driving repeat purchases and nurturing brand advocacy throughout the customer lifecycle.  

Putting the customer at the centre of your strategy

To survive the coming year, retailers must plug into a modern and effective technology stack. 

At Mention Me, we believe that referral should sit at the heart of your marketing strategy.  If you can get to the stage where customers are actively sharing your brand with friends, you know you’re doing something right. That’s something we’re helping hundreds of retailers achieve, through getting to know their customers and subsequently engaging with them in ways that resonate.

Referral is a powerful insight tool in its own right. Discovering who is buying from you and why; how they share that with their friends; and how to build seamless, impactful customer experiences across channels.

Retailers can’t afford to waste another year talking about digital transformations and innovative tech. If they want to be here next year, the time to act is now.