John Nash

As 2020 comes to a close, there are glimmers of hope for the retail industry that better days are ahead in 2021. First, the National Retail Federation reports a V-shaped recovery, with September marking the fourth straight month of year-over-year gains. Second, the U.S. Census Bureau, which monitors COVID-19 impact, announced that overall retail sales in September were up 1.9% seasonally adjusted from the previous month and up 5.4% year-over-year, more than triple and double the increases of August, respectively. While…

During the holiday season, shoppers often find themselves overwhelmed with brand marketing messages. The retail industry is undergoing transformational change in 2020. An increasingly digital-first customer journey became accelerated when retail outlets were forced to close their doors – at least temporarily, and several iconic retail brands filed for bankruptcy protection, with J. Crew, Brooks Brothers, Neiman Marcus, JC Penney and Pier 1 Imports among them. Approaching the tail end of 2020, many retailers are pinning…

Once viewed as a cost center, marketing has come full circle where for many organizations it is the top revenue-producing department. While the current health and economic crisis is causing anxiety for everyone, marketers included, the situation also provides some hints as to how marketing can best accelerate its path to the future. The current state of rapidly changing consumer behaviors coupled with accelerated use of digital and hybrid channels has exposed customer experience issues at the enterprise level – one that…

When it comes to customer experience, there is a clear disconnect between what consumers want and what brands are delivering. According to a recent Harris Poll survey, commissioned by RedPoint Global, 92 percent of marketers state that their company’s ability to deliver an exceptional customer experience (CX) is good or excellent. However, most consumers feel otherwise – with 73 percent reporting that brands struggle to meet their expectations. Consumers increasingly expect personalized interactions that are delivered in…

Predictions, by nature, are fickle. You’re expected to be right and if you’re wrong, people will never let you forget it. Fortunately, making predictions in the customer experience space is a bit easier because there is less variance involved.  Reading the tea leaves based on our work with some of the world’s leading and most innovative marketers, brands will increasingly strive to create more and better personalized experiences. The wave of hyper-personalization is still cresting, and predicting its breadth and depth is…