While delivering Customer Experience (CX) remains the top priority for retailers during peak trading, they may risk leaving future revenue opportunities on the table by not effectively capturing customer data, the latest research from insights-led customer engagement platform, MoEngage, reveals.
Original research of over 530+ senior UK marketers and ecommerce leaders by MoEngage reveals that delivering CX, either digitally or in an omnichannel capacity, topped retailers’ key priorities during Christmas peak trading for a third (33%). This was followed by 15% who said keeping the cost of customer acquisition (CAC) down during Peak was a focus and ensuring sufficient fulfilment capacity in their logistics networks to deliver online orders during peak trading days (14%). Meanwhile a further 12% said balancing Return on Investment (ROI) on marketing spend when compared to sales revenues generated during Christmas trading was a key focus.
Yet, while keeping CAC down and maximising ROI on marketing dollar featured strongly in retailers’ key priorities for Peak, just 10% planned to build out first-party data from new shoppers who come on-site during Christmas or Black Friday trading. This means they risk losing out on the data needed to grow their marketable lists, leaving future engagement and revenue opportunities on the table.
Jason Smith, VP at MoEngage, commented: “Of course, Peak performance is mission-critical for retailers, representing the most important trading period for driving revenue. Last year the majority of retailers we polled saw an up to 40% uptick in digital sales compared to usual trading over Christmas. And while retailers will welcome the Christmas boost, the key to capitalising on the Golden Quarter lies in taking a longer-term view.
“Turning browsers into buyers, and then buyers into loyal customers and repeat purchasers, relies on capturing data to inform ongoing insights-led communications to drive the customer journey forwards and create long-term loyalty,” he added.
However, while last year 59% of retailers saw an increase in average website revenues of up to 40% higher than usual during peak trading, with a third (32%) saying they saw between 40 – 60% uptick in revenues during peak. Yet, 94% of retailers polled by MoEngage were concerned about the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on consumer demand during Peak this year. And a further 55% said that the cost-of-living crisis will have the biggest impact on their ecommerce operations in the next two years, with a further 18% saying the impact on customer demand due to inflation would have a defining role when it came to their ecommerce operations.
