Though retailers don’t foresee the economy recovering in the next year or two, most are set to spend excess cash on analytics tools to better target existing customers with effective retention tactics, according to KPMG survey conducted from May until June among 100 senior retail industry executives.
Forty-seven percent of respondents plan to invest in back-end information technology this year, while only 29% listed geographic expansion, the next most popular spending area, as a place to invest cash this year.
Despite only 4% of executives expecting significant revenue increases, 72% reported an abundance of cash on hand, with just over two-thirds of respondents labeling analytics a core component of strategy and planning.
That retail and advertising efforts are evolving toward a more measurable model is nothing new, but an industry-wide investment in CRM should be a boon for analytics service agencies as well as bigger agency players rushing to add data capabilities to creative service models. Will social CRM play a starring role by this time next year, or will retailers look to old reliables like email and direct mail to bring offers to returning customers?
