Best Practices For Bridging Retail's Physical-Digital Gap

More than 90 percent of sales still conclude in the physical store according to a new study conducted by Retail Systems Research (RSR). Yet, sales associates have little to no visibility into the customers’ buying history and pre-purchase activities when they set foot in the store. Retailers revealed the biggest problem is with the technology they currently have in place. Overwhelmingly the majority of retailers surveyed agree it’s crucial they unify the online and in-store experience, but not all know how to get to that point.

We had a chance to chat with NetSuite’s General Manager of Global Retail, Branden Jenkins, to get his take on how retailers can provide that seamless shopping experience to their customers.

1. What do you feel is holding retailers back from providing a seamless customer experience across channels?

It is easy for retailers to get caught in the cycle of solving problems channel by channel with different point solutions for each. They may have a bold new idea to enhance a specific channel but no good way to extend that experience to the other channels. This results in a disjointed customer experience and an expensive IT infrastructure to maintain. Instead, retailers should flip that approach and first develop a clear blueprint for the ultimate customer experience that is supported in a unified way by technology.

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