Introduction

Understanding the latest consumer and market trends

UNDERSTANDING THE LATEST CONSUMER AND MARKET TRENDS IS KEY TO BUILDING WORKABLE AND AFFORDABLE STRATEGIES FOR PERSONALISATION AND CUSTOMER-CENTRIC MARKETING IN THE DELIVERY AND POST-PURCHASE PHASES.

This is particularly true for the younger generations - Millennials and Gen Z - because their behaviours break the once predictable evolution of their elders, and because these cohorts are the strongest influencers on emerging shopping habits.

The imperative to personalise across the entire purchasing journey and into the delivery and post-purchase phases, has been building for some years now, but so far progress has been slow. A recent McKinsey survey of senior marketing leaders finds that only 15% of CMOs believe their company is on the right track with personalisation.

There are a number of reasons for this, not least that companies have responded in different ways to the post-purchase opportunity, either finding it too hard, too expensive, or because they feel that what they offer now is good enough. What is interesting about these different responses and motivations is that they are all part of the decision-making process that any brand must go through in determining what is the right way ahead for them, how best they can engage and re- engage their customers, as well as building their business case.

And to add to their challenges, they must also personalise comprehensively in every channel, not just in outbound email communications, but in apps triggered by GPS, in store to enable product try-out and try-on, and on digital assistants that can curate relevant personal information to make the whole experience more convenient.

Fortunately, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought a startling range of new opportunities to enable these changes, to introduce hyper-personalisation to generate benefits that span cost to serve, quality of service and competitive differentiation.

Research among the media, analysts and industry pundits reveals general advice that now more than ever, brands must personalise across the entire customer journey but particularly in last mile logistics, the delivery and post-purchase phases. In addition, they must consider making more dramatic changes to meet the needs of Millennials and Gen Z consumers.

THIS REPORT USES ORIGINAL CONSUMER RESEARCH TO DEMONSTRATE THAT RETAILERS AND BRANDS SHOULD URGENTLY REVISIT THEIR PERSONALISATION STRATEGIES AND CONSIDER ACCELERATING ADOPTION OF NEW TECHNIQUES AND SOFTWARE.