Category: Research

CommerceNext Forrester Holiday Shipping 2021 Research

Holiday Shipping: How to Market When Inventory is Unpredictable

Katja Teichmann November 18, 2021

The 2021 Holiday season is finally here—with supply chain issues impacting holiday shipping, retailers are being forced to adapt their usual tactics. To help you prepare, we partnered with Forrester’s lead retail analyst, Sucharita, Kodali, to survey 80+ retailers, learning about their expectations and strategies for the 2021 holiday retail season. We also recorded a podcast earlier this week where Sucharita discusses the findings. Below are the key themes that arose from the study: Cyber Meh-day The majority of retailers reported they will promote either the same amount or less during promotional periods like Cyber 5 and the month of December. Island of

CommerceNext Internship Highlights: What I Learned This Summer With CommerceNext

Amelia Poling August 20, 2021

Nearing the end of their internship experiences, Vanessa Dang and Amelia Poling share their experiences working with the CommerceNext Team as marketing interns for the Summer of 2021. VANESSA’S INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE With a background in entertainment marketing while pursuing an undergraduate degree in Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, I knew I had wanted to dip my toes into the marketing world for a long time. Thus, when looking for an internship this summer, I had focused on three key points: mentorship, independence and flexibility. Lucky for me, CommerceNext was able to provide all of the above and more. As a start-up

AI & AR: The New “It” Factor For Retail Customer Experience

Katja Teichmann April 8, 2021

In the last year, pretty much everyone started purchasing from the comfort and safety of home. Now, shoppers expect an absolutely seamless customer experience—if your brand doesn’t meet their standards, they can shop elsewhere. In response, retailers are bringing their A game technology-wise. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR) are a couple of the primary emerging technologies that continually evolve online shopping into a more engaging experience for customers. The History of AI/AR in Retail AI and AR may be big buzzwords in retail and ecommerce lately, but they are by no means new technologies for the industry. Sectors like home

Using Search to Improve Ecommerce and Own the Customer Journey

Katja Teichmann March 8, 2021

Owning the customer journey is key to cultivating loyalty and retention, yet it seems to be difficult for brands who are competing with marketplaces and third-party retailers to keep customers on their websites. In our latest webinar Improving Ecommerce and Owning the Customer Journey, Lee Zucker, Head of CPG and DTC Industries at Yext, presented on the new customer journey shaped by Covid-19. Afterwards, he was joined by Nick Antoniades, Vice President, CRM and Analytics at Ashley Stewart, Vivian Chang, VP Growth at Clorox DTC and Stacey Eddy, Director, eCommerce at KEEN Footwear for a panel discussion. Read the recap below and watch

Create Meaningful Shopper Experiences With Digital Innovations

Katja Teichmann March 1, 2021

Brands are always looking to create meaningful connections with people. But, it can be a complicated endeavor—it requires understanding intent in the moment, personalized navigation, search and recommendations or offers. In our latest webinar What Makes Creating Meaningful Experiences for Your Shoppers So Hard?, Gaetan Gachet, Chief Strategy Officer at Algolia presented on what shoppers are looking for and how to improve their experience using AI. His presentation was followed by a panel with Chris Hardisty, SVP Ecommerce at Clarks, Kristin Smith, SVP Digital at Hanna Andersson and Alex Richardson, Chief Technology and Digital Officer at Frederic Fekkai Brands. Read the full webinar’s

Cyber Week And The New Customer Experience

Katja Teichmann December 14, 2020

We have seen time and time again how Covid-19 has impacted retail in 2020. As marketers, we shifted our strategies and adapted to new circumstances. Preparing for Cyber Week was no different, as Covid-19 limited foot traffic in stores, drove up ecommerce demand which in turn caused shipping delays and generally impacted people’s spending habits. Additionally, companies had to tailor their customer experiences to meet both Covid-19 regulations and the changing needs of their customers. In our latest webinar, “Cyber Week Recap: Lessons Learned and Advice for 2021” CommerceNext Co-Founder Veronika Sonsev was joined by Jason Goldberg (Chief Commerce Strategy Officer, Publicis Communications),

Consumers Are Open To New Brands: What This Means For The Consumer Landscape And Marketers

Jennifer Novick July 13, 2020

Over the last three months, the consumer landscape has changed dramatically as people have taken up new ways to learn, work, entertain themselves, procure essentials and non-essentials, connect with others, and increase wellness while at home. Panic buying behavior that was reactionary has become more subdued as stores innovate to meet today’s climate. Sentiment in the U.S. is mixed, with many consumers unsure of the future and others picking up discretionary spending. The “new normal” is being referred to as the “next normal,” but it’s all becoming more “normal.” Every brand is dealing with a consumer who is in a very new state

Are You Prioritizing Affiliate In Your Marketing Strategy? You Should Be.

Matthew Gilbert December 9, 2019

Despite it being the height of the holiday shopping season, this is a challenging time for many retailers. Many are encumbered by debt loads, overstored in the face of declining mall traffic and struggling to maintain margins in a highly competitive environment. To make matters more challenging, over that past several years there has been a discernible shift in the retail marketing landscape—a shift in power from marketer to consumer—and if you’re a marketer who wants to thrive in this relationship dynamic, you will need to adapt sooner rather than later. With the consumer calling the shots, it has become incumbent upon you

How Retailers And Direct to Consumer Brands Are Investing In Marketing This Holiday Season

Elisabeth Anne Boniface November 27, 2019

The holiday shopping season is upon us. Last year, we saw a staggering 19% increase in ecommerce sales compared to the previous year, for a total of $22.5 billion in sales according to the National Retail Federation. This year, the Digital Commerce 360 projected an estimated 3.8% increase in sales over last year. In anticipation of this busy holiday period, traditional retailers and direct to consumer brands turn to their marketing teams to focus on customer experience and customer acquisition to elevate their holiday sales. To understand how these holiday trends correlate with marketing investments for 2019, we partnered with Oracle to survey

How to Use Customer Service to Grow Sales this Holiday

Travis Cross November 26, 2019

Support requests increase from customers by 65% during Black Friday/Cyber Monday. And 74.5% of large merchants are “concerned” or “very concerned” about customer service during the holidays. It was their number two concern overall. It can overwhelm your customer support, but it’s also an opportunity to use support interactions to promote sales & specials that you’re having! Number of support requests during the holiday season from Gorgias customers. 20 retailers told us how they handled the Black Friday / Cyber Monday and we’re sharing 4 tips that you can use with your support team for the holiday season. Promote Your Holiday Specials in

Category: Research

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