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Consumer behavior, JCPenney transformation, Home Depot's vision lead top most-read articles in 2024
Here are the top four most read articles in 2024.
December 23, 2024 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com
With just weeks before 2025 arrives, RetailCustomerExperience offers a quick hit list of most-read articles in 2024.
While AI kept storming forward in retail, insight on how brands are transforming the customer experience and how consumer behavior is changing fast were of top interest to readers.
Here are the top four most read articles in 2024. Click on the titles to read more.
No. 1: Top consumer behavior trends in 2024
Consumer behavior trends are top of mind for brands and retailers in the quest to drive sales, boost loyalty and deepen customer engagement.
But as history illustrates, consumer behavior is far from anything that is ever set in stone or even consistent year to year.
That's because of the wide, and expanding, range of factors that impact and change consumer behavior trends over a year, in just a few months or nearly immediately, as seen in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic sent the retail sector spinning.
Today's shopper is all about a connected interaction with brands and retailers — a personalized journey when browsing and buying and they don't mind if it takes longer than in the past. In fact, 80% of consumers prefer a good customer service experience that takes longer over a faster one, according to Kearney research.
No. 2: JCPenney CIO talks $1B customer experience strategy, building strong tech foundation
JCPenney, a retail brand founded in Kemmerer, Wyoming, in 1902, is spending more than $1 billion to enhance customer experiences across its 650-plus stores and e-commerce platform and is focused on everything from optimizing operations to improving digital capabilities.
The huge customer experience strategy comes on the heels of launching JCPenney Beauty and store refreshes. The retail titan is focused on upgrading its website as well as its mobile app, improving online search functionality and developing customized product and styling recommendations. The brand employs more than 50,000 associates.
The huge to-do task list is being led by Sharmeelee Bala who joined JCPenney as CIO in January 2022. Reporting to CEO Marc Rosen, she is responsible for the IT organization and global technology systems that power JCPenney's stores, operational centers and supply chain, and corporate functions.
No. 3: The 10 essential strengths of front-line retail employees
Today's front-line retail employee plays a critical role when it comes to retail customer experience, brand loyalty and customer satisfaction whether it's in the physical store, online or via a social media shopping interaction.
Competence in ringing up sales, stacking inventory and organizing displays was once the main essential strengths of a retail associate but the job requires many more essential strengths given the changing retail environment dynamics.
In simple terms, the front-line retail employee is a brand ambassador on every shopping front and must have much more than three essential strengths. This article included a list of 10 top essential strengths of front-line retail employees.
No. 4: Home Depot's tech fellow shares computer vision strategy
As consumers increasingly return to physical retail stores to shop and browse, The Home Depot is busy making sure there's inventory on the shelves and that store associates have technology that helps prioritize work tasks and well as prep for the biggest retail season of the year — the upcoming holiday season sale.
To learn how The Home Depot is deploying technology, specifically computer vision, RetailCustomerExperience interviewed Hari Ramamurthy, technology fellow, in an email interview. The Home Depot technology team built technology called Sidekick, in-house developed app, to eliminate the gap between supply and demand not just for the busiest shopping time of the year but year-round.
Ramamurthy explains how the home improvement retailer is tapping computer vision to prep the retailer's stores.
About Judy Mottl
