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Talking With: Ricardo Belmar on the big CX buzz in 2019

It’s been a year since Retail Customer Experience chatted with Ricardo Belmar, senior director of global enterprise marketing at Infovista, about trends, buzzwords and advancements in retail customer experience technology. So we decided it was time to catch up.

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August 29, 2019 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com

It's been a year since Retail Customer Experience chatted with Ricardo Belmar, senior director of global enterprise marketing at Infovista, about trends, buzz words and advancements in retail customer experience technology.

Back then the focus was all about how the hyped retail apocalypse has proved to be an exaggeration. We also discussed the arrival of augmented reality.

Today, he says, all the talk is on artificial intelligence. But, as Belmar shared, this year is also the year for retailers to get back to the basics of exceptional customer experience and begin truly focusing on data security.
 

Here's an edited version of the catch-up interview. (For additional Belmar insights on the NRF show check out his three-part series).

Retail Customer Experience: We are always catching up at the annual NRF show (you've been attending for eight years) and it's a great place to get your read on what's happening or not happening in retail customer experience. What was your take on the technology showcased and the chatter on the floor?
Belmar: In some ways there is always something that stands out. At the very first one I went to, NRF had set up a big area for "store of the future" and the company I worked for also had a banner proclaiming the same phrase, so we got a lot of traffic and insight on what was coming. Then that got overshadowed by omnichannel. This year was all about AI, everywhere — user cases in play and everyone is trying to work AI into their own story, and it will play out stronger next year.

Retail Customer Experience: So, in the early days of NRF it was all about the "store of the future" and obviously we're there with Amazon Go and lots of innovative retail taking place. What's another hot topic this year?
Belmar: A big part of the business is data and retailers had been in a little bit of denial on data. Everything you do in the store generates data in some way. Before, the biggest problem retailers had (with regard to data) was a lack to staff to collect and gather data, and now its how and when to act on it. Retailers are also trying to connect the dots between a great experience and new technologies, and lots gets overlooked when looking at shiny new technologies and you have to look at the infrastructure.

Retail Customer Experience:  We always tend to focus on what retailers are doing with CX. But what is something you're seeing that retailers aren't doing as part of the CX strategy?
Belmar: One thing that never seems to get enough attention is data security — likely because it's scary for many retailers.

Retail Customer Experience: Since the start of the year there have just been countless announcements from big and small retailers about delivery initiatives, specifically buy-online, pickup in-store (BOPIS), curbside pickup, same-day delivery. The list goes on. What's your take on where that's fitting  into CX these days?
Belmar: I did see a few booths at this year's NRF focusing on ship-to-store and faster delivery. I think it's still a struggle for many, especially on the operational side. A big part of that struggle is achieving 100% inventory accuracy and inventory management. When you're talking BOPIS, shouldn't inventory management be the first thing you look at to fulfill that strategy? Many times when I ask retailers about inventory management I get a blank stare.

Retail Customer Experience: All the new technologies and all the to-dos with customer experience is more than mind-numbing and mind-boggling. What would you say is the biggest pain point retailers are experiencing right now with CX?
Belmar: It's the one around store associates and what's being done in terms of training and better enabling them to serve the customer. Lots of retailers (are) rolling out mobile POS and mobile devices for the associate, but consistency is still a big issue. What worked in a small retail environment test doesn't end up working well in the scale-out aspect. Stores calling the help desk saying something isn't working, something is too slow, not reliable, or "can't use it when I need it" and no (customer) really has a lot of tolerance for that kind of failure.

About Judy Mottl

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Judy Mottl is editor of Retail Customer Experience and Digital Signage Today. She has decades of experience as a reporter, writer and editor covering technology and business for top media including AOL, InformationWeek, InternetNews and Food Truck Operator.

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