Introduction
Retail leaders are entering a period of rapid change.
Economic uncertainty, rising customer expectations, and accelerating technology adoption are forcing organizations to rethink how they invest in marketing, customer experience, and digital capabilities. At the same time, competition for customer loyalty has intensified as switching between brands becomes easier than ever.
To better understand how retail organizations are responding to these pressures, Concord conducted a survey of 150 retail and consumer durables industry leaders.
The respondents represent a broad cross-section of the industry, including leaders from specialty retail, grocery, big box, discount retail, and online commerce. Most hold director or senior leadership roles, with organizations typically operating between $101M and $500M in annual revenue and employing 500 to 5,000 people.
The goal of this research was to understand how retail leaders are:
•
Adjusting strategy in response to economic conditions
•
Prioritizing marketing and technology investments
•
Applying AI and automation within their organizations
•
Responding to evolving customer expectations and behavior
The findings reveal a clear pattern: retail leaders are not retreating in response to uncertainty. Instead, they are concentrating investments on the areas most likely to drive growth, customer loyalty, and operational efficiency.
Across every insight in this report, one theme consistently emerged:
Retail growth going forward will depend less on acquiring more customers—and more on retaining, engaging, and increasing the value of existing ones.
The following insights highlight where retail leaders are focusing their efforts—and where the greatest opportunities and risks lie for the year ahead.
The Loyalty Growth Playbook
1
Powered by FlippingBook