The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG have noted the lowest sales figures since 1995 last May. In a year plagued with closures and CVAs, this only raises the alarm for further decline in the UK high street in the coming months.
Brands and retailers are desperately looking for a solution, but stubbornly ignoring the most critical factor: what customers want. Instead of exploring their customers as individuals (not rough marketing-made segments) they keep holding on to outdated personalisation tactics that are clearly not good enough.
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Raj Badarinath, VP Ecosystems at RichRelevance, comments:
“It is disappointing to see retail sales falling year on year in the UK. It's a tricky time for UK retailers – as they battle on multiple fronts: monopolies like Amazon, ankle biters such as DVNBs (Digitally Native Vertical Brands) and more.
UK consumers today are short on time and inundated with the problem of choice – too much content, product, offers and more. Retailers should reduce decision fatigue by extending personalization at every digital touchpoint and to every individual using AI, which provides the technical ability to do so for the first time. Retailers realize that the UK consumer is fickle and easily wooed, so techniques like hyper-personalization ensure a seamless, memorable customer experience, to increase repeat sales and improve overall lifetime value.”
