Mobile, laptop, in-store, back to mobile… today’s customer journeys are certainly complicated. Customer engagement also occurs across email, websites, social channels, SMS, physical stores and chatbots – and the experience needs to be consistent across all of them.
In such a fast-moving and complex environment, retailers face several challenges when it comes to delivering experiences that will ultimately drive conversions and build long-term loyalty. Customer data is often siloed across disconnected systems and teams, for example, making it hard for retailers to successfully engage with the consumer as they move between different channels and touchpoints.
That fragmentation makes it really difficult to create a comprehensive customer profile
“That fragmentation makes it really difficult to create a comprehensive customer profile that reflects all the interactions the retailer has with them,” says Meredith Mitchell, industry marketing lead for retail and ecommerce at Braze, a leading customer engagement platform that allows marketers to creatively engage with customers in real time, across channels from one platform. “One of the biggest opportunities today is integrating data from all those sources to create a unified view of the customer.”
Data silos are a particularly acute problem for retailers with outdated technology. “That really hinders data integration efforts,” says Mitchell. “Trying to connect legacy systems to new technology is a challenge, so you have marketers that are trying to create a multi-channel strategy with systems that just aren’t able to compete at that level.”
This can result in customers receiving inconsistent or unwanted messaging on the wrong channels, which can “really damage” the brand, according to Mitchell. Indeed, 2024 research by VML found that 61% of shoppers want seamless communication across all sales channels.
“Customers have more shopping options today than ever before,” Mitchell explains. “When you deliver a scattered message, an inconsistent experience, it obviously hinders your conversion rate. But more than that, it creates a poor brand impression.”
Braze found that just 41% of retailers currently segment customers based on past behaviour and engagement, and only 32% sort customers based on preferred communication channels. This may partly explain why nearly half (47%) of retailers are extremely or very concerned that their messaging isn’t resonating with customers.
Given the time, effort and resources they put into building their brand and acquiring customers, few can therefore afford to then lose them due to engagement strategies that don’t resonate. “It’s far easier to win customers over with your brand experience from the beginning than to win them back from a negative experience,” says Mitchell. “But that is challenging if you don’t have the right technology in place.”
Tackling cart abandonment
The right technology is particularly critical for tackling cart abandonment – one of retail’s most persistent challenges. In the fourth quarter of 2024, approximately 76% of orders on mobile devices in the UK were not completed. During the same three-month period, 67% of carts created on computers were also abandoned.
Retailers have long used follow-up emails to attempt to recover some of these lost sales. But the timing of communications is critical, as delays often mean the messaging is no longer relevant to the customer. “Consumers can be fickle,” says Mitchell. “They’re going to change their minds, and you have to have that real-time data in order to stay relevant.”
A customer engagement platform can trigger a personalised push notification or email that reminds customers about the items in their cart – potentially together with a targeted offer – at just the right moment. “Being proactive can significantly reduce cart abandonment rates and encourage customers to make that final purchase, which is obviously every retailer’s goal,” says Mitchell.
The ability to reach out to customers in real-time has benefits beyond cart abandonment, however. Deeper insight into customer behaviour, and the tools to respond at speed, allows retailers to deliver precisely timed offers, recommendations and support at several critical decision points in the customer journey, enhancing customer interactions and ultimately driving conversions.
Timely reorder reminders can encourage repeat purchases, for example. Personalised loyalty incentives and special promotions – again delivered at the right time for the customer – can also enhance customer retention. “Personalisation is essential to drive customer loyalty and engagement,” Mitchell explains. “Consumers really expect brands to understand their needs and deliver content that’s relevant.”
By centralising customer data for a 360-degree view of shopping behaviour, a modern customer engagement platform provides retailers with everything they need to achieve this level of engagement. The ability to track and analyse performance can also help to identify opportunities for further enhancing engagement strategies.
“One of the big things I always recommend to our brands is to listen to your customers,” says Mitchell. “They’ll tell you what they want – they’re voting with their wallet – and you can use that information to further your relationship with them. In fact, the only way that you can really leverage that relationship building is by truly listening to them and then reacting in real-time.”
The value exchange
In exchange for highly relevant and personalised experiences, consumers are increasingly willing to share their data – provided they receive clear value in return. “They’re willing to give you their data if you will use it in a way that creates a better shopping journey,” says Mitchell.
They’re willing to give you their data if you will use it in a way that creates a better shopping journey
This data exchange is ultimately the foundation of a deeper relationship between retailers and customers. “Consumers are increasingly discerning about the brand experience, and if you use their data to help them get something that they want, that’s what they’re really looking for,” says Mitchell.
It’s not enough to just implement new tools and technologies that will allow you to leverage this data, however. To truly enhance the customer journey, retail leaders also need to ensure that teams know how to get the most from them. “We try to empower our brands through educational resources, webinars, workshops, because we know if they really understand how to utilise the data and the tool, it’ll only help them grow,” Mitchell explains.
In addition, retailers that encourage collaboration across teams, such as marketing, engineering and analytics, tend to see more improvement and consistency in the customer experience. Additionally, strong leadership plays an important role in unlocking insights from data and ensuring they are properly put to work. “The leadership team should understand the value of it,” says Mitchell. “The reality is leaders have to foster a culture of collaboration and empower their cross-functional teams to really dig in and learn how to leverage those insights.”
Delivering consistent experiences across the digital and physical realm is also important. But while the digital side of things can be standardised with the right tools and technologies, in-store experiences are still heavily reliant on frontline staff, which introduces more variability. “It’s really challenging because you have that human element,” says Mitchell. “You can control the digital experience in a lot of ways, but brand ethos is experienced across both the physical and the digital.”
Retailers need to get both elements right to win and retain customers. “The buzzword in America is ‘phygital,’ which is the blurring between the physical and the digital,” Mitchell explains. “The consumer doesn’t care that your data doesn’t cross both the physical and digital experience. They don’t care that you have different systems. What they see is your brand, and they expect to have the same experience whether it’s online or offline.”
Boosting engagement
Tonies, renowned for its innovative audio systems for children, recently collaborated with Braze to enhance customer engagement and drive growth. “Tonies really wanted to activate users at all stages of the customer lifecycle,” says Mitchell. “But they had a legacy system and they were struggling with that.”
Braze helped the company to revamp the onboarding process to foster immediate engagement, as well as target users with personalised messaging based on real-time behaviours. Using these targeted communications, Tonies is now able to nudge users from enjoying free content to exploring premium offerings, effectively increasing revenue streams.
We were able to create an opportunity for more conversion and an opportunity for the brand overall
Braze’s analytics capabilities also allow Tonies to gather other insights into user interactions, enabling the further refinement of engagement strategies and the introduction of new features that resonate with their audience. “This led to a 117% increase in the free-to-pay content conversion rate,” says Mitchell. “So by coming in and helping them figure out this problem, we were able to create an opportunity for more conversion and an opportunity for the brand overall.”
As customer expectations and technology continue to evolve, retailers will need to develop engagement strategies that can adapt to emerging trends and technologies. “One trend that is shaping the future of retail customer engagement is obviously the rise of AI, but really using that to drive personalisation,” says Mitchell. “Braze is able to do that and create opportunities across that omnichannel experience.”
The ultimate goal of almost every retailer is building enduring customer relationships that will drive long-term growth – and an engagement platform that delivers a unified view of the customer is clearly essential for achieving this. “Braze is committed to helping brands create those lasting relationships with their customers,” Mitchell concludes. “It’s about building that brand value, that brand loyalty, through personalisation and data-driven engagement.”
In other words, modern retail is more than just selling products: it’s about delivering seamless, personalised omnichannel experiences, no matter how complex customer journeys become.
For more information, visit braze.com
Mobile, laptop, in-store, back to mobile… today’s customer journeys are certainly complicated. Customer engagement also occurs across email, websites, social channels, SMS, physical stores and chatbots – and the experience needs to be consistent across all of them.
In such a fast-moving and complex environment, retailers face several challenges when it comes to delivering experiences that will ultimately drive conversions and build long-term loyalty. Customer data is often siloed across disconnected systems and teams, for example, making it hard for retailers to successfully engage with the consumer as they move between different channels and touchpoints.
That fragmentation makes it really difficult to create a comprehensive customer profile
