By Amy Hatch, Editor, The Future of Commerce
When I was a freshman in college, way back before the Internet was born, I sat in an auditorium with 300 other 18-year-olds and first heard the theory of the global village.
Soon, our professor predicted, we would be interconnected in ways we couldn’t yet anticipate, but the end result would be a society in which information itself became a commodity. I remember looking at my neighbor and raising my eyebrows, a smirk on my face, and thinking, “Ha! That’s crazy talk.”
More years later than I care to count, those words come back to me on a daily basis and never before have we been more empowered by the free—and sometimes overwhelming—flow of information. This new global village, connected by social networks and emancipated from traditional marketing tactics, is challenging every paradigm.
Engaging your customer has never been harder, or more crucial. I know you know that already, but just in case you are harboring any residual skepticism about the importance of customer engagement, I offer you these facts from the “State of The American Consumer” for 2014, part of an ongoing study of American consumers from 2008 to the present, conducted by Gallup:
- Customers that are fully engaged represent an average 23 percent premium in terms of share of wallet, profitability, revenue and relationship growth over the average customer.
- Companies that engage both consumers and employees see a 240 percent boost in performance related outcomes.
- In the consumer electronics industry, fully engaged shoppers spend an average of $373 per shopping trip, while actively disengaged customers spend $289 per trip.
- In hospitality industry, fully engaged hotel guests spend 46 percent more annually than their disengaged counterparts.
- Omni-channel matters: Consumers want to see the brand promise in every aspect of their shopping journey, from in-store, online or customer service, and that brand alignment predicts share of wallet.
The infographic below lays out the ways brands can be successful in this hyper-connected, digital global village. Are you ready to wake up? Because the future of commerce is happening right now.
