The Outside View: How to Best Engage the Demanding Consumer

For many brick-and-mortar retailers, foot traffic is a primary concern, considering its ongoing midsingle-digit decline. Once a customer crosses the lease line, the priority becomes how best to engage with them. For a retailer pursuing an omnichannel approach, engagement is equally, if not more, important. Ensuring that the needs of customers are met efficiently and seamlessly are paramount. Fulfilling that objective looks a lot different than it used to. A growing number of Millennials, for example — 53 percent of whom without kids only go to a mall twice a year — choose to purchase online and have their purchases delivered to their home. A whopping 97 percent of Gen Z customers do all their research online but often prefer to come into the store to try on or view their chosen products (usually already reserved and/or purchased online) to avoid dealing with returns. No matter the demographic, shopping is not the experience it once was. Selling today must adopt the four Fs — Fast, Fashionable, Feasible and Favored — to ensure conversion. Engaging customers requires different skills, assets and approach. And it’s more essential than it ever was. In all likelihood, a customer has made their decisions prior to entering a physical

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