The retailer’s guide to Valentine’s Day

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Gifts have long since been a consumer favourite for Valentine’s Day celebrations. It’s a way for consumers to show their loved one’s admiration and gratitude on a love-filled day, yet as the global supply chain disruption lingers into 2022, consumers are becoming more reluctant in purchasing presents for this shopping event. 

The repercussion of items not arriving on time during the Christmas period has caused consumers to yearn for more transparency from retailers. And with Valentine’s Day as the next annual shopping event on the calendar, now is the time for retailers to rectify consumer uncertainty. 

Encouragingly, Emarsys’ Power to the Marketer research found 46 per cent of retailers are turning to more web personalised technologies this year which will play a major role in customer experience, CRM, and customer retention. Retailers want more time to get to know their customers as people and by breaking down siloed data and having it collected in one place, retailers are one step closer to forming 1:1 relationships.

So, as we approach Valentine’s Day, it brings an opportunity for retailers to plan their marketing strategy around getting more personal with their customers than ever before.  

How retailers are getting personal

Storing data from all used channels in one platform is becoming the norm for retail marketers. Collective data is enabling retailers to analyse consumer behaviour to predict customers’ future actions accurately based on their past behaviours. This is especially essential in peak shopping periods, such as Valentine’s Day. 

Unsurprisingly, Emarsys’ Valentine’s Day research from last year reveals lingerie to be in the top purchases for Valentine’s Day gifts. In this circumstance, a retailer like Bendon Lingerie can and is utilising their collective data to analyse the past behaviours of their consumers. They are looking back on previous purchases made around the same time last year to optimise their communication methods to further encourage the same shopping behaviour this year. 

Without siloed data, retailers are gaining valuable insights which allow personalisation to be at the centre of customer engagement approaches. Analysing customer behaviour can help reduce retailer uncertainty by using surveys and social data that essentially allows retailers to give back to the consumer. 

Having insight into customer behaviour gives Bendon Lingerie the advantage of knowing its customers and offering their customers the experiences they’re looking for when shopping for gifts. That said, past Emarsys research found personalised services, excellent customer experiences from beginning to end, and enabling more customer service options to be in the top four ways retailers can help consumers shop. 

Taking the time to identify shopping behaviours lessens the stress for customers buying a loved one a gift this Valentine’s Day. Personalisation is about making the shopping experience more enjoyable and ensuring the purchase meets the consumers wants and needs at a time of uncertainty.