NewWaytoEngage

Time is everyone's scarcest resource. People take the same number of shopping trips but now spend less time on each.

Our job is to find ways to get the consumer to the product they want, at a value they expect as quickly as possible. Then we must let them check out and/ or gift it without slowing them down.

easy @ibmcommerce creating a seamless user experience and customer satisfaction while providing 100% secure transactions

in short A2. Save your customers time!

Efficiency is key. Getting customers what they want- fast!

More Suggestions. I never know what to buy for a 16year old?

@Camille_Brandon Exactly, we are seeing this in how customers are choosing which brick & mortar locations to visit as well.

Find ways to be more personal and express appreciation

Personally I'd love to see more price guarantees. It's always disappointing to feel like to made a good purchase and then someone else price it even lower.

@TheGrok They want to go to places that are easy to get to on their way to and from home and office and their regular "runs"

smarter shopping recommendations as well "you may also like..."

I would love to see personalized recommendations based on the recipient

@RetailProSales Absolutely. Would love to see more personalized products. 3D printing will enable this in years to come.

Personalization is always key, along with easy "one click" purchase options.

@TheGrok @RetailProSales So true. We should just all buy 3D printers and make our own gifts.

@AmyTennison I also suggest retailers create "holiday policies" that can deal with that issue and returns and make sure customers see it every where they shop.

@AmyTennison- agreed! and it's no fun to get to the store and the price has already changed

@AmyTennison I wish I was that talented :-) I'll have to count on my kids to create them.

I would like to see something more innovative than the lame "retargeting stuff" but more tailored to me

@Camille_Brandon And even if they didn't refund difference but give people credit for other purchases.

idea: discounts on bundles of personalized recommendations based on your recipients

A3. This really depends on the retailer and their customer base. The one thing for certain is that their customers will be there and they will be communicating.

A3. Will the brands be prepared to have conversations in real time? From a promotional perspective, powerful imagery and video are beginning to dominate.

@TheGrok I agree this very much varies based on business goals and audience expectations.

Unfortunately something like 80% of brand social mentions tend to get ignored. Those that engage in new ways will win!

@TheGrok completely agree you have to know who your target audience is, where they are at and what resources you have to put toward this.

@TheGrok So often companies just create communities with no one to manage them and no plan for long-term content/engagement

@AmyTennison and they will likely be in multiple networks as well.

not feeling like a traditional ad is key - partnerships with influencers like fashion bloggers

It's also important to connect customer social actions to other marketing channels like email, Web, mobile. Can't keep these digital channels in silos!

I am excited by the embeddable video functionality that @meerkat added.

@jillianricci YES! My whole job is around influencer marketing. The right people can do more for your brand than anything the brand can do by itself.

@TheGrok Seriously @meerkat and periscope just made the ability to live stream accessible to everyone

@MFeatherstone One of the best at this is Zappos. One of the few companies that want to keep you engaged on the phone instead of hanging up.

@TheGrok They do that to keep learning about you the person.

There is much room to improve on linking #social to digital purchases. It has to be easier

. @ibmcommerce gr8 question. depends: twitter/fb/instragram for awareness but social integrated into the retailers web/mobile presence will be the core gateway imo

@TheGrok I haven't checked that out, but I'm excited to!

. @ibmcommerce I still think that it's early for users to purchase in social streams; aided awareness will be the primary in social with transactions online mobile/web & in person physical

Celebrities are huge clothing influencers. I'm interested to see how #retail taps into them this yr

A 1. This is the year mobile for consumers has exploded. Hopefully this is the year that businesses invest enough in mobile.

We’ll see investments in uniquely mobile experiences. You'll also see mobile devices in employees hands to improve checkout, customer service, etc.

I think mobile will play a huge role this year - especially tech like geofencing and push notifications.

Many companies will invest in getting richer analytics from their brick and mortar stores, beacons and cameras will bring rich insights.

@MFeatherstone Absolutely. The key is making sure these are deployed in ways that are a great experience for customers. That is the challenge.

New value add apps

mobile loyalty & payments will be huge too - Apple pay, LevelUP etc

@jillianricci Especially with Apple Pay's announcement with @Square

@TheGrok completely agree. Although mobile apps seems like the wrong approach. Interested to see other ways companies start to use mobile in creative ways.

. @ibmcommerce I'm interested in the latest #IoT technology integrated into physical commerce.

. @ibmcommerce I'm wondering what if any #bitcoin will be part of this years transactions. Also how much elastic cloud will be used in retail

@furrier Same here. Lots of opportunity for creative marketers.