The old way of thinking about customers isn’t working anymore. No longer is it advantageous to create a strategy that tells the customers what they should be doing in your retail space. The customer is now at the center of that strategy.
Customer-centricity is a holistic, integrated philosophy that speaks to retailers’ desires to serve customers better while also optimizing the data they have. In a survey of 120 manufacturers and retailers from September to November 2008, sponsored by DemandTec and Precima, 80% of respondents said they were increasing their focus on customer-centricity.
While some obstacles remain to adoption, including limited resources of both humans and funding, all signs point to an industry-wide — and often company-wide — focus on customer-centricity. Rexall Family of Pharmacies and Best Buy illustrated their strategies for implementing customer-centric practices into all aspects of their respective businesses. “Every department, every store, every product has been altered in this journey to customer-centricity,” said Dan Moe of Best Buy.