During the current economic turmoil, every sector and industry is doing what it can to push sales and target customers. Businesses are beginning to understand the true importance of customer focus. But what about the retail sector? Are retailers using the methodologies other industries are employing to leverage new customers and bring back repeat business? The past eighteen months have witnessed a strong upsurge in the number of retailers looking for a lifetime strategy that will cater to their customer requirements. What have they come up with? Most of them have seen that the need of the moment is a customer strategy that caters to lifetime responsibilities. As a result they have turned to a customer strategy – retail CRM software to fulfil those needs.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways in which retailers have sought to hang onto their most valuable customers prior to the advent of CRM:

• Offering incentives at the point of sale for repeat business (e.g. vouchers, loyalty cards, etc.)
• Competitions, free draws, etc.
• Option to try before you buy
• Bulk mailings in newspapers, etc.
• Encouraging customer feedback and making sure that it is paid attention to
• Providing customers with a chance to share their experiences with other customers
• Treating their customers as friends not as mere customers
• Little unique gifts and customized mailbox offers ensures that their best customers keep coming back.

All this is magnificent, but the added edge is what is needed. It is the extra touch that has proved so necessary and that serves as the edge over the competitor. Why should retailers look at CRM? What can it do for the retail industry?
The answer is that Retail CRM offers a streamlined approach to managing the entire sales process from beginning to end. And when we say beginning, we mean not the sale itself as would be the case in a standard accounts system, but far in advance – identifying target markets, prospecting, direct mail marketing, etc. The result is targeted marketing that gets through to the right person, at a fraction of the cost of media advertising. And it is measurable – you can calculate very easily the return on a particular campaign.

CRM enables retailers to address the right information to the most appropriate customer segment. It helps the retail industry to send personalised messages to each customer with information catered to his likes. CRM helps retailers take their customers successfully through the sales and marketing process.

CRM Retail Software Benefits

• targeting prospects
• acquiring new customers
• campaign management
• lead distribution
• long-term relationship value
• effective selling processes
• forecasting
• better service and handling post-sales service
• support issues with call centre

The Bottom Line

It’s a fact that retailers will benefit from a properly installed, configured and used CRM system. It is indeed probable that most retailers will not gain the advantage simply because they will not install such systems. Therefore the rewards for those who “see the light” will be huge and need to be availed of if one wants to succeed in a competitive business world.

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