Creating a seamless retail customer experience

Marketing

Creating a seamless retail customer experience

Martin Koehring

Senior Manager for Sustainability, Climate Change and Natural Resources & Head of the World Ocean Initiative

Martin Koehring is senior manager for sustainability, climate change and natural resources at Economist Impact (part of The Economist Group). He leads Economist Impact's sustainability-related policy and thought leadership projects in the EMEA region. He is also the head of the World Ocean Initiative, inspiring bold thinking, new partnerships and the most effective action to build a sustainable ocean economy.

He is a member of the Advisory Committee for the UN Environment Programme’s Global Environment Outlook for Business and is a faculty member in the Food & Sustainability Certificate Program provided by the European Institute for Innovation and Sustainability.

His previous roles at The Economist Group, where he has been since 2011, include managing editor, global health lead and Europe editor at The Economist Intelligence Unit.

He earned a bachelor of economic and social studies in international relations from Aberystwyth University and a master’s degree in diplomacy and international relations from the College of Europe.

Key findings

Many big retailers are working towards omnichannel, but progress remains modest. Our survey found that many retailers have yet to carry out basic steps, such as adapting their websites to mobile apps. Few have hired a person to take overall charge of the customer journey or have unified their customer service across platforms.
Survey respondents blame internal organisational factors rather than technology for the lack of progress towards omnichannel. Reorganising a company and introducing fresh IT systems to unify the various platforms in use can be expensive and take years. However, there is also fierce internal opposition to store closures, despite rising online sales and excess store capacity.
Omnichannel changes the function of retail stores, and retailers are starting to respond. Consumers increasingly combine different platforms when making a purchase. In response, many retailers are starting to use in-store technology and are using their website to broaden the range of products available in-store.
Online and traditional retail practices are starting to merge. Traditional retailers are joining up online and mobile services with their in-store offering and are developing their websites to offer personalised selections. Online retailers, meanwhile, are starting to launch their own stores and are teaming up with traditional retailers to launch "click and collect" services.

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Creating a seamless retail customer experience

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Creating a seamless retail customer experience

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