For the retail industry, the importance of understanding the customer cannot be overstated. Insights drawn from data, behavioural science and market analysis all help lay the foundation for the future.
There is an enormous amount of information and data available today, and more and more data is being generated all the time. And the techniques for analyses are becoming increasingly advanced. The possibilities are great for those who know how to take advantage of them.
Patrick, what do you see in the future for retail?
“The word that people throw at you is ‘volatile’ – which can sound rather threatening,” says Patrick, “but I think the future is exciting. The profound changes that e-commerce brings create some very exciting opportunities. I believe the retail experience will develop to being a much more inspiring and frictionless interaction with customers.”
Brick versus click?
“Even with digitalization, a physical relationship with your customers is a great advantage and it creates a great platform for us to understand and engage with our customers. As well as the data-driven insights about peoples’ behaviour at scale, there is also a human creativity, inspiration and art in what you do and how you meet a customer. I feel we’re making space for both at Clas Ohlson.
Trust is key
“For brands in general, people will say that loyalty is weak these days, primarily because of the increased choice available to customers. But trust is more important than ever. People are more environmentally aware, more aware about how their data is being used, and more concerned about who they’re doing business with because of what it says about them,” Patrick says.
“Most of all, people are more prepared to try new things with brands they already trust. As we innovate at Clas Ohlson, the key will be to maintain our focus on the relationship of trust our customers have with us”
Patrick Finch joined Clas Ohlson on October 1st 2018. His most recent position was with Mozilla Firefox, where he has been Director of Open Innovation Strategy, Director of Market Strategy and Senior Manager of Market Insights. Among other positions, he has been Open Source Marketing Manager and Business Architect with Sun Microsystems.