As digital transformation takes over, department stores are particularly susceptible to the retail apocalypse. The proliferation of online marketplaces has beauty brands essentially competing with themselves. And of course, every retailer, particularly in the sporting and outdoor space, has to be mindful of the Amazon effect. We’ve written several best practices guides focusing on the […]

Walking distance from Buckingham Palace, Chanel’s new London flagship is decked out in soft gold, marble and quartz, complete with an antique fireplace, a wall made from gold ribbon, and haute couture on display like a museum exhibit. People pay a premium for luxury brands and what they represent: heritage, top-notch craftsmanship, and a certain […]

When it comes to department stores and marketplace retailers, digital truly is the divide. Traditional legacy brands have struggled with ecommerce, while their digital-first counterparts haven’t been able to translate to the physical world. But as our Retail Personalization Index proves, plenty of retailers — Sephora reigns supreme, but eBay isn’t that far behind — […]

When it comes to mobile, there are a few key features that can set a brand’s experience apart from the rest. Push notifications, in-app messaging, and rich message centers are table stakes. Today, brands must think of mobile as the great connecter between their digital channels — we all check email, browse web, and use […]

Personalization is a game-changer for marketers, but executing it is easier said than done. Many don’t even know where to start, or where they stand in comparison to competitors and the market at large. That’s why Sailthru launched our first Retail Personalization Index last year. We surveyed 13,000 consumers and based on their responses, we […]

The Retail Personalization Index is an exhaustive research project and long before it was even close to completion, we identified our favorite takeaway: The scores are significantly higher this year. At Sailthru, we’ve always considered personalization to be a crucial business strategy. But between our research with Forbes, where 39% of marketers admitted to thinking […]

A lot has changed since we launched our inaugural Retail Personalization Index a year ago. We upped the ante and analyzed more than 250 brands this time, not just 100. From year to year, the main, overarching trend we’ve noticed is that personalization has moved beyond a buzzword to an enterprise-wide priority. We’ve always believed that […]

When we began to create our first-ever Personalization Index, we knew it would be a massive undertaking. We already had a methodology framework we were using internally, called Experience the Brand, that our staff uses to better understand brands’ efforts at personalization. We spent all summer experiencing brands, which we selected based on reputation, category […]

Everyone knows that Amazon is a retail and technology powerhouse. Its loyalty program, Prime, boasts more than 100 million members. Last year, Amazon accounted for 44% of ecommerce sales in the U.S. The company has a market capitalization approaching half a trillion dollars. Many retailers set strategies specifically assuming that they either will or will not […]

Personalization is many things to many marketers. For some, it’s a business strategy that increases customer lifetime value and paves the way for profitable, sustained growth. For others, it’s a set of tactics used to boost website traffic or email open and response rates. A few marketers probably still see personalization as a buzzword. And […]