DynamicAction CMO, Sarah Engel, was sought out by Women’s Wear Daily’s Deputy Editor, Arthur Zaczkiewicz, for thought leadership for his business feature, Weekly Sales Rise as Shoppers Hop to Apparel Stores. Noting the uptick in sales over the Easter Holiday, the report speaks to an ongoing preference for consumers to have “channel agnostic” shopping transactions. The feature also included Engel’s thoughts surrounding the increasing shift towards more online purchases being met by retailers with better on-time delivery. Our latest Dynamic Action Retail Index Spring ’ 17 findings indicated a robust gain in premium express shipping, while free shipping showed only modest gains.
Below please find a key excerpt with the full piece available with a Women's Wear Daily subscription:
"Sarah Engel, chief marketing officer at DynamicAction (a retail prescriptive analytics company), told WWD that consumers are spending money, but 'they are just not spending in the same ways, and the retailers who are well down the path of recognizing this fact and re-engineering their businesses accordingly are those who will continue to see their customers embracing their brands and purchasing their products in the years ahead.'
Engel noted that more than ever, 'the shopping experience is dictated by the consumer. She has complete power over how and where she researches, shops, buys and even returns, and her expectations are higher than ever to win her initial purchase and build long-term loyalty.' Engel said this change in consumer behavior is reaching a pinnacle this year. And the efficiency of a company’s e-commerce capabilities is increasingly determining success.
'Once a consumer makes the emotional and financial commitment to purchase, she wants her dress, skirt or shoes to arrive nearly immediately,” Engel said. “She expects it to arrive when the retailer promised her delivery, and that her package and its contents will be in prime condition. Although Amazon led the way in setting expectations for shipping and delivery, all customer-centric retailers are constantly evolving their logistics and operations to follow suit.'
Engel said Matchesfashion.com, for example, is now able to deliver in London within 90 minutes. 'Neiman Marcus offers buy online, pick up in store within two hours and same-day delivery on many of their products,' she added.
After analyzing online shopping data, Engel said retailers are answering customers’ shipping expectations 'better than in the past, with a 37 percent reduction in late-to-ship orders thus far in 2017 versus 2016.' Engel noted that while free shipping is up about 3 percent so far this year — 'orders using express shipping are up 138 percent thus far in 2017 versus 2016. Shoppers want their orders now, and they are willing to pay for it.'"
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