Listen To Your Customers’ Wish Lists This Holiday Season

It always seems that once summer’s over and the calendar hits fall, the holidays are here before you’ve even had the chance to fully get into pumpkin spice season.

Despite the quick arrival, retailers have been planning for this key period for months. It’s not hard to see why—U.S. shoppers are expected to spend over $1.5 trillion this holiday season.

Ahead of the year’s most intense retail season, we asked U.S. consumers about their shopping plans. The headline: brace yourself retailers—it’s gonna be a busy one. 

Research for Verint’s Holiday Survival Guide found that two-thirds (67%) of shoppers are expecting to spend more than they do during the entire rest of the year.

If you’re hoping to get a luxury gift, then this might be your year as well. Why? Because 83% of consumers are planning to spend more than $500 on gifts alone, with 18% expecting to shell out over $1,000.

Nowadays, there are as many engagement channels as there are side dishes at a holiday feast. Our data reveals consumers are planning to sample them all—with 83% combining online and in-person gift shopping this year.

Modern purchase journeys are invariably complex, involving multiple touchpoints. Retailers need to understand what’s happening at every stage to deliver great CX during the holidays (and even at less busy times of the year too!).

Solving CX Obstacles with Customer Feedback

There are common CX challenges facing many retail brands. Customers want a consistent experience after reaching out on their channel of choice. With the ever-expanding number of engagement channels, this can be a struggle to provide.

This also presents a data challenge. Survey and behavioral data sit in silos, creating disjointed insights and further impacting the ability to create seamless omnichannel experiences.

These challenges are only amplified during the busiest time of the year for retailers. For example, 48% of consumers would switch to a new retailer if it can resolve issues on their channel of choice. Great CX is clearly vital for maintaining share of wallet during the holidays.

To deliver the exceptional experiences that build loyal customer relationships, brands must develop a deeper understanding of customer habits, trends and sentiments. This involves going beyond surveys to gather direct, indirect and inferred feedback from all data sources.

Ensure A Happy Holiday Season with Verint VoC

Verint is a leader in the voice of the customer (VoC) analytics space, as recently recognized by Frost and Sullivan. Among the 50+ vendors evaluated, our capabilities are the benchmark for continuous innovation and growth.

Using Verint Voice of the Customer better positions you to make the most of the feedback gathered across the customer journey. Our AI-powered solutions enable companies to elevate their VoC programs by:

• Listening Everywhere: Collect experience data—from all sources—in all formats and go beyond simple surveys with multichannel intelligent listening.
• Analyzing Deeper: Bring together structured and unstructured data from across your organization, and use AI to automate quick access and understandable insights with Verint Data Insights.
• Acting Faster: Use AI to mobilize insights in real time, automate case management based on customer insights, and take a proactive approach to experience management.

As retailers enter their key shopping season, the ability to have a 360 view of customer experiences and feedback—and quickly rectify any issues in real time—will be vital for ensuring share of wallet.

Partnering with Verint to ensure that happens is the “must-have” gift for the holidays.

Learn more about Verint VoC solutions, or check out Verint’s Holiday Survival Guide for more guidance on leveraging AI for a seamless holiday retail season.