What: Priorities are shifting for retailers with a  focus on learning how to properly leverage data to continue business growth and customer retention.

Why it is important: According to a survey conducted by CommerceNext, sixty-five percent of retailers cite data management as the biggest problem they face in trying to leverage first-party data.

The survey was completed by asking 114 retail executives spanning brand types and verticals to understand the progress and current trajectory of the retail industry, with a particular focus on today’s top challenges and priorities.

The report also claims 66% of direct-to-consumer companies and 54% of traditional retailers note increasing customer acquisition costs as their greatest challenge to achieving 2022 goals, making it imperative for brands to effectively use first-party data to better maintain customer relationships and personalize experiences.

Brands are now focusing on further investing in digital. Traditional acquisition tactics no longer have a grip on budgets, while retailers focus investments on retention.

Retention is considered the most critical strategy for retail growth. Retailers' focus now is on building customer loyalty and bringing in more first-party data to increase personalization and re-engage lapsed customers. To continue acquiring and retaining customers, retailers are creating more customer-centric experiences to drive engagement.

Diversifying marketing channels appears to be the current answer on how to handle customer acquisition, so businesses better start mobilizing that data.

Retention and leveraging of data: the new focus of retailers