More and more retailers are recognising that customer management can bring long-term value to their business. Since applying these strategic approaches is not an easy task, retailers should consider implementing an appropriate retail management system to make all processes invariably smoother. Such a system will aid enterprises in:

As companies may not know exactly what will happen until they get started, facing tough challenges or even failing to accomplish goals is inevitable in the first stage. Therefore, although customer information management can drive retailers towards economic improvement, most managers still hold back on implementing this programme. Even once the decision is made, if retailers do not have a technical system or have an inefficient one, the following challenges are likely to crop up:

A major element of failure has been the tendency to implement customer management ideas without first identifying the firm’s resources and its competitive strengths. Retailers need to spend time considering the following factors:

The millennial shopper has been characterized as an elusive being -- we know they exist, but we seem to have trouble catching them, at least for a prolonged period of time. Predicting their actions is an even greater challenge. As a result, retailers have formed a number of myths around millennial shopping preferences -- some that border on superstition -- and many approach these myths as reality.

Receiving furious or disappointed customer calls or visits is the ineluctable duty for any retailer. However, with proper training, constant practice and patience, a Customer Service Representative (CSR) can easily go through this, that means not only he can deal with customer's complaints successfully and reserve the situation, but also maintain customers loyalty to the brand.

A competitive retail location is a great advantage for any retailer when breaking into a new market. However, the lure of low rental cost may lock you in a lease deal that might break your business before it ever takes off. .

For the key supermarket players in mature markets, the high street is becoming an avenue of opportunity to exploit evolving shopping habits. As more and more goods are purchased online, including a rising proportion of groceries, big-box out of town one-stop-shop formats are becoming increasingly undermined. Although this has been a defining retail trend for the last two decades, retailers may have overextended themselves. Not only do online channels compete effectively in non-food areas that larger stores were designed to support, but the rate of growth has become unpopular with communities and prompted planning issues with regulators. As a result, and certainly in the years preceding the economic downturn, retailers have placed renewed emphasis on convenience formats.

Retailers constantly strive to provide great experiences for customers who visit their brick-and-mortar locations. With the strong emergence of internet shopping, these satisfactory experiences are becoming even more vital for merchants with physical storefronts. Recent research has revealed that consumers are highly likely to stop frequenting businesses that offer poor experiences, which could lead to sharp decreases in retention and loyalty for retailers. To prevent this, there are several strategies that companies can use to effectively bring shoppers into their stores.

Consumers have become dissatisfied and angered after being frustrated by poor brand experiences, according to a study of 7,000 consumers across six countries by analytical and surveillance software supplier Verint.