Retailers focusing on customer experiences, not new tech

Due to economic challenges retailers are adjusting priorities and focusing on retaining customers, boosting the customer experience and putting off new tech investments.

Those are prime findings of a CommerceNext and CommX report, "2023 Digital Trends & Investment Priorities."

Retailers will also be pulling back on social strategies this year, according to a press release on the findings.

The survey polled 108 digital marketing and e-commerce leaders across various retail models. Retailers highlighted reduced consumer spend, lack of investment money and ad-targeting capabilities as the "biggest impediments" to meeting 2023 revenue goals.

Nearly half (45%) projected flat to single-digit growth this year and 11% projected negative growth.

While 85% of retailers polled in 2021 expected double-digit growth in 2022, the reality was 42% of the retail respondents this December 2022 reported flat or declined sales in 2022, according to the release.

The survey found marketers will have to continue to rely on retention as their main strategy for driving revenue and are focusing less on social.

"Retailers are starting off the new year with a realistic understanding of the slowing online growth and, in several cases, online sales declines they'll be facing in 2023," Veronika Sonsev, co-founder of CommerceNext, said in the release. "In response to this reality, marketing leaders will concentrate their resources into refining and improving their current customer experiences rather than investing into new technologies."

Retailers are planning to move away from paid social and seek alternative marketing channels, and email, SMS and loyalty will get the largest share of investment within retention.