Personalization key to building customer confidence

Engaging customers through personalized and relevant experiences is key for retailers to build consumer confidence and loyalty. This was the focal point of two presentations at the Path to Purchase Expo (P2PX) in Chicago on Wednesday.

Executives from Walgreens and CVS Health each took the stage to discuss tactics they are employing to be better communicators when it comes to the health and wellness of its shoppers. Whether through digital technology or more traditional tactics such as in-store signage, both retailers expressed the importance of the human touch in building loyalty.

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Alyssa Raine, divisional vice president for brand marketing and creative at Walgreens, said 80% of consumers are more likely to do business with a company that offers a personalized experience. With this in mind, the drugstore chain has recently made updates to its mobile app that allows customers to earn loyalty points by meeting their personal health goals.

But customer experience and communications aren't always about bells and whistles, as expressed by Marcy Brewington, director of in-store marketing strategy, CVS Health, and the chain is making changes to all 9,000 of its stores to make them easier to navigate. Starting early next year, CVS Health will completely revamp its in-store signage around five key tenets: entice, announce, navigate, inspire, convert and embrace. The new signage will be integrated into "pre-shop" marketing including emails and digital.

Want more P2P? Path to Purchase Institute members have access to more than 1,800 articles and a library of 14,000 marketing and merchandising images along with detailed retailer profiles detailing operations and strategies. Visit p2pi.org for more information.