Two-thirds of merchants rank customer satisfaction as their top strategic initiative for 2012, according to a survey conducted by the National Retail Federation and KPMG. Further, 82 percent cited customer service strategies as their top priority this year - up from 75 percent last year.
For the first time in the survey's 10-year history, merchants' websites or online channels (86 percent) outpaced physical stores (81 percent) as the top channel for marketers. According to the survey, 85 percent will emphasize increasing online sales, up from 83 percent last year; and 38 percent will focus on increasing mobile commerce sales over the next year, up from 29 percent last year.
The study titled, "Retail Horizons: Benchmarks for 2011, Forecasts for 2012," surveyed 247 retail executives from various sectors, and the top strategic initiatives for 2012 include merchandising, e-commerce, store and field operations, and supply chain.
