LATAM Retailers Are Increasingly Adopting Technology to Retain Customer Loyalty

Retailers in major Latin American countries are adopting new technologies in a bid to make themselves appealing to young customers, according to study by Zebra Technologies. Although they are far away from realizing the full benefits of technology, it is certain that an increasing number of retailers have come to believe that new tech tools can help them enhance customer loyalty.
The need of the hour is to increase speed and efficiency, in addition to personalizing the shopping experience. On their way to boost the in-store experience, they are analyzing shopper data.
While 82% of retailers in the region have launched loyalty app so customers can connect to their in-store network, only 46% of them are trying to track online customer behavior. In other words, only half of retailers are using the data they collect on customer behavior to analyze how effective their promotions have been.
“More than half are feeding data into decision-making around shelf replenishment, inventory planning and staffing levels,” the report added. The biggest challenges for marketing are knowing where to start and concerns around data privacy, security and funding.
About 18% retailers connect to customers through wireless smartphones, 46% through information kiosks, 34% through self-service tills, and 42% through mobile-device payments. In the survey, 80% of retailers said they still send printed catalogues, although 50% of them were found drawing up plans to send personalized offers.
“As technological breakthroughs evolve to support today’s business demands, there is a growing need for retailers to know how to properly leverage technology for a better in-store customer experience,” said Ana Maria Cabrales, regional solutions senior marketing manager of retail and hospitality in Latin America for Zebra Technologies.
Most of the retailers surveyed have operations in Chile, Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. Each employ between 500 and 5000 people.