This Holiday Season, Keep Shoppers Engaged or Risk Losing Them to Amazon

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 26, 2016) - Euclid Analytics, the leader in retail analytics and omni-channel engagement, today revealed the results of its Evolution of Retail, 2016 Holiday Consumer Mobile Usage survey report which highlights consumer shopping preferences and holiday season behavior in retail stores. The commissioned survey polled over 1,500 consumers from the U.S., and found that retailers must employ digital strategies to engage shoppers or risk losing them to Amazon, particularly during the noisy, promotion-heavy holiday season.

This holiday season will be unlike any other for the retail industry. Forecasts estimate 2016 will overtake 2015, with firms like Deloitte predicting sales will grow this holiday season between 3.6 and 4 percent. For many retailers, the holiday season countdown is already well underway with pressure to staff accordingly and engage with an increasingly sophisticated consumer base, accustomed to a highly personalized Amazon experience.

With upward mobile and social media adoption, the line is blurred for consumers who are looking to make those holiday purchases. They could be shopping at a physical store, while at the same time comparing prices and looking for coupons via Facebook on their smartphones. Physical retailers are now compelled to find new, innovative ways to enhance the customer experiences within their physical stores.

Brick and mortar retailers are re-evaluating their business model and finding new ways to bridge the gap between an online and offline world. The study reveals what retailers should know about their shoppers leading up to the holidays and how to use that information to make their stores relevant and engaging this holiday season amongst a sea of Amazon-like competitors.

Key findings from the survey include:

• 83 percent of consumers -- an overwhelming number -- indicated their smart devices are central to their shopping experience
• 67 percent shop in store because they like to see, hold and try on products before buying
• 37 percent of consumers rely on Facebook to find cool new products, just behind word-of-mouth (47 percent)
• Facebook, Google and Amazon are respectively the top three smartphone applications consumers are using while shopping

"If traditional retail starred in a movie, it would be Titanic, with Amazon playing the iceberg," said Brent Franson, CEO of Euclid Analytics. "Our findings show that to compete against Amazon and survive, retailers must create compelling and efficient in-store experiences that captivate an increasingly distracted mobile-first consumer. What's more: they must also understand how to engage consumers online and via mobile while they're in the store."

To download a free copy of Evolution of Retail: 2016 Holiday Consumer Mobile Usage survey report, visit: http://bit.ly/2erJtmq

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About Euclid Analytics
Euclid Analytics delivers insights and personalization for the physical world. Hundreds of brands across retail, quick service restaurants and shopping malls use Euclid's products to understand customer behavior in their physical locations to optimize marketing and operations. Whether through traffic counters or Wi-Fi solutions, Euclid makes it easy to collect, visualize and act on visitor insights. Euclid's growing network captures billions of measurements monthly across 65 countries and tens of thousands of locations, analyzing hundreds of millions of physical customer touch points yearly.

Euclid is backed by leading venture capital firms Benchmark Capital and NEA, as well as Cox Enterprises and Groupe Arnault, the controlling shareholder of LVMH - Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world leader in luxury products.