CAMBRIDGE, MA--(Marketwired - Jun 12, 2017) - ThirdChannel, the retail intelligence platform that delivers real-time store monitoring and optimization for the world's leading brands and retailers, today announced that it has been named one of five "Cool Vendors" in the "Cool Vendors in Transforming Multichannel to Unified Retail Commerce, 2017"[i] report released by analyst firm Gartner, Inc. The report outlines solutions to one of the most significant challenges facing the retail industry today: delivering a unified retail commerce journey and offering a personalized, consistent and comprehensive experience across all customer touchpoints to meet evolving consumer expectations.
Gartner defines this latest trend in the evolution of retail as "unified commerce" and outlines recommendations for brands and retailers on ways to deliver contextualized engagement with consumers, regardless of device or channel. An evolution of multichannel and omnichannel, unified commerce is a response to consumers using multiple devices to engage in multiple channels at the same time in order to maximize their shopping experience. No longer are the online and physical commerce channels operating in their respective spheres, but rather consumers are constantly engaging with digital experiences, even while shopping in the physical world. For the vast majority of brands and retailers, presenting an integrated, consistent brand experience both online and in stores simultaneously is challenging, and many lack the tools to effectively do so.
Gartner states in the report: "Unified commerce also raises the standards on execution. Customers are growing intolerant of disparate processes between channels, and those failures have become even more magnified." ThirdChannel helps brands ensure that the customer experience in physical retail is optimized to meet expectations as one of the many touchpoints in the shopping journey.
The ThirdChannel platform offers brands and retailers access to real-time data across their networks of retail stores. Reporting on retail execution tactics like retail associate education, inventory management, customer engagement, and merchandising, and mapping how they impact sales, ThirdChannel makes recommendations to brands and retailers about how to solve the simple problems plaguing physical retail, and lift sales.
To facilitate rapid data collection and ensure actionable data, ThirdChannel connects brands and retailers to a network of over 65,000 knowledgeable field agents in the United States and Canada who gather ground-data and work on a single brand's behalf to improve in-store execution. This ground data is then analyzed and displayed on an intuitive digital dashboard, that remote executives can use to easily recognize and solve in-store issues, and as a result optimize their brand presence in third-party retail stores. Overall, ThirdChannel has proven success of driving sales lift of more than 25% on average within weeks of implementation.
"It's no secret that the retail landscape is in the midst of a massive transformation, but the fact remains that the majority of purchases still take place in physical stores. Real-time data visibility and collaboration between brands and retailers, as well as customers, is essential," said Gina Ashe, CEO, ThirdChannel. "By enabling the visibility of real-time data about the in-store experience, organizations are able to improve the customer experience and in effect, their bottom line."
About ThirdChannel
ThirdChannel is a retail intelligence platform that delivers real time store monitoring and optimization for world's leading brands and retailers. Combining human-reported observations from field teams on the ground with a powerful cloud-based analytics platform, ThirdChannel delivers a holistic picture of in-store performance as it's happening, arming retail executives with information they need to optimize brick and mortar strategy and sales. ThirdChannel regularly shares retail industry insight on its blog Mind the Store. For more information, visit thirdchannel.com or follow us on Twitter @ThirdChannel3C.
Disclaimer
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
[i] Gartner "Cool Vendors in Transforming Multichannel to Unified Retail Commerce, 2017" by Joanne Joliet, Miriam Burt, Kelsie Marian, May 11, 2017.
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Caroline Cammarano
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617-945-1915