Cross Channel

Since struggling retailer J.C. Penney launched its new marketing/merchandising strategy on Feb. 1, matters have gone from bad to worse. Now that J.C. Penney President Michael R. Francis abruptly left the company on Monday after a mere eight months amid sinking sales and plummeting stock, what does the future hold for the 110-year-old company?

The best takeaway from a recent Foresee satisfaction index is that in order to keep your customers satisfied, you need to consistently meet their expectations. The study found that the higher satisfaction of a site leads to an improved customer loyalty. It also could increase the likelihood that a consumer will make additional purchases in the future. Here’s more from the survey.

One takeaway from the J.C. Penney profit loss is that when your customers bank on weekly coupons and designated sales days, you don’t change a thing. Just check out #JCPenney on Twitter and you will hear from thousands of customers who are not happy with the company’s 2012 facelift.

Not only can in-store mobile serve as a bridge to bring ecommerce into the store, it can also provide unprecedented visibility to enterprise data such as inventory, turning the store into a hub of cross-channel convergence that unites the mobile, ecommerce and brick-and-mortar worlds.

The challenge with online marketing for most merchants is scalability and sustainability. Here are some ideas on how to transition more marketing dollars into the online space while managing the risk to customer acquisition and retention that lurk within these initiatives.