Retail Marketing

Drive sales by evolving your digital commerce capabilities to meet customer expectations.

Develop your ideal digital commerce strategy

As retail marketing capitalizes on dramatic shifts in customer behaviors and expectations, it also faces the stubborn headwinds of supply chain challenges. The key to navigating this bumpy road will be a relentless focus on optimizing execution and staying nimble. Leaders in retail marketing strategy command a digital audience, identify where loyalty efforts have real impact and maximize return on spend.

Use this proven one-page digital commerce framework to advance your digital commerce maturity to accelerate digital sales and deliver growth.

Download the Digital Commerce Framework

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Retail marketing insights you can use

Tools

Use diagnostics and benchmarks to assess your current retail marketing state
Access tools to quickly transform and develop your marketing function

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Research

Assess your organization’s current digital commerce maturity
Determine a path to your ideal state, considering factors such as customer, market and industry maturity

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Experts

Access unbiased, one-on-one advice to stay ahead of the trends that matter
Get guidance on your top retail marketing priorities from best-in-class experts who are former CMOs and agency leaders
Leverage our benchmarking tools and peer-sourced research to inform your strategy

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Community

Get real-world advice from peers in live cohorts and virtual discussion boards
Network at Gartner virtual and in-person conferences

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Get started on your new retail marketing strategy

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Frequently asked questions

What is retail marketing?

Retail marketing is used by both ecommerce and traditional retailers. Almost every retailer uses retail marketing in some form or another. Traditional retail marketing is the process of bringing a product directly to customers in a retail store. The rise of ecommerce and many brands’ move toward a direct-to-consumer (DTC) model have driven vast shifts. Retail marketing is no longer just about foot traffic but also about web traffic and online sales.

What is a retail marketing strategy?

The fundamental approach to a retail marketing strategy breaks down into four key principles: product, price, place and promotion. By integrating these into a retail marketing mix, companies can ensure they have a visible, in-demand product/service that is competitively priced and promoted to their customers.

Why is a retail marketing strategy important?

Dramatic changes brought on by the rise of e-commerce make a retail marketing strategy more critical than ever. Brands count on their retail marketing efforts to drive traffic and sales for products, as well as develop recognition, loyalty and even increase lifetime value (LTV).

What are the top retail marketing trends for 2022?

Emerging retail marketing trends include:

Customers placing value on inclusivity and sustainability
Adding value in the supply chain
Omnichannel transforming each stage of the retail experience
Engaging customers with experiential retail
Technology helping your employees deliver competitive advantage

Why is digital commerce/e-commerce important in retail marketing?

Digital commerce (or e-commerce) is one of the biggest growth priorities for retail marketing leaders as they capitalize on evolving customer purchase behaviors and expectations accelerated by the pandemic but now becoming permanent.

Leading retailers are exploring emerging technologies that can improve the customer experience and remove barriers to purchase.

Emerging tools such as virtual appointments, AR size/fit guides and social commerce provide new ways to engage consumers online. In-store, retailers are increasingly leveraging QR codes, geofenced app prompts and digital displays to link online and offline experiences.