Retail Brands missing growing sales & build customer loyalty online.

Epsilon Interactive announced results of consumer research showing leading retailers are missing significant opportunities to grow sales and build customer loyalty online. In particular, the study shows strong interest in online bill payment options for retail credit cards, traditionally a rich platform to capture incremental sales by optimizing transactional and service messaging with relevant cross-sell/up-sell offers. The study also reveals increasing interest in using online transactional services as a result of recent postal increases.

Key findings of the study include:

– 66 percent of consumers who purchased something in the last three months from a retailer indicated they were not aware the retailer currently offers an online bill payment option or paperless statements.

– 34 percent of consumers surveyed currently hold at least one store/merchant credit card.

– Only 13 percent of consumers surveyed currently pay their store/merchant credit card bills online, but an additional 36 percent expressed an interest in paying their store/merchant credit card bill online if this service was offered.

– 20 percent of consumers surveyed say the recent postal increase has boosted their likelihood and/or interest in paying store/merchant credit card bills online.

“So much of retailers’ focus goes into acquiring new customers that they often ignore a gold mine of opportunities within their existing customer base,” said Al DiGuido, president and CEO of Epsilon Interactive. “Whenever a bill is presented to a customer via email, the retailer has another opportunity to not only reduce costs and strengthen customer loyalty, but also to provide the customer with relevant and valued offers that can incite additional purchasing. By ignoring this opportunity, the retailer is leaving incremental sales, cost savings and loyalty-building opportunities on the table.”

“Our latest research confirms a major change in consumers’ behavior as it relates to the way they choose to interact with the brands they love and trust,” said DiGuido. “For retailers with a credit card offering, this represents an enormous opportunity to craft relevant, timely email communications that not only save costs but generate incremental revenue opportunities and customer satisfaction. The retailers who fail to capitalize on this opportunity will soon find themselves losing market share to those who are more actively offering and promoting this service to their most loyal of customers.”

For more information at http://www.epsiloninteractive.com