That’s a great question to begin this column. Here’s how we like to define customer-centric retailing: The act of a retailer using customer insights as a primary driver of retail strategies across the enterprise. It starts with applying advanced analytics to customer data in order to identify and understand a core group of most valued customers. From there, the retailer uses that valuable info to predict what might motivate shopping behavior changes that will make them even more valuable customers down the road.

Responding to the needs of the most promising shoppers becomes a challenge not just for the marketing group but also for all areas of the organization, from merchandising to store design to location planning. A challenge, if met correctly, that can pay off big time in attracting and retaining high-value customers.