Burberry is another example, because of its multichannel marketing. Customers like choices--buy online? buy in a store? order online and pick up in a store? get more info? see what other customers have to say?--and Burberry lets the customer choose. With 16.7 million FB likes, Burberry has a lot of social conversations going. Incoming chief executive Christopher Bailey will build on Burberry's success and creativity to keep the brand at the forefront of multichannel marketing.
Amazon is, of course, a good example of the tech-driven trend. No detail is too small for the giant of online retailing. It files for thousands of patents every year, covering innovations as seemingly small as being able to churn out boxes in the proper size and shape for the endless array of merchandise it sells. It has just launched Amazon Coins, a proprietary virtual currency that Kindle users can use to buy apps or make in-app purchases.
Traditional retailers are using tech to make apparel fitting more convenient and more precise; to give customers access to exclusive content; and to better understand customer behavior. Privacy concerns are definitely an issue for customer-tracking systems (such as those that track shoppers via their mobile signals), but this trend will certainly accelerate in 2014.
