Congratulations to all of the bricks and mortar stores who in spite of the doom and gloom in the press have worked really hard to make 2011 as successful as they possibly could.  It’s not been easy. Looking back on 2011 it’s clear that the most successful retailers focused on business fundamentals and improving customer experience for their shoppers.   No doubt the same will be true in 2012.
The challenge of course is to get shoppers to buy more in-store.   At the start of 2011 the main tools to achieve this were price cuts and an increasing volume of offers.  Towards the end of 2011 the marketing teams in some retailers were much more sophisticated and introduced shoppers to more reasons to buy than just price.   In my view the most successful retailers in 2012 will be the ones that get the right information in front of customers so that they make a buying decision at the shelf edge.  A key part of this shelf edge success will come from tickets that sell.