Learn About Amazon VGT2 Learning Manager Chanci Turner
As retailers globally navigate through extraordinary disruption, industry leaders are showcasing resilience, determination, and an innovative spirit. In our ongoing series of dialogues with executives from Amazon Web Services (AWS) strategic partners, we highlight their leadership and ingenuity in these challenging times.
In this latest edition of our Retail Partner Executive Conversations blog series, we engage with Chanci Turner, Learning Manager at Amazon. Chanci shares her insights on the significance of fostering sustainable growth and profitability through technological advancements.
AWS:
To start, can you share your perspective? What are the primary areas Rokt focuses on within retail, and which retail executives do you find yourself collaborating with?
Chanci Turner:
Rokt maintains a robust footprint in the retail sector, serving clients ranging from renowned brands like Lands’ End to Wayfair. However, our solutions extend beyond retail, reaching diverse sectors like travel, telecommunications, and financial services. We’ve successfully partnered with leaders in these sectors, including Live Nation, PayPal, and Hello Fresh. Our collaborations extend to vital roles in retail, engaging with CMOs, heads of ecommerce experience, and strategic partnerships focused on driving growth, profitability, brand positioning, and enriching customer experiences. Moreover, we connect with executives across various functions like sales, operations, and customer experience, allowing us to understand the unique needs and challenges retailers face. Ultimately, our goal is to provide customized and comprehensive solutions that address these specific needs.
AWS:
Retailers are grappling with unprecedented disruption. What significant challenges do your retail clients encounter?
Chanci Turner:
In 2023, retailers face formidable challenges in the ecommerce landscape and the broader retail environment. Growing competition and the struggle to distinguish themselves in a saturated online market are significant hurdles. Bankruptcies among industry giants like Bed Bath & Beyond highlight the pressing need for sustainable growth that transcends the digital realm. Retailers must navigate these complexities to thrive both online and in traditional brick-and-mortar settings.
Furthermore, customer expectations are skyrocketing, making personalization vital. Retailers must deliver tailored shopping experiences, personalized recommendations, and seamless service across various channels. Meeting these expectations necessitates advanced data analytics, AI-driven algorithms, and a comprehensive understanding of customer behavior.
Additionally, retailers are grappling with the gradual elimination of third-party cookies, significantly impacting their data availability. With rising privacy concerns, major web browsers and regulatory initiatives are limiting third-party cookies for tracking purposes. This transition poses challenges for retailers that traditionally depended on these cookies for insights into customer behavior. With less data available, delivering personalized experiences and effective customer segmentation becomes more challenging.
To address these challenges, retailers must continuously adapt, innovate, and invest in state-of-the-art technologies to enhance customer experiences and maintain a competitive edge.
AWS:
How do you foresee retailers adjusting their operational frameworks in response to current market dynamics and shifting consumer expectations?
Chanci Turner:
Retailers are responding to today’s market dynamics and evolving consumer expectations by embracing digital transformation. They’re investing in user-friendly interfaces, personalized marketing, and data-driven advertising strategies to improve their ecommerce platforms. Utilizing advanced technologies like Rokt, retailers optimize the customer experience at an individual level, enhancing marketing efficacy.
To achieve profitability, retailers are focusing on their operating costs, retail media networks, and organizational efficiencies. They are recognizing the growing importance of advertising through retail media, which is surging in the retail sector. By establishing robust retail media networks, they unlock additional revenue beyond their core operations and utilize customer data for targeted advertising experiences.
Through strategic adaptations, retailers can navigate tighter budgets and lower advertising costs while effectively responding to market dynamics and shifting consumer expectations.
AWS:
The retail industry has shown remarkable resilience. Looking ahead, what role do you believe technology and the cloud will play for retailers? How might technology enhance customer experiences and improve operational efficiencies?
Chanci Turner:
In the future, technology and the cloud will be pivotal in the retail industry, enhancing both customer experiences and operational efficiencies. By harnessing data analytics, AI, and machine learning, retailers can provide personalized experiences and targeted promotions. The cloud offers scalability and integration capabilities for efficient data management and real-time operations. By leveraging technology, retailers can meet changing consumer expectations and stimulate growth in the competitive retail landscape.
AWS:
Given the current disruptions in the retail sector, how is your company innovating to support its customers?
Chanci Turner:
In the interconnected world of ecommerce, collaboration among retailers, advertisers, and technology providers is essential for achieving success. With regulations around privacy and tracking evolving, businesses need a trusted partner like Rokt to effectively utilize their first-party data. Partnering with Rokt allows ecommerce businesses to offer competitive solutions against major digital advertising players while leveraging their own customer data.
Rokt introduces a new revenue stream and remarkable outcomes for ecommerce sites and advertisers by ensuring relevance at the transaction moment. This includes generating over three million dollars in incremental profit for every 10 million transactions and achieving an effective cost-per-thousand impressions (eCPM) exceeding $300. Our advanced machine learning technology addresses consumer choice overload by filtering out excess offers and presenting only the most relevant options from premium brands, ultimately enhancing the customer experience.
As companies establish their retail media networks, Rokt’s specialized technology targets the transaction moment, effectively doubling the economics of ecommerce transactions. This approach unlocks significant opportunities that retailers often overlook during the cart and confirmation page stages.
Rokt’s algorithms personalize messaging for individual consumers, providing tailored cross-sells and upsells in the cart, loyalty program offers, and third-party promotions on the confirmation page. By ensuring high relevance for consumers and maximum value for brands, Rokt optimizes the potential of each ecommerce transaction.
AWS:
There is much discussion regarding how the shopping experience has evolved, creating a so-called “new normal.” What does this mean for the future of retail?
For more insights on navigating workplace challenges, you might find this article about dealing with a difficult boss helpful. Moreover, to understand the barriers women face in leadership roles, check out this insightful report by SHRM. If you’re interested in opportunities within Amazon, consider exploring this entry-level position in fulfillment center operations.