While many new customers may visit a department store during peak season, they might not become loyal clients right away. Many retailers wonder how to apply concrete methods to build meaningful relationships with customers and encourage them to return after peak season. This article offers a few tips to help convert new shoppers into long-term customers through scalable and tested engagement and loyalty techniques, ensuring sustained growth even during slower periods.

Building a seamless omnichannel strategy

During the low season, tracking sales and interactions without any blind spots becomes crucial in determining the effectiveness of specific operations. It also allows retailers to react quickly with targeted campaigns when certain strategies are not successful.

Many department stores face common challenges in tracking sales and communications across different departments and branches. Managing various divisions that cannot access each other's data can become a major obstacle to delivering a great customer experience and achieving growth.

This is why more and more department stores are implementing omnichannel solutions that:

1. Track customer behaviour
2. Measure the effectiveness of store operations
3. Monitor inventory
4. Facilitate data transmission between stores and branches

Implementing an omnichannel platform is a crucial first step in building an effective engagement strategy. It streamlines operations, enables data-sharing between branches, aligns different teams to work seamlessly toward results-drivengoals, and, most importantly, ensures consistent client services across all locations.

Anticipating customers' needs and wants

Once an omnichannel strategy is in place, one of the most valuable data points to record is individual customer information. This allows retailers to personalise their offerings and anticipate customer needs.

Personalisation is one of the most significant factors in enhancing client engagement. However, the challenge for most retailers is that personalising their offerings requires understanding individual customer preferences with a scalable method. They must also ensure this information is shared across branches and stores.

One effective solution is creating detailed customer profiles. By storing key client information—such as past interactions with sales representatives, purchase history, brand preferences, and average spending—retailers can better tailor their services to meet individual needs.

On a practical level, sales associates should have easy access to this information to deliver highly personalised recommendations during one-on-one interactions. Not only does this enhance the customer experience, but it also boosts employee confidence by removing the guesswork from the sales process.

Customer engagement is proportional to sales associates' engagement

Sales associates are the face of their company. Giving them more opportunities to engage with clients and rewarding them for doing so successfully is crucial for any retailer's growth. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. retail organisations experience an average employee turnover rate of 60%. High turnover is problematic for retailers, as

studies show that customers are 77% more likely to purchase a product when they trust the person recommending it. In this sense, customer engagement is directly linked to associate engagement and trust.

Empowering sales associates to take ownership of their roles as local experts and even micro-influencers has proven effective, especially when combined with an omnichannel strategy and a highly targeted, personalized approach. More companies are investing in solutions that provide sales associates with opportunities to engage through recommendation pages, social media, appointment scheduling, and direct communication with shoppers outside the store. By increasing touchpoints with customers, retailers can deliver high-quality service while also motivating sales associates to build lasting one-on-one relationships. Tracking successful interactions and rewarding individuals for their engagement has also been shown to boost associate morale and performance.

Building a scalable communication strategy

Nourishing 1-1 relationships with customers is essential to build loyalty, but how can department stores also grow customer engagement through a repeatable and scalable methodology?

It has been demonstrated that personalized interactions and recurring positive engagements drive customer loyalty.

Many retailers have found success by implementing the 3-3-3 or 2-2-2 strategy.

What is the 2-2-2 strategy?

The 2-2-2 strategy in retail communication is a structured approach designed to maintain consistent, personalised follow-ups with customers after a sale or interaction. It nurtures customer relationships and enhances loyalty, proving highly successful within various client bases.

Example:

• 2 days after the sale: Send a thank-you message and offer assistance if needed.
• 2 weeks after the sale: Follow up to ensure the product meets expectations and suggest complementary products based on the initial purchase or recent browsing history.
• 2 months after the sale: Reconnect with the customer to share updates on new arrivals, promotions, or loyalty programs.

The shift from manual to automated processes offers several benefits. Associates no longer need to spend valuable time identifying which customers to contact or tracking down past purchase details. This efficiency allows them to focus on high-value interactions, increasing productivity and optimising clienteling efforts.

Delivering the in-store experience online with AI

E-commerce has become a crucial aspect of the customer buying experience and changed shoppers' habits by providing round-the-clock shopping accessibility. With this new reality, providing personalised responses at any time of the day is becoming an expectation for customers.

While AI cannot replace human recommendations on an emotional level, it can bridge the gap by offering off-hours support and relevant product suggestions when a sales associate is unavailable. AI technology is increasingly tailored to specific retail use cases, making it an essential tool for retailers to consider.

In today's highly competitive market, incorporating AI has become a crucial part in implementing an effective customer engagement journey. A well-designed conversational AI becomes stronger and smarter over time, because it can be trained from your own retail intelligence, allowing it to deliver autonomous, human-like interactions, enhancing the shopping experience. Leveraging years of customer and associate interactions, AI-powered solutions can assist shoppers with visual browsing and personalised product recommendations. Advanced systems also integrate seamlessly with inventory, ensuring only available products are suggested. Additionally, retail-specific AI models can automate product tagging, identifying key features of new items to provide accurate and relevant recommendations during customer interactions.

Conclusion

The key to a successful client retention strategy lies in a retailer's ability to accurately understand their shoppers' needs and deliver personalised outreach. By incorporating automation, empowering sales associates, leveraging AI, and implementing a scalable engagement strategy, retailers can build a strong foundation for long-term success.

*Salesfloor stands as an award-winning clienteling and customer engagement platform, empowering retailers to foster meaningful conversations, drive recommendations, and boost sales. By offering innovative tools such as clienteling, virtual shopping, and conversational AI, Salesfloor enables seamless customer engagement across all channels.

Trusted by over 50,000 associates from leading retailers in apparel, beauty, jewelry, and beyond, Salesfloor is redefining the role of store associates in the modern retail landscape. Renowned brands such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, and Chico's rely on Salesfloor to achieve measurable results, including higher online conversion rates, larger basket sizes, and reduced return rates.*

Salesfloor

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In the competitive world of retail, fostering strong customer trust is no longer a nicety, it's a necessity. Consumers entrust department stores with sensitive personal and financial information, making a secure shopping experience an absolute priority. However, the digital age has introduced a multitude of sophisticated cyber threats. From large-scale data breaches to targeted phishing scams, retailers face a constant uphill battle to safeguard customer information. This is where robust cybersecurity becomes the linchpin. By implementing strong data security measures, department stores can build customer confidence, cultivate lasting loyalty, and ensure a safe and secure shopping experience for all.

Unfortunately, the consequences of failing to prioritize cybersecurity can be severe. Data breaches, which occur when sensitive information like customer names, payment details, or addresses are compromised, can have a devastating impact on retailers. The financial repercussions are significant, with potential costs including hefty regulatory fines, expensive credit card fraud mitigation efforts, and a decline in sales due to customer churn.

Even more damaging, however, is the erosion of customer trust that follows a data breach. When consumers learn their personal information has been exposed, they may feel vulnerable and question the retailer's commitment to data security. This loss of trust can translate into a significant shift in shopping habits, with customers taking their business elsewhere and potentially sharing their negative experiences with others, further damaging the retailer's reputation.

Fortunately, there's a powerful tool at retailers' disposal to combat cyber threats and build customer confidence: cybersecurity. Cybersecurity encompasses a range of practices and technologies designed to safeguard data and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. By implementing robust cybersecurity measures, department stores can demonstrate their commitment to protecting customer information. This includes essential steps like data encryption, which scrambles sensitive data to render it unreadable in the event of a breach. Secure payment gateways further fortify the checkout process, ensuring customer financial information remains protected during transactions. Additionally, employee training plays a crucial role. Educating staff on cybersecurity best practices, including identifying phishing attempts and proper data handling procedures, strengthens the overall security posture. These proactive measures not only safeguard sensitive information but also send a clear message to customers: their trust and security are paramount. This commitment to data security fosters customer confidence, encourages continued patronage, and ultimately strengthens the department store's competitive edge.

However, building trust goes beyond just implementing strong cybersecurity measures. Transparency is equally important. Customers should also understand that a retailer is taking active steps to make sure their information is protected. Retailers can achieve this transparency by clearly communicating their cybersecurity practices. This includes readily available data privacy statements that outline how customer information is collected, used, and secured. Additionally, pursuing recognized security certifications demonstrates a department store's commitment to meeting rigorous industry standards for data protection. By maintaining clear and open communication about data security, retailers can address customer concerns, build trust, and foster a sense of security that keeps them coming back for a positive shopping experience.

By prioritizing robust cybersecurity and open communication, department stores can ensure a secure and trustworthy shopping experience for all. IADS has a partnership with the Retail & Hospitality Information Sharing and Analysis Center (RH-ISAC) to provide cybersecurity resources for all IADS members. To learn more, visit rhisac.org/IADS.

Learn more about RH-ISAC

Over the last decade, department stores – once shining beacons of commerce and consumer culture – have found themselves increasingly under pressure. From the impact of the pandemic to the relentless rise of eCommerce, deepening labour shortages, and shifting shopper preferences, these venerable institutions are realising that they must adapt, or risk fading into irrelevance. Just look at Macy's – a retail icon that grew at an incredible rate in the early 2000s, now confronting mass closures to stave off the creeping threat of unproductiveness.

Set against this challenge, a new vision is emerging – one that views digitalization not as a threat, but as an opportunity to redefine the department store experience for a new omnichannel era. Around the world, forward-thinking retailers are leveraging innovative strategies and technologies to streamline operations, engage employees, and delight customers in ways that online commerce simply cannot match.

Why customers pick department stores in the eCommerce era

Department stores have a unique ability to turn shopping into a fun, social experience. They are vibrant hubs of activity with new collections and sales, especially during festive seasons, and deliver the experiential retail that customers crave. The presence of helpful and knowledgeable sales associates elevates this experience, providing the all-important human touch while facilitating easy, consumer-friendly policies. Great customer service is crucial not only for attracting shoppers to stores, but also for encouraging them to spend more –according to Alice POS, 42% of Americans will stop shopping with a brand after just two bad experiences, while 52% of consumers say they have made an additional purchase from a company after receiving positive customer service.

To deliver on the promise of experiential shopping, department stores must empower and motivate the people who bring in-person shopping to life: their frontline employees. Retail executives that invest in their customer-facing staff, providing them with the knowledge, skills, and support they need to excel, are better positioned to create the kind of personalised, memorable experiences that keep customers coming back time and time again.

Frontline tech delivers an outstanding shopper experience

This people-centric approach is exemplified by the partnership between Central and Robinson Department Stores (CDS), one of Thailand's largest department store chains, and YOOBIC, a virtual employee engagement platform designed for frontline teams. In 2020, CDS announced plans to merge the processes and support teams from its Central and Robinson brands to offer shoppers an unrivalled brick-and-mortar retail experience. The ambition was big – to create Thailand's first truly omnichannel department store – but so too were the hurdles: fragmented communication, inconsistent task execution, and a lack of accountability and visibility into store performance.

To overcome these obstacles, CDS turned to YOOBIC. Thanks to the platform's targeted, role-based communication tools, the retailer is now able to ensure the right operational information reaches the right employees at the right time, fostering greater consistency and compliance across its locations, like Visual Merchandising updates. YOOBIC's task management features provide Central Retail's leadership with real-time visibility into store execution, enabling them to track key performance indicators and hold teams accountable for results.

The benefits of the partnership extended far beyond operational efficiency, however. By creating digital communities within each of its 77 stores, CDS has fostered a greater sense of connection and belonging among its 4,000-strong frontline workforce. The platform's mobile-first learning and development system has also opened the door to bite-sized, on the-go training, empowering team members with the knowledge and skills needed to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

CDS's commitment to employee development is exemplified by their upcoming relaunch of training programs, which will offer regular incentives for top performers during the initial months, supported by in-person field coach teams who'll promote a blended digital and face to-face learning approach. The workforce's enthusiasm for professional development and digitised workflows is already evident in the impressive 85% Weekly Active Users (WAU) on the YOOBIC platform, sustained over the past 5 months, and the creation of 400,000 missions in the last year, which have had an impressive 87% completion rate. Effective employee training and development has also been crucial for attracting and retaining talent –according to a YOOBIC survey, 49% of frontline workers don't think that onboarding prepared them well for their jobs, while 64% want opportunities for career growth within the organisation.

Tapping into employees' creativity and passion

The lessons of YOOBIC and CDS's collaboration highlight the transformative impact of structured operational communication for store teams, moving beyond basic tools like emails, Whatsapp, or Line to a unified and intuitive communications platform. YOOBIC has not only enabled seamless communication among store staff, however, but has also provided a direct channel for the C-Suite to engage with frontline workers. This direct contact allows senior management to share their vision, provide guidance, and gain valuable insights from the employees who interact with customers daily. Throughout Southeast Asia – and indeed across the globe – department stores are waking up to the fact that their most valuable asset is their people. By giving frontline workers a voice, a sense of purpose, and the tools to succeed through advanced communication strategies, retailers can tap into a wellspring of creativity, passion, and customer-centricity that no eCommerce algorithm can replicate.

Of course, this transformation is not without its challenges. Shifting long-standing practices, investing in new technologies, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation requires vision, commitment, and resources. But for department stores that get it right, the rewards are immense – not just in terms of sales and market share, but in the creation of a more vibrant, engaging, and human-focused retail landscape.Today, CDS enjoys a more knowledgeable and empowered workforce, better equipped to deliver personalised and exceptional shopping experiences. The sense of community and purpose fostered among the company's employees is a huge part of this, not only improving job satisfaction and retention, but also promising a positive impact on customer loyalty and sales.

As CDS continues to invest in its teams and technology, it sets a powerful example for others seeking to thrive in an increasingly competitive and digital world. The success of the brand's partnership with YOOBIC demonstrates that by prioritising the human element in retail, department stores can create a more resilient, adaptable, and profitable future.So, to department store leaders around the world, the message is clear: embrace the power of your people, and let digitalization be the catalyst for a retail renaissance that will stand the test of time. The future of your industry – and the hearts and minds of your customers – depends on it.

Fabrice Haiat - CEO & Co- founder / YOOBIC

YOOBIC is the #1 frontline digital workplace, dedicated to addressing frontline teams' challenges. The platform provides communication, learning and development, operations, and HR teams with the app they need to drive operational excellence while drastically improving the frontline employee working experience.

YOOBIC was founded in 2014 by 3 brothers, Fabrice, Avi and Gilles Haïat. Together they created a unique digital workplace that helps businesses empower their frontline teams for success, wherever they are, through effective communication, mobile learning and, digitized task management - all in one place.

Yoobic

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At the forefront of luxury retail, the convergence of technology and high-end fashion is redefining elegance and sophistication. In this digital era, luxury brands are leveraging innovative technologies to enhance the customer experience and stay ahead of evolving trends. From immersive virtual boutiques and augmented reality try-on experiences to blockchain authentication and personalized AI-driven recommendations, the fusion of technology and luxury fashion is creating unparalleled levels of engagement and exclusivity. Digital fashion shows offer global audiences unprecedented access to high-fashion runway events, while interactive experiences blur the lines between the physical and virtual worlds. As luxury brands navigate this intersection of technology and fashion, they are reshaping the retail landscape and redefining the standards of opulence and innovation.

Retail Hub, our partner dedicated to innovation, is constantly monitoring potential start-ups for IADS' members, including the latest brands bridging the gap between technological innovation and luxury fashion. Explore the initiatives of startups selected by the Retail Hub such as Beyond The Runway, Fringuant, and Emperia, BuyBuddy pioneering solutions to navigating the intersection of technology and high-end fashion and more by clicking below.

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What: Organised fraud groups are increasingly targeting retail accounts and loyalty programmes with advanced verification bypass and synthetic identity techniques, driving a surge in account takeovers and bot-driven attacks.

Why it is important: This escalation reflects a broader industry shift toward more targeted, sophisticated fraud, requiring retailers to strengthen layered defenses and real-time monitoring.

The Q1 2026 RH-ISAC benchmarks reveal a significant transformation in the account fraud landscape, with organized criminal groups leveraging advanced verification bypass and synthetic identity techniques to exploit retail, QSR, airline, and accommodation accounts. Retailers are now facing a surge in account takeovers, loyalty program abuse, and bot-driven attacks, particularly around high-demand products. The professionalisation of fraud services, including KYC and 2FA bypass, has made it increasingly difficult for traditional security measures to keep pace. Macroeconomic pressures, such as inflation and geopolitical instability, have further increased the value of stored credits and loyalty points, making them prime targets for sophisticated fraudsters. As legal and regulatory frameworks struggle to keep up with rapid technological advances, retailers are compelled to implement their own adaptive security strategies, focusing on layered defences, real-time intelligence sharing, and cross-functional collaboration to protect customer trust and business continuity.

IADS Notes: The Q1 2026 RH-ISAC findings align with recent industry reports, such as the May 2026 Retail Dive analysis documenting a shift toward targeted account takeovers and the March 2026 RH-ISAC emphasis on integrating cybersecurity with fraud prevention. The June 2025 Sainsbury’s loyalty programme breach illustrates the vulnerability of digital assets, while the March 2026 and April 2026 articles highlight how rapid AI adoption is outpacing security measures, exposing retailers to new risks. These developments collectively underscore the urgent need for adaptive, layered security and real-time monitoring to sustain customer trust and operational resilience.

Inside the account fraud economy: Q1 2026 benchmarks for retail

What: The rise of autonomous AI agents in retail is exposing the sector to novel cybersecurity risks that traditional frameworks cannot address.

Why it is important: Addressing these risks is critical for maintaining consumer trust and regulatory compliance in an increasingly digital retail environment.

The integration of agentic AI systems in retail is accelerating, promising significant operational efficiencies and new forms of customer engagement. However, this rapid technological shift is introducing a new class of cybersecurity risks that existing security frameworks are ill-equipped to manage. Autonomous AI agents, capable of making independent decisions and interacting with sensitive data, create vulnerabilities similar to those exploited by malware, increasing the potential for data breaches and system manipulation. As retailers embrace these advanced digital operators, the absence of tailored security protocols heightens the risk of regulatory non-compliance and erodes consumer trust. The sector faces mounting pressure to develop adaptive governance structures and real-time monitoring solutions that can address the unique challenges posed by agentic AI. Without robust security measures, the promise of AI-driven innovation in retail could be undermined by escalating threats, making it imperative for organisations to prioritise security as a foundational element of their digital transformation strategies.

IADS Notes: The rapid adoption of agentic AI in retail is fundamentally transforming operational efficiency and customer experience, but it is also exposing a widening gap between technological innovation and cybersecurity preparedness, as highlighted by RH-ISAC in March 2026. Autonomous AI agents now act in ways that closely resemble malware, introducing new risks that require real-time monitoring and robust governance, as detailed by Harvard Business Review in April 2026. Traditional security frameworks are proving inadequate, prompting urgent calls for new, tailored protocols to address the unique vulnerabilities of agentic AI, as emphasised by RH-ISAC in April 2026. Boards and executive leadership are under increasing pressure to strengthen oversight and ensure compliance with evolving regulations, given the escalating cyber threats from AI-driven innovation, as noted by Harvard Business Review in April 2026. The sector’s vulnerability is further underscored by The Robin Report in August 2025, which described how AI systems are susceptible to manipulation through prompt injection attacks, amplifying existing security risks and demanding a shift in how retailers approach digital risk management.

The missing security layer in agentic AI in retail

What: Retail CISOs are facing incremental budget growth, rising AI-driven risks, and expanding responsibilities amid persistent security maturity challenges.

Why it is important: The report’s insights confirm that budget constraints, skill shortages, and evolving threats are driving a strategic pivot toward intelligence sharing and robust incident response in retail.

The "CISO Benchmark 2026" report reveals that retail CISOs are navigating a landscape marked by modest increases in cybersecurity budgets, with spending growth often outpaced by the complexity and volume of threats. Artificial intelligence has emerged as both a critical tool and a significant risk, introducing new governance challenges and requiring fresh investment in oversight and controls. Despite technological advancements, staffing levels remain stable, with a focus on leveraging AI to enhance efficiency rather than reduce headcount. The role of the CISO has expanded beyond traditional IT security to encompass broader business risk domains, including third-party risk management, business continuity, and fraud prevention, reflecting the sector’s growing digital footprint and regulatory scrutiny. However, the maturity of security programs in retail continues to lag, with ongoing concerns about data leakage, insider threats, and insufficient controls. These persistent challenges underscore the need for integrated, resilient security strategies that can adapt to evolving threats and maintain consumer trust in an increasingly digital retail environment.

IADS Notes: The "CISO Benchmark 2026" report’s findings are strongly reinforced by recent industry analyses, which consistently highlight the escalating complexity and impact of cyber threats on the retail sector. The sharp rise in sophisticated attacks, as detailed in the March 2026 Unit 42 Global Incident Response Report, has made cybersecurity a core business risk, directly affecting profitability and customer trust. This urgency is echoed in the February 2026 Harvard Business Review, which documents the sector’s strategic shift toward collective resilience and industry-wide collaboration, moving beyond isolated prevention. The evolving responsibilities of CISOs, including the integration of fraud prevention and cybersecurity, are underscored by the March 2026 RH-ISAC article, reflecting the need for cross-functional coordination as digital transformation expands the attack surface. Intelligence sharing and collaborative engagement, as described in the January 2026 RH-ISAC Intelligence Trends Summary, are now central to effective threat response and operational continuity. Persistent challenges such as budget constraints, skill shortages, and lagging security maturity, highlighted in the August 2025 Retail Bulletin and July 2025 CISO Benchmark Report, further validate the report’s emphasis on the necessity of robust, integrated security strategies to sustain growth and maintain consumer trust.

CISO Benchmark Report 2026

What: The speed of AI deployment in retail and hospitality is outstripping the development of effective cybersecurity, increasing operational risks.

Why it is important: The trend underscores the increasing risk of sophisticated cyber threats as retailers prioritise rapid AI adoption over robust security.

Retail and hospitality sectors are experiencing a surge in AI adoption, with organizations leveraging advanced technologies to enhance operational efficiency and customer engagement. However, this rapid technological progress is creating a significant gap between innovation and security, as cybersecurity measures struggle to keep pace with the speed of AI deployment. The resulting vulnerabilities expose retailers to new and evolving threats, including sophisticated cyber attacks and novel risks such as prompt injection. Despite the clear benefits of AI-driven innovation, only a small fraction of retailers have achieved mature digital security, leaving the majority susceptible to breaches that can compromise both operations and customer trust. This imbalance is forcing industry leaders to urgently reassess their digital strategies, emphasising the need for robust governance, transparency, and integrated security protocols. As the sector continues to evolve, the challenge remains to balance the pursuit of technological advancement with the imperative to protect sensitive data and maintain operational resilience.

IADS Notes: The rapid adoption of AI in retail and hospitality is fundamentally transforming operational efficiency and customer experience, but it is also exposing a widening gap between technological innovation and cybersecurity readiness. As highlighted by RH-ISAC in March 2026, retailers are deploying AI at unprecedented speed, yet security protocols are struggling to keep pace, creating new vulnerabilities and operational risks. The Bain & Company Technology Report from September 2025 underscores that while 87% of AI-adopting retailers have seen revenue growth, only 18% possess mature digital core security, leaving the sector exposed to high-profile breaches. The Robin Report in August 2025 details how AI integration introduces novel threats such as prompt injection attacks, amplifying existing risks and demanding robust governance. The Financial Times in November 2025 emphasises that the explosive growth of AI-driven commerce is forcing retailers to recalibrate digital strategies and urgently address transparency and responsible governance. Meanwhile, The Retail Bulletin in August 2025 reports a surge in sophisticated cyber threats, with ransomware accounting for 30% of incidents and only a minority of retailers equipped with adequate security, highlighting the urgent need for integrated, proactive security strategies to sustain growth and customer trust.
The speed gap: Why AI in retail and hospitality is outpacing security

The speed gap: Why AI in retail and hospitality is outpacing security