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Washington--The coming year will be “all about the customer,” especially when it comes to reaching and serving them via online channels, a new study from the National Retail Federation (NRF) and KPMG finds.

The 10th annual “Retail Horizons: Benchmarks for 2011, Forecasts for 2012” survey shows that two-thirds of retailers rank customer satisfaction as their top strategic initiative for 2012, and 82 percent said customer service strategies will be their top priority in the coming year. That is up from 75 percent last year.

Also, more retailers will be focusing on increasing m-commerce sales, 38 percent vs. 29 percent last year and increasing online sales, 85 percent vs. 83 percent last year. In addition, more than half of retailers (53 percent) said they would focus on web personalization engines in the coming months, which includes location-based services and tracking methods for consumers’ shopping habits.

The survey also showed that by the end of the year, some 50 percent of retailers plan to use mobile point-of-sale technology, such as iPads, in their stores. And 45 percent of companies said they actively are developing widgets, gadgets or advanced links for incorporation into their social media pages, while 41 percent plan to develop such items over the next 18 months.

Other findings of the survey include:

- Sales improved for retailers in 2011, with 33 percent of those surveyed reporting sales increases of greater than 5 percent in same-store sales, as compared to 21 percent in 2010. A recent National Jeweler survey showed that among fine jewelry retailers, 55 percent reported same-store sales gains of greater than 5 percent in 2011.
http://www.nationaljeweler.com/nj/independents/a/~27779-Exclusive-Report-A-strong-year

- More than half (52 percent) of survey-takers said they plan to increase their information technology budgets in 2010.

- New customer acquisition is a top strategic priority in 2012 for 59 percent of retailers, up from 55 percent last year.

The NRF Foundation, the organization’s research and education arm, along with audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG surveyed 247 retail executives from various sectors for the Horizons report. The executives who responded represent a total of 135 North American retail companies from a range of businesses, including department and specialty stores to supermarkets, restaurants and online companies.