Why Salesforce's global retail VP is optimistic about the future for retailers

No one would doubt it's been a tough decade for retailers, and many have failed in the face of digital disruption and transformation. But for Salesforce senior VP of retail and consumer goods, Shelley Bransten, the rise of relationship-based engagement is offering up reasons to be increasingly optimistic about the retail market moving forward. "We're getting beyond the world of transactions and back to the heart of retail, which is creating relationships with shoppers," she told attendees at the recent Salesforce Connections event in Chicago. "The shopper is in control and expectations are higher than ever." Yet with less than 1 per cent of customer data being looked at in the retail sphere, let alone being realised in engagement and interactions, there is plenty of room for improvement, Bransten said.