Customer expectations are constantly changing in the business landscape due to digitization. Before, a website or a mere digital presence was enough to separate you from your nearest competitor. But today, businesses have to continuously innovate and ensure they are providing new, exciting digital experiences– or risk being left behind. Case in point, an HBR report cites the number one reason more than half (52 percent) of the Fortune 500 have disappeared since the year 2000 is their failure to achieve digital change. Though a relatively new term, the Connected Customer describes those customers that interact with brands through digital channels such as websites, apps or Alexa skills.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to lead a session at the SAS Global Forum, along with Intel VP Steve Brown and Lori Schafer, SAS Retail Executive Advisor, on how retailers can create better in-store context for today's connected customer. SAS Institute is a Cisco analytics partner and we had some exciting discussions during this event. Let's take a minute to define what we mean by the connected consumer. First, let's not get too focused on the idea of Millennials or Generation Y – users of all ages are very active on their mobile devices and social media. What we are talking about is not an age group, but a group of consumers that is always connected via their smart devices.