At the ANA’s 2019 Joint Shopper/Commerce & Experiential Marketing Committee Meeting, Tania Wendt, SVP Engagement and Strategy for tms (formerly The Marketing Store), spoke alongside Betsy Zurek, Director Retail Experience, US Marketing for McDonald’s, about delivering successful retail experience.

The event centered on the intersection of commerce and experience in the retail world, highlighting success stories of brands managing to deliver delightful, frictionless customer interactions in new, innovative ways.

Specifically, Tania and Betsey spoke to the challenge of serving up the right message at the right time in the retail world. The goal? To turn brand love into brand purchase, to close the sale while priming customers for their next ones.

They also defined the main components of successful retail experience: it’s connected, personal, empowered, frictionless and inviting. But, as they explained, it’s truly data-informed strategy, creative excellence and facilitative tech that really drive retail experience.

With millions of customers, it’s difficult to establish one-to-one connection without the help of technology and data. At tms (formerly The Marketing Store), we use the insights McDonald’s takes in at its restaurants to map the customer journey and provide customers with what they need when they need it, minimizing pain points.

While numbers are key, alone they can’t provide the greatest possible experience. Tania and Betsy pointed out that creativity truly fosters connection. Feel Good Design brings life to McDonald’s brand promise.

But how does it all happen day-to-day? Facilitative in-store technology has the power to make or break a customer’s experience. Tania and Betsy stressed how important it is for it to fit with a brand and its purpose. Too many brands utilize tech in undeserving ways. We aim to employ technology only in the ways McDonald’s consumers actually want.

Tania, Betsy and team are constantly striving to innovate along the path to purchase as the time becomes right for both the system and the customer.

tms (formerly The Marketing Store), a global customer engagement agency, was awarded the Global Supplier of the Year Award for their work with McDonald’s Happy Meal.

Francesca DeBiase, EVP Chief Supply Chain and Sustainability Officer at McDonald’s, presented the award at the McDonald’s Worldwide Convention and highlighted the outstanding work tms (formerly The Marketing Store) has done to optimize the Happy Meal toy production infrastructure, transitioning smoothly to become the sole production agency, creating significant cost savings, while maintaining the highest quality and safety standards for such a critical element of McDonald’s family business.

“It’s partners like tms (formerly The Marketing Store) who prioritize McDonald’s as a customer and live our supply chain values every single day,” says Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s CEO. “They are great examples of self-managed excellence in action … always innovating, helping to offset rising costs and investing in technology for all the benefits of our future. We win together.”

tms (formerly The Marketing Store) and McDonald’s have been in partnership together for more than 30 years.

Originally published here on QSR Magazine.