Target intends to keep investing heavily in customer experience technology, but mobile is playing a critical role.

If you think that most consumers prefer shopping online these days, you might want to think again. Most consumers still prefer to buy their goods the old fashioned way, in brick-and-mortar stores if price isn't a factor, according to a new study on consumer buying patterns from cloud CRM (customer relationship management) giant Salesforce.

The next thing you try on at the mall might be a virtual reality headset. No longer relegated to video gamers, VR is coming to amusement parks, movie theaters and classrooms. But the technology presents a major opportunity for retailers as they try to lure fickle shoppers into their stores, particularly as consumers shift more of their buying habits online.

Businesses that struggle to establish solid lines of communication for collaboration will also most likely struggle when implementing business process management software.

If the customer is "at the center of everything," so, too, should be a company's system for managing customer relationships. In other words, customer relationship management software needs to be more than just a way to handle queries about products or fielding feedback from clients.

Customer service is at an all-time low and customer satisfaction in dealing with a product or service issue is just as low, about 40 percent with two of three consumers likely to experience rage during an interaction with a customer service rep. About 54 percent of gift recipients this past holiday season will be dealing with at least one problem regarding a gift or service received from a friend or family member.

The last decade has seen many technological advancements in known payment environments. The introduction of point-of-sale systems has changed payment experiences by replacing cash registers in many scenarios. Credit cards have become a preferred mode of payment and more merchants are working toward accepting them.