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If retailers think customers engagement was easier back in 1992, it’s because they didn’t know what they didn’t know.

Back then, Amazon AMZN was just a sparkle in Jeff Bezos’ eye. People happily crowded indoor shopping malls. No one owned a smart phone. And most retailers had to guess what their customers did outside of their stores.

Then came data technology. Over 30 years, online and “mail-order” retail advanced to $870 billion from $35 billion. Mobile purchases are predicted to control nearly 43% of all ecommerce by 2024. And the retail industry has blossomed – tripling to nearly $6 trillion from $2 trillion.

Of course, the consumer population has blossomed, as well, along with the many places they shop.

Yet the fundamentals that shape consumer behavior today are not too different than they were decades ago; technology has just altered how people realize the fundamentals. These seven behavioral lessons, as true today as decades ago, bear me out. Here’s what history has shown us.

Consumers Don’t Always Know What They Want

It’s true; retailers may lead the way for consumers occasionally, but their customers are right frequently enough to require that companies follow them always, and closely. Retailers and marketers know a lot more than they did in 1992, and the good ones continue to build off those historic lessons. However, I’d wager there is still a lot they don’t know, and won’t know, until their customers show the way.