Unlocking the power of total data to build greater customer loyalty

One of the key principles underpinning the digital economy is that data is ‘the new oil’.

But what does this mean? In truth, it’s an imperfect analogy. A quick Google search can tell you the price of Brent crude, but how do you determine the value of the data you have gathered?

The answer is simple: the value is in how you leverage it.

Like oil, data must be processed and refined before you can extract value from it. But unlike oil, there is no standardised product, and every business must adjust its practices for specific scenarios.

Retailers want to better understand their customers. Today’s data science is offering ever deeper and richer degrees of insight into consumer trends and customer behaviour.

But with shopping becoming ever more personalised, combining data across multiple channels can be challenging. Retailers sometimes feel they are fighting with one arm tied behind their back with a fragmented network of sales channels and back-office systems making it difficult to have a single view of all shoppers.

How can retailers address this challenge?

One of the chief strategies for addressing this is through a unified commerce platform.

How to use a unified commerce platform to build retailer loyalty

The concept is simple; payment providers harvest data from every interaction, market, and sales channel to create a single, consolidated view of each customer. This in turn allows you to more precisely tailor your offer to what your customers are telling you they want – and to ultimately drive greater revenues.

However, as Retail becomes more personalised to individual consumers, the opportunity lies in ‘following’ a shopper across multiple sales channels to build a more complete understanding of their motivations. Payments data is the medium for this message, shining a light on spending patterns, sales performance and average transaction values.

Ultimately, this ‘total data’ approach will enhance the visibility of customers’ behaviours, empowering you to modify your offer to drive more footfall, bigger basket sizes and higher conversion rates.

Planet’s newly published Retail Report provides some useful hints and tips on what to look for and how it can be done.

“Payments providers can help retailers better understand their customers with richer data and deeper insights by integrating across acquiring and processing, gateway, VAT refunds and currency conversion with technology connections across the entire customer journey.” Rory O’Neill, Chief Marketing Officer, Planet

How does a single customer view actually do this?

Two words: hearts and minds.

Customers want to feel valued, and few things will make them feel less valued than general-purpose, one size fits all marketing communications, or the feeling that an offer has been built with a generic customer in mind, rather than built according to their precise needs.

This is an issue across markets: 47% of consumers in France report receiving messages that felt like they weren’t meant for them, with 42% in the UK, 40% in Germany and 36% in the US saying the same thing[1].

If we look at the flip side of this coin, the opportunity becomes clear. Research indicates that 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when they are offered personalised experiences[2]; indeed 92% now expect personalised marketing, up from 82% in 2019.

How can you go about personalising these experiences?

A single customer view allows you to identify your most enthusiastic customers and reward them for their loyalty with deals or early access to sales, improve your recommendations based on their past purchases, and make more sophisticated suggestions for alternative or complementary products to the ones they have already bought.

We all want to feel special, and your customers are no different.

With a unified commerce platform you can build a single customer view which is your route to creating that emotional bond with them – and to maximise the value of that bond by building loyalty and growing revenues.

For more information on how to achieve this and to read the report: CLICK HERE

[1] https://tamebay.com/2019/04/49-of-consumers-sign-up-for-personalisation-but-it-can-get-creepy.html

[2] https://www.epsilon.com/us/about-us/pressroom/new-epsilon-research-indicates-80-of-consumers-are-more-likely-to-make-a-purchase-when-brands-offer-personalized-experiences