Marketing
Data's role in creating not just 1 customer journey but tens of journeys
Retail Customer Experience interviewed Melissa Tatoris, chief innovation catalyst at MarTech company Acoustic, an independent and open marketing cloud and analytics provider, on why data is so critical for retailers moving forward post COVID-19.
May 14, 2021 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com
As the retail industry climbs out from under the all-encompassing COVID-19 pandemic, with shoppers trekking back into stores yet still spending most shopping time online, both pure e-commerce and physical store retailers need to boost everything digital.
That means making everything seamless, from product discovery to payment transactions, as consumers are more impatient than ever and have greater expectations when it comes to the customer journey and shopping experience.
A key element to making all that happen is data. Yes, those piles and folders and excel sheets and trend statistics. All that increasing amount of information about what consumers are doing, what they're not doing, how they view retailers and why their loyalty seems to be shrinking is all going to prove invaluable to digital retail innovation and, most importantly, retail success going forward.
To get deeper insight on how and why data is playing a critical part of retail innovation in the post-pandemic environment, Retail Customer Experience reached out to Melissa Tatoris, chief innovation catalyst at MarTech company Acoustic, an independent and open marketing cloud and analytics provider whose client list includes PayPal and Ticketmaster.
Q. Data is increasingly becoming a top, if not the top, tool for retailers striving to create a personalized, custom journey. Do you see it becoming even more critical, or is how it's being used the big evolution at this point?
A. Yes, data is the fuel that will continue to transform retailers in their personalization and digital journeys. However, many retailers have too much data and are starving for wisdom. Getting to the data is complicated; synthesizing the data and orchestrating it in a meaningful and relevant way is extremely complex. As brands move on the continuum from just beginning their digital transformation to trailblazing forward, datasets will only become more vast, and laser-focused vision will be pertinent.
Q. How can retail marketing leaders best manage data and does it fall just onto marketing or is data something every retail division should be taking advantage of?
A. To drive sales from newly acquired customers and growth and retention from current customers, it's critical to bring the data into accessible data streams that marketing can easily execute against. Leveraging technology that centralizes your data from disparate systems can help you identify patterns, issues, and opportunities. If you have your data in silos, your digital transformation will be stopped in its tracks.
It is also critical to have a segmentation strategy so that you can create additional attributes for each individual in order to maximize your customer file. I know a retailer that has a customer file of over 20 million customers with over 4,500 segments all based on attributes — all created with an omni- or all-channel approach. Breaking down customer journeys from every aspect of their engagement is the first step in designing the attribution.
Q. Many surveys reveal consumers expect to be engaged but it's not an easy strategy as they want to be engaged via their choice of channel. Why is multi-channel marketing the best way and what does a retailer need to do to establish a good CX foundation for that strategy?
A. It is so interesting how we've morphed the last 15 years from cross-channel to omnichannel and now, to customer channel. The customer is at the forefront of the channel now and it is crucial to connect with them in a personalized and relevant manner (content + product + offer) based on their behavior. All too often retailers forget to bring in every data point that matters and to use a critical eye in determining who to target, with what message, and when. Consumers have gotten smarter through the years and expect retailers to use their behaviors to interact with them. Creating journeys (many 10s of them) all based on behavior, then deploying with an A/B/N test strategy helps you not only understand their preferences and drive conversion, but also understand marketing attribution and the "halo" effect across channels. It goes both ways: customers want and expect the engagement and retailers need to understand "at what cost."
Q. Finally, are there any common missteps and/or misconceptions that retailers may have about CX data, how to manage it, and how to best utilize it?
A. A big misconception is the endless aisle. While this is the best way to offer the most brands and products, it is a Trojan horse for consumers when retailers don't use it in a helpful manner. Consumers have less time on their hands to "discover" these brands and products and therefore relevancy in marketing is paramount. With work from home creating endless screen time, consumers have less of a desire to be on-screen more than they must, making the idea of "discovery" no longer valid. Retailers must use every marketing tactic possible — from email to mobile to offline — to amplify a relevant journey.
Also, retailers need to have a combined strategy for those loyalists that have been with your brand for years. Just because a consumer bought something one year ago doesn't mean you should lead with it. You need to access your data and have a comprehensive, 360-degree view of the customer. Next best offer is short-sighted as well (crowd-sourced or otherwise). Consumers change daily and are impacted by over 4,000 ads per day. Retailers must continue to reinvent themselves to stay relevant and data is at the forefront.
About Judy Mottl
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