Everyone talks about the importance of big data. But many organizations, although they collect and store customer data, do not put that data to good use – or they don’t know how to.
So how can businesses leverage all that big data they’ve collected? Following are eight ways to make the most of customer and consumer data.
1. Use customer data to create a more personalized, pleasurable shopping experience. “According to an Infosys study, 70 percent of Americans are willing to spend an average of 13 percent more with companies they feel provide superior service,” says Scot DeLancey, director, Department and Specialty Retail Solution Management,NCR.
By leveraging customer and consumer data, retailers can “make personalized recommendations, inform shoppers of special offers and promotions that are most relevant to them and fully maximize cross-sell and up-sell opportunities to realize increased revenues.”
Video game retailer GameStop, for example, has found that “data from loyalty programs offer the best insight on each customer’s interests, past purchases and engagement preferences,” says Rob Lloyd, its CFO. “This data can be used to create a customized shopping experience down to the individual and even offer product recommendations.”
“Companies with brick and mortar stores can use customer data to improve their customer’s in-store experience,” adds Greg Petro, CEO, First Insight.
“For example, using customer location data and heat maps, companies can better understand and improve traffic flows and recognize where there may be opportunity to optimize a store’s layout or adjust merchandizing displays,” says Chris Wareham, senior director of Product Management, Adobe Analytics. “This technique can even be used at other types of locations, such as stadiums, airports, museums and more.”
“Also, customer data can identify differences in preference by region, enabling stores in each region to feature the right products in store windows and in key locations within the store,” says Petro.
2. Use customer data to customize promotions and special offers. “Successfully analyzing and acting on customer, market and competitive data can help companies provide their customers with customized offers, appropriate marketing and ad campaigns, the right deals, or even when to back off,” says Chris Selland, vice president, business development, big data, HP. “The most loyal customers are also the most profitable, and by analyzing and acting effectively, organizations can ensure long-term customer loyalty and significantly enhance their profitability.”
“Real-time analysis of in-store purchases and website clicks can show a retailer what promotions are effective as loss leaders right now, what high-margin items they drag along with them, and the differences in purchasing habits and profitability for these items between online and in-store purchases,” says Jake Freivald, vice president of product marketing, Information Builders, makers of business intelligence, data integrity and integration software. “That real-time insight based on customer data can ensure the right promotions go to the right channels, ensuring a win-win: happy customers and high profitability.”
3. Use customer data to get helpful product feedback – and improve your products or services. “By applying analytics to customer data, companies can identify the specific products that each customer is likely to want, and the price they are willing to pay,” says Petro.
“One online travel site with more than 2 million members wanted to reward frequent travelers while making it easy and intuitive to cash in on rewards,” says Susan Ganeshan, CMO, Clarabridge, a customer intelligence platform provider. “Using survey feedback data and online reviews, the team was able to improve both the digital experience and the rewards program, propelling them to be named the No. 1 travel site.”
You can also “use customer data to identify the most relevant users to ask for feedback on new features as they're the ones you really want using those features,” says Aaron Forman, manager of Communications, Intercom, which helps businesses connect with customers.
4. Use customer data to improve your marketing. “Big data enables marketers to understand the cross-channel behavior of prospects that become customers, meaning you can see the prospect-to-customer journey and the campaigns that influenced them the most,” says Azita Martin, CMO, Datameer, a big data analytics application for Hadoop.