Page 32 - April 2021

SPECIAL FEATURE: CUSTomER EngAgEmEnT & LoyALTy

Let’s Get Personal

igital innovation has led to a myriad of ways planet and is at the very heart of personalisation. You
for retailers and brands to engage with and need: data to deliver relevant and engaging experiences
sell to customers. But with so many options, it’s across all channels and devices, the right systems and
D more challenging than ever to determine resources to capture and make sense of the data you
also
the right strategies for deepening customer engagement have, and content that helps deliver personalised
and loyalty. As retailers and brands compete for customer experiences that are aligned to the data insights.
attention, loyalty, and wallet-share, personalising the customer We frequently hear from retailers that they do not
journey and experience should be high on the priority list. have enough data and that the data they do have is
Countless studies show that personalisation is worth the too messy, resides in too many different places, and is
investment. Keeping customers engaged, connected and impossible to manage. A FitForCommerce survey found
resonating with your brand, increases loyalty and therefore that only 1/3 of retailers felt confident that they had the
spend. Most shoppers prefer personalised experiences and right data, that it was usable and that they knew how to
are more likely to make a purchase and spend more money leverage it to personalise the shopping experience.
with retailers that leverage personalisation strategies – as long More often than not, the challenge is not the lack of
as they feel confident that their personal information is secure data, content, or resources, but rather that existing data and
and not misused. content are under-utilised, and resources are overstressed.
Although most retailers, brands, and mall operators recognise Many organisations already track a huge amount of
the value of personalised shopping experiences, the topic of valuable data points and may not even realise it therefore it
personalisation is often surrounded by intimidating concepts becomes the quality of the data that is the issue.
like Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, and thus, putting theory In our experience, when retailers stop and take
into practice can seem like a daunting endeavour. The fear of inventory of their existing resources, data, and content,
GDPR and CCPA is restricting full personalisation, however they realise that they already have the ingredients needed.
new ways of working within these privacy laws are emerging. The real challenge is figuring out how to effectively bring
it all together.
It Is All About the DAtA
It has been said that information is power; however tAke Inventory
information is just data that has been shaped into Personalisation starts with knowing who the customer
a solution. Therefore, if data is the new oil, it has the is. Beyond basic customer profile information, true
potential to become the most important asset on the personalisation requires a complete view of the

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