Page 33 - April 2021

In the first part of our feature on Customer Engagement

& Loyalty, Kathy Kimple, Chief Retail Officer of
FitForCommerce takes a close look at the topic and

highlights how data can be used to deepen relationships
between brands and their customers.

customer throughout the entire shopping journey marketing platforms offer some level of personalisation
and across channels, including her preferences, habits, functionality that requires little effort to automate yet
interests, etc. yield a high return.
Start by asking a very simple question: What do you After mastering basic personalisation tactics, retailers
already know about your customers? Most retailers can start to build the foundation for more advanced
quickly realise that they are in much better shape than personalisation by ensuring that data is accessible by
they expected. all departments and by having a clear personalisation
Retailers use many different systems and technologies strategy across the entire organisation. The next step is to
to power digital commerce and retail operations such as enhance experiences throughout the shopping journey
digital commerce platforms, order management systems by adding new layers of data, cross-channel insights, and
(OMS), content management systems, marketing engines, artificial intelligence.
analytics, and so on. These systems typically capture and
store data. Modern POS systems and in-store clienteling Create, test, Iterate, repeat
tools now also enable retailers to significantly improve Testing is an integral part of successful retailing. It is even
processes for gathering data about in-store customers. more important when delivering personalised experiences
In an ideal world, all these systems are integrated with because the risk of being irrelevant is so high. As shoppers
a centralised database management system that stores become more demanding, they have less tolerance for those
data across all departments. In reality, this is not always that do not rise to meet their expectations. Customers’
the case, even for larger retailers. Many companies have needs and wants change over time, product offerings change
started to implement centralised databases to manage and new technologies continuously provide improved
data from multiple sources to obtain a complete view of ways to deliver personalised experiences. Personalisation,
the customer. However, the lack of a centralised system therefore, is not a “set and forget it” effort. In order to
should not be used as an excuse not to personalise. The maximise performance, it is critical to constantly test and
most critical step is to understand what data already refine strategies and tactics.
exists, where it resides, and how to leverage it Following this approach will help to identify data gaps and
allow you to build a solid personalisation roadmap supported
Just Do It by relevant technology solutions. The personalisation space
It may not be feasible to integrate digital commerce, has evolved considerably and there are many technology
POS, CRM, OMS, or email data in one place, initially. solutions that may be right for you – ranging from existing
While an AI-powered personalisation engine can help capabilities offered by the platforms you already leverage to
leverage data to deliver personalised experiences across support your business to specialised personalisation engines.
multiple customer touchpoints, retailers can get started The time to start is now... Just Do It, take Inventory,
with what is available today. Most digital commerce and Create, Learn and expand.