Nearly all retailers have admitted they are struggling to turn their customer data into valuable insight to deliver the personalised marketing consumers are demanding – with many conceding they have more information than they can
use.
That is the stark reality of retail marketing today, according to a survey commissioned by SAP (UK), which shows customers are not only demanding cheap prices, but also want to be recognised as individuals and be targeted accordingly.
Some 88% of companies of the 100 surveyed said they found it difficult to turn the customer data they get into useful insight that could help with that task of personalisation.
And while 75% of retailers say their customers demand a more personalised service, more than half said they had more data than they could use.
SAP UK and Ireland retail industry principal Chris Osborne said: “2012 is the year retailers are putting a lot of focus on the customer because it’s so important in this economic climate to be able to retain your loyal customers as much as possible.
“Therefore to be able to give them that kind of personalised service and personalised promotions, becomes increasingly important. More than three quarters of the retailers we surveyed said their customers had become more responsive to offers over the past couple of years or so. I guess the reason is that customers have less disposable income so they’re driving a hard bargain by shopping around.”
Retailers need to get to grips with ‘Big Data’ now in order to be able to cope with the deluge of data that is available, both on their business and their customers, the report claims.
Osborne added: “We all know data is valuable, it’s why we have spent the past ten years working tirelessly to record as much of it as possible. But without using it, it loses us time, money and the ability to provide good customer service.”
And it appears time could be running out as more than a third (37%) of the retail companies surveyed said customers were becoming increasingly reluctant to provide information.
“The more you fail to act on data, the more customers are likely to lose interest and look towards your competitors who are providing a more personalised service” said Osborne.
The challenge isn’t how we capture and store this fast flowing stream of information, it’s how we convert it into something else that enables a value exchange between a brand and its customers. This is something that elevates the brand/customer relationship from a purely transactional one to an emotional connection based on trust.
The first step for brands to achieve this is to learn how to listen to their customers, along with using the appropriate customer intelligence technology to deliver exceptional insight – insight than can be used to deliver highly targeted campaigns that start to truly engage with customers.