7 ways to use in-store, online, and mobile data to drive your bottom line

The recent announcement of Oracle’s Micros acquisition speaks to the tremendous opportunity that still exists for retailers to integrate their in-store systems with e-commerce – and now mobile – solutions. Most merchants struggle with disparate data and a lack of visibility across in-store, online, and mobile channels. These merchants are missing the opportunity to distribute targeted promotions, incentives, discounts, and special offers to their best customers. As merchants evaluate technology platforms to address this need, they should think about leveraging data across all buying and engagement channels to boost their bottom line.

Here are seven considerations:

1. Use SKU-level data to inform online and mobile offers

A big data payoff can come from the insights that exist in SKU-level, in-store purchase data. This data can be used to personalize communication with customers online. For example, if a merchant knows that a customer has just bought a pair of jeans in-store, that data can be used to quickly trigger an e-mail campaign offering a matching shirt or accessory. The offered product could be tied to an incentive and expiration date. The result is a targeted and relevant up-sell opportunity designed to increase average spend and convert the consumer to cross the plane from in-store to on-line.

2. Convert in-store activity into branded currency that can be used online or through mobile

One advantage of a loyalty program is that it provides an easy mechanism for tracking a customer’s total spend in-store. This data can, in turn, be used to create an online or mobile promotion where the consumer is offered double loyalty points for purchases made online, or 2-for-1 point redemption for online or mobile purchases. The purpose is to convert customers, who may only shop in-store, to start spending money online or via their mobile device. Such a policy may also encourage online spenders to come in-store. Tripling the possible channels for spending also increases impulse purchases, brand loyalty, advocacy, and overall spend.

3. Leverage Wi-Fi and beacons to better understand in-store shopping habits

Many retailers are enthusiastic about free in-store Wi-Fi and low-energy Bluetooth beacons as a resource to capture more relevant in-store consumer data. This data will provide a new source of insight and allow stores to craft tailored e-mail and mobile offers. For example, a merchant could use beacons to know when a loyal customer enters a store. A specific and relevant offer could then be sent to the customer based on their recent purchases, total spend, loyalty status, last visit, and demographic information. As system integrations become more holistic, companies creating business intelligence tools and aggregators can put more and more data to work.

Duane Reade, a veritable Manhattan institution, is one of the first companies to leverage beacon technology at scale. According to Appleinsider.com, Duane Reade says:

Customers will be able to receive notifications on their lock screen as they approach a store in which iBeacon hardware has been installed. Customers might also get discount offers based on what they have previously purchased, or have product reviews pushed to their devices as they evaluate items in the store.

What beacons and Wi-Fi technology have the ability to do in-store is incredible and comparable to the power of online engagement. The merchant has the same power in-store to do things like incentivize an impulse buy or communicate with the customer if they leave without making a purchase. The latter would be equivalent to the tracking of abandoned shopping carts online.

4. Use geolocation data to communicate relevant offers and redemptions

Geo-targeting is not a new concept for retail marketers. However, in the past geo-targeting has been relatively one dimensional, exclusively targeting consumers based on geography. If geo-targeting is combined with other data such as a customer’s explicit preferences, click data, or past purchase behavior it can entice the consumer with a hyper-personalized offer.

5. Tap new types of in-store analytics to know more about the consumer

RetailNext is an example of a new breed of retail analytics technology that tells a retailer more about consumer’s in-store behavior. The technology can be used to create heat maps of in-store foot traffic, leverage integrations with Wi-Fi technology, POS, and even access the local weather. This helps brands learn what customers are doing in-store and why.

One application could be determining where people spend the most time in-store. Retailers can use that information to help drive content for online offers. Stores might also send an e-mail promoting the in-store product that is most visited by customers.

6. Use enrollment to get access to mobile devices

Loyalty enrollment is a challenge for any retailer. Typically, cashiers are trained to recruit customers to join the brands loyalty program at the point of sale. A priceless integration is one that enables the POS and loyalty program to speak directly to the customer. To better enable this, the mobile number should be the minimum single variable to enroll customers. Brands can then send a text message to confirm enrollment, push them to their app if applicable, and allow consumers to accept offers via push or text. It’s a great way to get more touch points with customers through a simple enrollment using information the retailer acquired in-store.

Free Wi-Fi access is another great way to leverage the mobile device to push loyalty enrollment. Offering free Wi-Fi, with an interstitial for data capture, is a perfect way to make your Wi-Fi expenditure worth it. Sure, you can have free Wi-Fi, and your fee is some data. Seems like a fair trade to me.

7. Make sure that your gift and loyalty programs can function both in-store and online

A lot of brands today still don’t have gift and loyalty programs that can combine an in-store point-of-sale system with a back-end e-commerce solution. Further, many have two different departments managing in-store and online revenue and don’t have programs in place that recognize that consumers may purchase both in-store and online. How powerful would it be if we could track how a single customer spends in-store and online within the same program. It may seem like a concept far from novel, but you’d be surprised how many brands would look at the consumer as two individual customers: one that shops in-store and one that shops online.

While this is not an exhaustive discussion of data integration across channels, it will allow your company to know more about your customers’ habits and leverage that knowledge to change behavior, increase engagement, and ultimately boost your bottom line.

What other opportunities exist?

For the full story click here

Jenna Flateman Posner is Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for Clutch (clutch.com), the leading provider of advanced consumer management, intelligence and loyalty solutions for many of the world’s premier brands. Jenna's experience spans Publishing to Payments and Advertising to Business Development while serving strategic roles for both innovative startups like Levelup and Curalate and leading corporations like Getty Images. You can follow Jenna on Twitter @jflateman

clutch.com | Clutch on LinkedIn | @clutchsuccess