Consumers have no shortage of highly personalized, exclusive and convenient shopping experiences, both in person and online.
With the click of a button, a consumer sitting in their living room can take a short quiz, try on frames virtually and order the perfect pair of new glasses to be delivered right to their door. Similarly, many global makeup and clothing brands use technology to match consumers with a personal stylist who will select items for individual consumers.
While high-quality experiential shopping experiences delight consumers, they also lead higher consumer expectations. And if companies want to keep up, they need to understand their customers and satisfy their preferences.
Take a closer look at how brands and retailers can use customer experience data to deliver superior customer experiences that win customers over time.
What is customer experience data and why is it important?
Customer experience data is any information a company collects about a customer’s interactions with and perceptions of a company, product, or service.
This data may include the following:
- Customer Satisfaction Scores (CSAT)
- Net Promoter Points (NPS)
- Brand Interaction Data
- Use of the Site
- Purchase history
- Customer feedback
- Online reviews
- Behavioral data
- Customer service interactions
Organizations may collect this data through market research methods (such as surveys, online communities, and interviews), third-party data, such as tracking pixels, and first- and zero-party data.
Customer experience data is important for brands and retailers because it reveals exactly what your consumers expect, how they respond to various interactions with your company, and whether or not they like your company.
To quantify this, 74% of consumers (Forbes:) are at least somewhat likely to buy based on experience alone, and 86% of consumers (Emplifi:) would abandon the brand after just two bad experiences.
To summarize, customer experience data gives you the information you need to keep your customers happy and loyal, and that impacts your bottom line.
How are retail brands using customer experience data?
Before we dive into how retail brands use customer experience data, it’s important to note that not all data collection methods are created equal.
Gartner reports that poor data quality costs an average of $15 million annually. This figure shows why retail brands should invest data managementwhich allows you to track and clean your data and measure its accuracy.
Assuming your data collection methods are top-notch, here are three ways you can use your data to improve your retail business and deliver a superior customer experience.
1. Use customer experience data for personalization
Agreed McKinsey & Company’s In the Next in Personalization 2021 report, 71% of customers want personalized purchases and 76% are disappointed when they don’t get them.
Collecting the right data provides demographic information, location data and customer preferences that retailers can use to personalize the shopping experience.
For example, with web and app tracking, retailers can monitor what products customers are browsing online and send promotional emails to the customer with deals on those specific products.
2. Use customer experience data to improve products
The truth hurts. If customers don’t like your product, they won’t continue to buy it, no matter how good your marketing strategy and tactics are.
Top retail brands keep tabs how customers feel about their products and services. And they do this by asking customers directly through surveys. Some common customer research strategies include NPS and CSAT.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
The NPS survey is a one-question survey that asks customers how likely they are (on a scale of one to 10) to recommend a retailer based on their interactions with the company. If a company receives a low rating, it can contact the customer directly for more detailed feedback.
Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSAT)
CSAT measures how customers feel about a particular product, service or overall experience. Customer satisfaction surveys also often include open-ended questions that allow customers to provide qualitative feedback. CSATs are a great tool for identifying customer pain points and improving the overall customer experience.
When retail brands understand how customers feel about their products or services, it’s easy to make changes to cater to their target market.
3. Use customer experience data to improve marketing efforts
Today’s marketers don’t waste marketing spend on guesswork. Instead, they double down on customer experience and attribution data to refine their marketing messages and maximize ad spend.
Accurate customer experience data tells marketers who their customers are, what they prefer, and what and how they buy. Marketers and advertisers use this information to create more focused marketing campaigns that target the right audience.
Change with your customers, not after they change
Your customers are the lifeblood of your business. If you don’t know who they are, how they feel about your company and your products, and their preferences, it will be difficult for your retail brand to grow.
The best way to stay ahead of the curve is to collect and use customer experience data to personalize your customer experiences, improve your products, and inform your marketing messages.