Has the internet changed the nature of the way shopping occurs in stores these days? more
In today’s typical retail environment customer intelligence is fragmented and only captured in the minds of the sales associate. Furthermore, there is no real way to enter it into a central repository other than the dreaded “black book” of the individual sales associate.
The following Case Study is applicable to large department or specialty retailers having a recognized brand and operating stores throughout the US which sell apparel, accessories and other soft goods.
While many of the target customers may have implemented CRM solutions, they have failed to deliver on their promise of improved customer service. The re-active CRM solutions are unable to win customer’s share of mind and wallet-share and the loyalty programs at best temporarily generates incremental revenues during a promotion but fail to breed customer loyalty. Consumers are becoming more demanding for a better in-store experience. And retailers need to deliver while holding the line on payroll costs and. The only way to breed loyalty and deliver exceptional customer service is by acting in the customer’s interest. And this can only happen from new customer intelligence.
At Novitaz, our mission is to enable exceptional customer service. For our clients, and prospective clients, to deliver this to their end customers we are convinced there needs to be a paradigm shift in how our clients think about customers and the knowledge derived from their shopping behavior. Conventional ideas will simply not work any longer – a paradigm shift is required.
The paradigm shifts are best articulated in the context of the following cycle, which we call “Closing the Customer Intelligence Loop.” Progressing through the following phases closes the customer intelligence loop:
The first step in this process is getting the complete data. Today, customer demographic data and frequent shopper transaction data are available. What is missing is “customer visit data.” We call this “store session metrics.” This is as powerful as session data on an ecommerce website, except many times more valuable. Since 93% of commerce takes place at brick and mortar store where as ecommerce does not exceed 5%. Store session metrics is far richer than transaction data. At Novitaz we capture the session data from the time the customer enters the store till she leaves, even if she does not buy. Example of session metrics include time and location of entry/exit, time spent in the various departments, product trials, interactions with sales associates. We believe that store session metrics is far richer than transaction data, and when combined with transaction data and demographic profiles it completes the 360 degree view of the customer. Please see attached a recent blog article on the 360 degree customer view.
Once we have holistic data about the customer we can truly get to know the customer and gather invaluable insights. First we must segment the customer data into meaningful categories. These categories would be primarily based on your business rules and would include industry standard basis of categorization such as demographic profile, RFM scores and marketing engagement profiles. In addition, we could enhance the segmentation based on store session metrics which Novitaz capture. For example, speed shoppers, whose average duration are short, could be a dimension for segmentation.
Armed with complete knowledge and insights we are now able to respond in a meaningful manner and realize exceptional service. The Novitaz’s solution augments your existing solutions in the following areas:
Customer: Here we interface with your existing clienteling solution and create engagement plans based not only prior purchases but also on store session metrics. These engagement plans can be delivered through your existing clienteling solution. Novitaz's solution also markets directly to your customers within the store without a sales associate in the loop. The messaging could be 1:1 or to customer segments. In the customer facing area, Novitaz’s solution:
Employees: Novitaz's store session metrics quantifies the performance of sales associates. Customer interactions are captured and the Novitaz solution collects the fragmented customer intelligence in the minds of the sales associates and makes it available as a centralized corporate repository.
On the employee front, Novitaz’s solution:
Merchandizing: This is another area of high impact. The transaction data only tells part of the story visa-a-vis merchandising. The more important aspect of the story is what merchandise the customer interested in purchasing. Only a small portion of what a customer is interested in buying is converted into purchases -- the price, customer service and the customer's ability to purchase must all align for the purchase to be realized. With Novitaz’s solution you will get a more accurate picture of consumer demand and thereby prevent lost sales due to out of stocks.
In the area of merchandising, Novitaz’s solution:
Novitaz’s Responses are measured by the following Key Performance Indicators:
Increases in all of the above KPIs lead to increases in same stores sales which are significantly above industry averages – the hallmark of a winner!
