Customer Experience Analytics In Retail: How Customer Data Drives Sales

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Darshan Shah

November 3, 2022

Retail and marketing departments are becoming aware of the potential of disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and consumer analytics to increase their customer base, target the proper customers, and hence enhance the retail CX. These intelligent technologies increase visibility by delving deeply into data, giving organizations a greater understanding of consumer habits, preferences, and buying patterns.

90% of business managers think analytics can boost sales.

You can withstand the always-shifting swells of a dynamic market by cultivating a devoted customer base. So, when customer-centric, brands can deliver personalized experiences for greater customer satisfaction. This strategy was adopted early by online giants like Amazon and Netflix, which explains why they have a significant global consumer base.

Enabling Customer Experience Analytics In Retail

Customer experience Analytics is built on the foundation of predictive analytics. Using statistical methods, AI and ML models, and models of customer behavior, it seeks to produce precise predictions.

Retailers, brands, and CX professionals get information from various sources, such as point-of-service software used at checkout, social media, websites, customer support, and in-app interactions. Customer experience Analytics gathers, analyses, and interprets the data collected to pinpoint consumer behaviors for detailed buyer personas based on preferences, purchasing history, requirements, demands, age, geography, gender, etc.

According to specific profiles, marketing directors can create highly personalized strategies and campaigns. This greatly aids in generating, developing, and turning leads into devoted consumers.

Customer experience Analytics is an effective method for companies to comprehend their customers through carefully selected data insights. It also assists them in locating market gaps, outliers, and trends.

10 Ways to Boost Sales Through Customer experience Analytics in Retail

"The main challenges in the retail industry are:

a) Ordering experience: The critical piece here is to build hooks into the customer-facing App/Website at each interaction to provide data.

b) The Delivery Experience: In the grocery business, trust is the most important value that we need to build with the customer. Besides a friendly and professional delivery process, what is important is that the expectations of a customer are met.

c) The third moment of truth in a customer's journey is when they use our products.

Deliver products to customers in a good shape and form. The bottom line is to arrive at those critical metrics that you believe define the CX and have data that enables real-time monitoring of those metrics/KPIs. And this monitoring must be done at the on-ground team level but equally importantly at the senior-most management level," says Sudhakar V S, Co-founder, BigBasket in the Clootrack report.

You must understand how to gather consumer data to enable retail and marketing departments to stay on top of their customers' wants and needs. The significant difference is the enormous rise in internet buying, even though shops changed several components of their shopping experience to accommodate customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. To account for this shift in consumer behavior, you must modify the processes and technology they employ to gather and evaluate CX data. However, you must first consider how they would gain from gathering customer data.

Thanks to Customer Experience Analytics, you can advertise their goods to potential customers at the ideal time and location. It might reveal the goods and services most frequently sought locally. It is simpler to draw customers through focused advertising and discounts.

You can provide a better CX by leveraging Customer Experience Analytics through:

1. Focus on Personalization

5.1% of CX experts believe that lack of personalization leads to subpar CX. Thanks to Customer Experience Analytics, you can personalize marketing and sales strategy for target segments.

For example, users of the Amazon app - An online shopping e-commerce platform, personalized customer experience in the following ways:

It recommends products based on customer preferences
It suggests an ideal product range based on past purchase history
It wishes the customers on their birthdays

2. Figure Out Buying Patterns

"Understanding your customer is a significant factor in go-to-market success. However, I think brands forget to map out the customer journey and buying experience because each demographic has a different way of making purchasing decisions. It's also important to realize that customer expectations are constantly changing due to outside factors (think pandemic, layoffs, housing crash), and brands need to be agile and accept change to satisfy customer needs," says Katelyn Morgan, Marketing & Communications Manager, First American Insurance Agency, Inc. in the Clootrack report.

Customers frequently exhibit predictable purchasing tendencies. More money can be made by offering curated services if you have a deeper understanding of the pattern. As mentioned, Customer Experience Analytics aims to identify insightful patterns in consumer data. So, you can:

see the preferences, interests, and demands of their customers, thanks to these insights
market the most suitable products to each customer demographic to increase brand loyalty

One of the most well-known fashion retailers in America, Nordstrom, for instance, uses consumer analytics to track the purchasing habits of its patrons. They keep tabs on practically everything, beginning with the area of the store consumers frequent most, how long they stay in each area, and other similar activity patterns.

3. Enhance Stock Accuracy

You can concentrate more on things that sell frequently and quickly. This is because of Customer Experience Analytics:

look at sales data to pinpoint the main factors influencing why some goods and services are more in demand than others
pinpoints seasonal patterns to comprehend spikes in customer demand for particular products, assisting shops in keeping adequate stock levels

So, you can utilize data analytics to make checkout and exchange/return processes more effective.

The Japanese beauty company Shiseido has transformed online buying. Customers can digitally apply items to their faces using "cosmetic mirrors," saving them the trouble of repeatedly taking off the tested cosmetics. This allows them to investigate their options and decide which is best for them. Retailers can track quickly moving goods and adjust their inventory levels to meet customer demand.

4. Boost Multi-Channel Visibility

A brand's visibility is increased across all customer-brand contact touchpoints, from shopping to checking out to customer service calls and emails. It also examines social media posts, customer reviews, chats, and phone calls to evaluate customer happiness and brand reputation.

The problem areas can be highlighted by transparency and visibility across all touchpoints, enabling merchants to improve their product positioning, marketing/selling, and customer support strategies.

One such instance of an effective retail company using the power of consumer analytics to strengthen customer relationships is Kate Spade. They already have a sizable fan base spread over several social media sites, including Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. They frequently upload entertaining and motivational content to their accounts to keep their customers interested.

5. Identify CX Hurdles

There can be a market in your company's store that is mainly untapped, such as a group of products you're confident your customers would like. Your website's design makes it difficult for users to navigate, and they never do find the category.

According to a data-driven CX approach, the bottom line is affected by the in-store CX. Business owners and marketers can use data to identify the need to reorganize their store's layout and properly label products to improve CX and make the customer journey as fluid as feasible.

6. Map Out Staff Scheduling

The job market is challenging for merchants. Due to the post-pandemic "Great Resignation," among other things, many promising applicants are choosing not to work full- or part-time. Your ability to accurately staff your store is, therefore, more important than ever.

To prevent overstaffing and traffic congestion, data can assist you in analyzing your consumer traffic flows. For instance, you might discover that your meat counter is busiest on Mondays and Thursdays between 4 and 6 p.m. With this bit of knowledge, you will be able to plan where to put your employees and how long they should work. Counters and beacons can also offer you real-time data on consumer dwell periods, and foot traffic counts to ensure that your team members are always where they are most needed.

7. Track Products Usually Bought Together

Here is a real-life example involving a well-known company. Analysts discovered that some young males who made purchases from their online store on Friday at noon would first buy diapers, then browse the site for a while before making a beer purchase.

Beer and diapers were a weird pairing.

Marketers never considered that consumers would buy alcohol and diapers. How did it happen? What a strange pairing. CX data reveals the products customers frequently purchase together, sometimes in weird sequences. This tale is now an urban legend. But the lesson is valid. Analytical technologies for CX can spot trends that the human eye might overlook.

What can therefore be done with this knowledge?

You might, however, plan your business so that things are placed closer together. Additionally, it might promote impulsive shopping. Making the customer's trip more straightforward, at the very least, improves their experience.

8. Consider Smart Shelving

When specific products are out of stock, digital CX platforms within a retail business may also collect negative feedback information. Customers may become frustrated by this and decide to purchase somewhere else.

A wireless inventory control system called smart shelves can assist solve this issue. These shelves have weight sensors that can measure the amount of stock on the shelves and warn staff when a product is running low.

A company may also use one or more digital customer feedback tools to correlate the complaints gathered by the CX platform. The actual inventories of each site can then be compared to information concerning product shortages at each store to better balance inventory at each one.

One store might provide a product in more significant quantities than another. Businesses can move inventory around to better meet requirements at each shop location based on CX consumer data and real-time automated inventory.

9. Enhance User Experience With Mixed Reality

Covid-19 taught us to operate continuously. A significant component of this shift is user experience (UX), and effective marketers are seeing the need to focus even more on customer check-ins, fulfillment, and interest drop zones. Immersive mixed-reality experiences offer fresh approaches to improving UX.

The ability to track user preferences and provide mixed reality experiences that increase stickiness at every stage of the customer engagement cycle is now possible thanks to more sophisticated analytics. Customers can now virtually try on new glasses or take a home tour, for example.

10. Automate Your Response

"Identify the moments of truth, those do-or-die moments. Businesses must have a 360-degree view of all the customer interactions on ALL channels (face-to-face, phone, web, mobile, SMS, chatbot, etc.). To do so, they must draw customer journey maps to see the channel(s) used on a specific touchpoint and make sure that the transition from one channel to another (e.g., from the web to the phone) is seamless. Businesses must then analyze each touchpoint, gather data, and design human/digital/material/procedural solutions," says Daniel Lafrenière, Multichannel CX Strategist, in Clootrack’s CX report.

All the differences can be made through automation. For instance, consider adding a customized chatbot to your website or mobile app to respond to frequently asked inquiries. Alternatively, implement an automated callback service to save customers from having to wait on hold for hours to speak with you. You'll significantly increase brand loyalty by saving customers time while meeting their needs.

A fantastic CX is unrivaled. Chatbots are invaluable when enhancing your customers' experiences, even if you need more resources. Make them respond to the most basic inquiries first, and always delegate the processing of the more complex queries to a person. You'll be astonished at how it progresses into a long-lasting triumph.

Learning More About Customer Experience Analytics In Retail

The retail sector is adopting advanced analytics, just like many other businesses, to boost in-store productivity, boost competition, and grow their consumer base. For instance, retailers can use Hyper Automation to speed up checkout, do away with long lines, and shorten wait times. Before purchasing, customers can visualize or try out things in simulation settings made with AI and ML.

Data analytics can examine websites and social media to determine which things will sell best in a specific situation. For instance, Walgreens and Pantene worked with a weather channel to develop individualized product suggestions.

With customer experience analytics you'll have access to real-time data that can be used to enhance user experiences, boost productivity, spur innovation, and spot untapped market niches.

Learn how you may increase sales and revenue for your company by scheduling a demo today.