Collecting Customer Data Improves the Shopper Experience.

The shopper experience creates a world of difference in retail, and by combining both online and offline customer data, you can improve the shopper experience, increase sales and help brands win new customers.

In today’s digital age, collecting data and basing decisions on the calculated data is critical to success, especially in the retail industry. Retailers depend directly on consumers for their business growth, which has placed shopper experience and customer satisfaction at the top of the priority list, making shoppers and market research very important. The introduction of big data in retail allows retailers to curate more relevant, valuable and enjoyable experiences for their shoppers since customer data allows retail owners to understand what influences purchase decisions, formulating an effective business and marketing strategy.

At the same time, consumers appreciate that data sharing can lead to products and services that make their lives easier and more entertaining, educate them, and save them money. Neither companies nor their customers want to turn back the clock on these technologies, and indeed the development and adoption of products that leverage personal data continue to soar. As the consumer shopping experience continues to merge in the online and offline worlds, retailers and other businesses can use the associated data to deliver experiences that are relevant to their consumers.

If companies understand how much data is worth to consumers, they can offer commensurate value in return for it. Making the exchange transparent will be increasingly important in building trust. However, consumers don’t put a lot of trust in retailers to handle their data with care: just 5% place the retail industry at the top in ensuring data privacy, compared to 63% who do so for the banking industry, according to Deloitte’s 2019 U.S. Consumer Data Privacy study. It’s urgent that retailers build up consumers’ trust if only to keep up with the pace of collection. High levels of trust and data breaches are antithetical to each other, so retailers need to take their threat seriously.

“Retailers have to be pretty transparent with their policies and how the data is being used,” said Rod Sides, Vice Chairman & U.S. Leader of Retail & Distribution at Deloitte in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “If consumers believe that the retailer is going to use their data to make their life easier and more convenient and to help with the shopping journey, I think they’re willing to share. Where people get a little bit nervous is when they feel like that data is being sold to third parties, not being used for their benefit or being used without their consent.”

Swapping Value for Data

When data is used to improve a product or service, consumers generally feel the enhancement itself is a fair trade for their data. But consumers expect more value in return for data used to target marketing and the most value for data that will be sold to third parties. The value consumers place on their data rises as its sensitivity and breadth increase from basic information that is voluntarily shared to detailed information about the consumer that the firm derives through analytics, and as its uses go from principally benefiting the consumer (in the form of product improvements) to principally benefiting the firm (in the form of revenues from selling data).

What does the customer want?

The customer wants the shopping experience to be convenient, and his data secure and valuable. That is why AI and Blockchain technologies play a crucial role in solving some of the key issues seen by shoppers. Most consumers stated that using digital assistants available when they need (80%) was an important factor in the ideal shopping environment. It is a risk-free and high reward solution that is quite effective enough to transform everyday shopping and industry as a whole.

Data Deal — Your everyday digital assistant

Data Deal establishes a transparent and honest relationship between all the parties and for better retail solutions and better customer journey by getting and analyzing unique insights from shopper data. Analysis of customer purchase preferences and search behavior helps to estimate the needs of customers with smart recommendations. At the same time, machine learning has made upgrading offerings and cross-selling more relevant for the customers. DD Digital assistant empowers every shopper with:

• Getting access to targeted deals and discount coupons (personalized)
• Comparing the prices of various products
• Keeping a track of shopping history and getting cashback
• Being alert in case of unsafe products
• Optimizing his budget, making sure the transaction data is secured by Blockchain.

Finally, the shoppers become decision-makers, using their own data to lower prices, stimulating retailers to provide better product quality, better delivery, and better services. And, what’s most important, turn their data into profit by getting paid for their recommendations and ratings inside the DD App.

The customer journey is not a straight line. It’s a zig-zag across channels from research to purchase. The only way to get a handle on the customer journey and create better experiences is to use the user’s data and make it valuable for the brand and for the customer himself.