Retailers: The First Step to Omni-Channel
Consumers interact with retail organizations through a multitude of channels, such as email, customer service departments, call centers, social media, in-store visits, and on-line shopping. Each and every touchpoint is an opportunity to enhance customer value and increase profitability. To do so, data from each of these channels must be collected, linked to customers and integrated into a central marketing data mart or warehouse for analysis and marketing.
Just how much of a challenge is it? Consider this:
The number one reason for CRM failure is bad data. On average, every 30 minutes, 120 business addresses change, 75 phone numbers change, 20 CEOs leave their jobs, and 30 new businesses are formed. (Dun & Bradstreet)
Multiple Sources of Data Must be Integrated
Data often resides in separate systems and in various formats. For example, customer service calls may be kept in a separate system from customer purchases. Each of these interactions contains important customer details, that when combined, begin to create a complete view of the customer. Before creating a customer data warehouse, data must be standardized and cleansed.
Begin with a Data Assessment
A good first step is to evaluate the quality of your data with a data assessment that will help identify areas where data quality can be improved, what types of customer information may be missing, and other data problems that must be corrected.
Clean Your Data
Data quality software and processes should be put in place to integrate multiple data sources and automate data quality processes. They will also cleanse and standardize data so consistent formats can be integrated. You should also gain the ability to integrate any number of data sources residing in varying formats and multiple silos to create a comprehensive, 360° customer view. Include data such as e-commerce transactions, point of sale purchases, digital behavior, customer service calls, and credit card transactions.
The software needs to consolidate customer data into a single record, eliminating duplicate data, then monitor data to ensure it remains consistent and continues to align with business rules. It will also append missing customer information for a more complete view of the customer.
It's worth every step. One study showed that inaccurate data has a direct impact on the bottom line of 88% of companies, with the average company losing 12% of its revenue.
With a clean, highly granular customer view, retailers can identify new opportunities to better target prospects and maximize customer value.
And the payoff is huge.
DataMentors, LLC
Visit DataMentors to learn more about our marketing solutions for retailers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Larisa_Bedgood
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