Retail IQ

The New Normal – Know your Customer

The consumer expects a deeper knowledge of who I am as a shopper. They expect to receive tailored offers and valuable promotions. Gone are the days of getting a promotion for an unassociated or random item. Dear Retailers, please know what I want but don’t be creepy.

Recently I received a promotion from my favorite fashion retailer attempting to entice me to buy a new Petite pencil skirt. As a taller than average woman, I surpassed the petite section at the age of 12. Yet, the retailer who has years of my individual data, is promoting to me a misguided purchase. Nope. Not a chance. In fact, it gave a newer retailer an opportunity to capture my business. With much more limited data, a promotion was on target resulting in a sale.
The question on preferences and applicable recommendations becomes even more complex when different individuals are represented by one profile. We have all made purchases for others or allowed someone else to make a purchase on our account. My 20-something nephew asked to use my account at major e-commerce retailer for his Christmas shopping. Only later, when my feed was filled with “unusual” items, did I realize one of the gifts he purchased was a purple chicken harness. It created some humorous confusion with my profile. Truly, almost anything is available online.

So, how do we think about complex personas? A few guidelines:

1. Flexible models: yes, my account was used to buy a purple chicken harness but that is a blip. My other purchasing patterns are the same so don’t flood my feed with only chicken accessories.

2. Allow for multi-persona searching and build loyalty programs built on more factors than just. Use the data you have: If I have never purchased a petite size in my multi-year history, it is not the place to expand promotions. Instead, use the adjacent categories to my purchase. Do I need the matching slacks to my new jacket? Have I thought about other items in the collection? Or, how about the jewelry or handbags with an appropriate promotion, of course.

Here at Retail Consult, we understand the priority of accurate and usable data.