Technology has opened new forms of relationship between consumers and brands that change the way of knowing and acquiring products and services.

Although there are no absolute certainties about where the retail will evolve in the medium term, it seems clear that in the coming years, both the physical stores and ecommerce, will have their place and that both channels will be complemented, moreover, will fed back, to offer the user a new “shopping experience”, first of all PERSONALIZED.

There is no doubt that the online channel is essential for many types of retailers, but it´s also true that the physical presence is very important to achieve a good brand positioning, visibility, access to customers and, above all, to offer an “experience” beyond the product. Proof of this importance of the physical channel is the growing number of online retailers that are betting to open brick and mortar stores, including natively digital firms such as Amazon, Hawkers or Muroexe.

Customers demand the convergence of the different channels, in such a way that what is consulted online can be touched and tested in the physical store and vice versa, what has already been seen in the store can finally be purchased online. They expect that the purchase is transparent, not even an aspect to be remembered, without a differentiation in the rest of aspects associated with the purchase: agile access to information on the product / service, digital ticket, guarantee management, changes or returns, etc.

Users look for “unique” shopping experiences, without frictions and where they can feel as part of the universe of a brand which they identify with. They seek not be treated as “one more”, but in a PERSONALIZED way by a brand that knows their tastes and preferences, regardless of the channels of interaction chosen.

A proof of this desire to live personalized experiences are the statistics collected in a recent compilation of retail trends by the expert Blake Morgan: http://bit.ly/2Wr6AVI that presents, among others, the following data:

• • 64% of customers believe that brands do not really know them.
  • 59% of customers who have experienced personalization say it has a significant impact on their purchase.
  • Most customers (80%) are more willing to buy from a business that offers personalized experiences.

But:

• • How to know what your customers really look for and appreciate?
  • How to impact and interact with customers effectively?

The answer to these two questions is Big-data and Mobile Marketing respectively.

The great evolution of processing and treatment technologies of large volumes of information (Big-Data) allows, nowadays, to translate data into knowledge in a simple way and at an accessible cost.

On the other hand, the mobile phone has become the main device to perform a large number of daily tasks (it is consulted daily more than 50 times and an average of 3 hours) and therefore in the medium that is leading the growing as advertising support (Mobile Marketing). This adoption of the mobile phone on a day-to-day basis, allows to collect, in a non-intrusive way, a valuable amount of personalized customer data: purchases in physical stores, online purchases, payments, interaction in social networks, …

Hence, both Big-Data and Mobile Marketing are not passing technologies, but technologies that are reaching the retail sector to stay. They are, in fact, already  today, technologies that provide a clear competitive advantage to those businesses that have integrated them as a key piece of their marketing and commercialization strategy. As usual, are the big players, especially the retail companies that emerged in the digital environment, those who have previously wagered and implemented solutions based on these technologies and those who inexorably push other players, who need to adapt to survive in an environment where the customer is the center of the business.

Bringing both concerns together:

• • How to know what your customers are looking for in order to impact them with hyperpersonalized proposals according to their tastes and preferences?

The combination of Big-Data and Mobile Marketing allows to create personalized experiences through marketing actions aimed precisely at each customer. This new concept provides two main benefits:

• • On the one hand it allows to offer an improved customer experience, which starts to perceive that brand or business as someone who recognizes them and suggests proposals according to their preferences and lifestyle.
  • On the other hand, it allows businesses to be managed based on data about their main asset, their customers, information that for most retail businesses simply did not exist. Companies have been managed with great information about items, stocks, logistics, balance sheets, P&L accounts and with no information about their business core: their customers. They know very well what they produce but do not know who they sell it to, why they sell it or what else can be offered to a certain customer.

Personalization, a key factor in customer experience, becomes now possible and reacheable for any business. It involves identifying the customer in every purchase to, in return, offer personalized proposals and promotions as well as new digital services to make their life more comfortable and increase their identification and brand loyalty.

In the retail analysis of Blake Morgan cited above, another of the statistics provided is:

• • More than 70% of the Millenials and Generation Z belong to loyalty programs, compared with less than 20% of Baby Boomers.

A significant part of the loyalty programs that were launched in recent years did not really work well, mainly due to four reasons:

• • Use of identification methods, such as plastic cards, cumbersome for customers.
  • Customers did not have a simple and agile method to check their situation and benefits in the program.
  • Lack of personalization in the offered benefits, with generic and irrelevant proposals, not according to customers´ tastes and preferences.
  • Lack of analytical information for businesses about customers´ behavior, base to define marketing direct actions.

Nevertheless, nowadays it´s possible to roll out a success digital loyalty program providing value to customers and increasing their affinity with the brand. This change is mainly due to the evolution of data processing and mobile technology and the possibility they offer to receive and manage suggestions, promotions and rewards in customer hands. The more personalized the proposals and benefits are, the more the user identifies and emotionally bonds with the brand.

Wapping is a SaaS platform that combines Big-Data and Mobile Marketing, so that you have a direct communication channel with your customers through CUSTOMIZED LOYALTY actions.

With Wapping you will anlyze users´ behavior all channels: physical stores, ecommerce and social media, identifying customer in each transaction. Wapping gathers, groups and presents  the sales information in real time of all your POS and online store,  based on multiple parameters: items, age ranges, sex, payment method, location of residence, stores, days and hours of purchase, etc.

Based on this information, you can quickly and intuitively define customer segments (young people between 18 and 30 years old who come at least one a month, those who buy more than € 300 / year, those who buy dresses in summer, residents in a certain population, those who come for a specific product claim, …) and marketing programs / actions: accumulation of points / balance for purchases, discounts to collectives, booklets of points to get a gift, targeted promotions, coupons, gift card, digital ticket, guarantees management, membership tiers with access to different privileges, … that users manage from a mobile app (your own brand app or the generic Wapping app)

As you see, both Big-Data and Mobile Marketing are reaching retail, and both will probably be in a very short time, two of the technologies with the greatest impact in the sector. No business that wants to connect with customers in a PERSONALIZED way establishing an emotional link with its users should omit the use of these technologies.

In conclusion:

• • Current need of users is clear: personalized value propositions to enjoy “memorable experiences”.
  • Technology exists, it is mature and it can be quickly rolled out as a SaaS in any business.
  • Trust Wapping or alternative solutions, analyze your users´ behavior, know and address them with valuable personalized proposals fitting their preferences. The sooner you start, the sooner you will achieve the peace of mind of managing a business that grows with a solid base of customers.

If you want to know the simple 6 steps to bear in mind to successfully roll out a digital loyalty program in your business, download our free Ebook – The 6 steps to successfully create your loyalty program.

Remember that we are just one email or phone call away from you to bring your brand a new customer experience.

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José Manuel Maseda

Sales & Marketing Manager

www.wappingweb.com