INSIGHT
What does it all mean?
“What’s the Wi-Fi password?” This is the new opening line as people enter the premises of any pub or shop. There
are new rules for businesses looking to succeed in the 21st century, secure and scalable digital networks are
creating truly customer-focused experiences. Paul Leybourne, Director at Vodat International explains
Clienteling
Most savvy retailers have now
heard of the phrase ‘clienteling’
and the ambitious aim to ‘know’
every customer digitally at scale
when they enter a store. Knowing
your customer is an old idea that’s
been given a modern twist thanks
to digitisation and data science.
In practice, clienteling involves
equipping a customer-facing sales
team member with an internet
enabled device such as a tablet,
which is linked to the retailers’
back-end systems (customer
relationship management system,
inventory, order management and
Epos) to provide real-time datarich
actionable insights.
ese insights enable sales
sta to give highly relevant
and personalised product
recommendations based on data
such as purchase history, average
order value, likes and browsing
history.
e bene ts for the retailer
include higher conversion rates,
a higher rate of repeat business,
increased customer advocacy and
great opportunities to upsell and
cross sell highly relevant products
and services.
If you want to witness slick
clienteling at rst hand, go to
any Apple Store or a visit the bed
retailer Dreams, both of which
have invested wisely in in-store
digital networks, so they can use
clienteling to great e ect.
Recognising your customer
ere is a huge y in the
Paul Leybourne, Director at Vodat
ointment when it comes to
delivering personalised in-store
experiences. Before you can wow
your customer, you need to be
able to recognised them when
they arrive on your premises. is
is exactly what beacon technology
promises to achieve. Beacons are
tiny, low-energy devices that use
Bluetooth technology to identify
participating shoppers’ mobile
phones and send out personalised
content to them while they’re in
or near a premise.
Personalised push noti cations
or text messages can then be
sent to customers as they enter
or pass close to a store of if they
enter a particular area of the shop.
Customers can be alerted to an
in-store event, a sale, reminded of
their loyalty status or noti ed if
one of the items on their online
wish list has been reduced in
price. By connecting beacons
to digital signage, retailers and
hospitality companies can also
provide customers with new
product information.
Beacon technology also
provides data-rich back-o ce
consumer Intelligence, such as
how long customers stopped at
personalised beacon-enabled
displays, the relationship between
beacon-enabled sales o ers
and actual sales, and similar
information that can be analysed
to adjust o ers as well as sta ng
and placement of sales associates.
ese insights enable retailers
to drive better revenue and
pro ts from brick-and-mortar
locations – if retailers have the
strong, secure and scalable digital
networks needed to cope with the
increased data tra c.
In-aisle payment
In-aisle payment apps are a
potential treasure trove of
personalisation and a sure- re
way of providing time-poor
customers with the individualised
service, convenience and speed
they crave.
e Co-op, Tesco and
Sainsbury’s are currently among
a select group of UK grocers
trialling the technologywhich
enables shoppers to pay forgoods
using a smartphone app. e
Co-op is piloting the checkoutfree
scan-and-go technology
inits sta store in its Manchester
support centre.
By linking a payment app
to a company’s CRM it will be
possible to collect data about
an individual’s purchasing
behaviour and then use this to
create tailored experiences. For
example, users could be sent
in-app push noti cations if they
haven’t bought a speci c product,
such as pet food, for a while and
could be running low. ey could
also be given discount codes to
tempt them to buy alternative
products or simply to thank them
for extended loyalty. Payment
apps would also be a great way to
incentivise customers and keep
them up to date with their loyalty
card status.
Zen. Greater than you think.
12 | Digital Britain 2019 www.commsbusiness.co.uk
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