Capturing SKU, or item-level customer data reveals what customers are buying. But this data also shows which of your products are being bought the most and by which customers. If you use a POS and customer engagement platform like Thanx, you can capture insights about each customer’s preferences after every purchase they make. Using this information can drive customer engagement and loyalty in three different ways and help you generate ROI.
In this post, we’ll examine three ways you can leverage item-level data to drive engagement and loyalty to impact your bottom line.
1) Which items are enjoyed by your best customers
Not every customer should be treated equally when it comes to engagement and targeted rewards. Your best customers are the ones who spend and visit the most and generate the most revenue. Capturing data around their purchases will help you send offers that encourage them to take the actions you want.
Once you’ve identified who your best customers are (you can find this right in your Thanx dashboard), take a deeper look at the items they are buying. For example, let’s say you own a popular Italian restaurant and your customer data shows your best customers usually order pasta, and lower value customers tend to order pizza. You can use that insight to provide highly targeted and relevant pasta based offers to those high-value customers. You could also introduce new pasta-based menu items knowing it drives incremental revenue for the business.
The more you know about your customers, the more you will be able to personalize your campaigns. Pay attention to what they are buying and use this data to drive engagement and loyalty.
2) Choosing the right price changes
Price changes can be challenging. You don’t want to increase the price too much and drive away your best customers, but you also want to increase your revenue and ROI. Without customer data, many merchants are playing a dangerous guessing game when they alter prices, but you don’t have to. Capturing the right data will help inform price change decisions.
A customer engagement platform can help direct which products may be best impacted by a price change without negatively impacting your customer experience. For example, if you own a quick service restaurant and your top customers consistently order your kale salad, you can implement a small price increase that would still fit within their budget and normal spending habits. A small change on your top products can generate your business more revenue while still maintaining a loyal customer base. It’s also always helpful to educate your customers on the why behind price changes, for example, if you’re changing your sourcing to focus on organic ingredients or local sustainable farmers.
3) Staff performance and upsells
Item-level data can also reveal how your staff is performing and if they are upselling your best guests. Once you’ve identified which items your VIP customers are purchasing the most, see if the data reveals an increase in spend per customer. The increase in spend and visit frequency could be due to the targeted offers you send, and it can be due to the performance of your staff.
For example, if you own a deli and your best customers tend to purchase entrees as opposed to sandwiches, you can motivate your staff to suggest appetizers or desserts to go along with their meals. Your best customers are usually the most loyal — this provides an opportunity for your staff to suggest items on the menu as an upselling strategy.
You can take several steps to incentivize your staff to upsell your top customers. You could offer the top performer of each month a special incentive or develop an employee-of-the-month campaign. Make sure your staff understands the impact of upselling and why it’s a growth strategy for your business.
This personalized treatment will not only generate more revenue, it can also increase customer engagement and satisfaction.
Wrap up
Item-level customer data reveals a lot about who your customers are and what they want. Knowledge is power — the more you know about your best customers, the more you will be able to influence their actions. With the right data, you can identify which items your VIP customers love the most, how to implement the right price changes, and how to motivate your staff to upsell the right customers.
While item-level data may seem to only reveal information about the items at your business, it reveals much more about customer behavior and can inform your overall strategy while driving revenue and ROI.
