Consumer behaviors are changing and traditional POS systems are no longer cutting it when it comes to staying relevant and knowing your customers. Merchants are looking for ways to get robust customer data to grow their businesses and increase revenue and ROI.
In this post, we’ll review why data is important, what you should be measuring and how you can begin break free from your POS system.
Why is data important and what should you be measuring?
E-commerce brands aren’t the only ones who can capture customer data. Brick and mortar stores are beginning to use tools that capture critical data and use mobile payments to gather deep insights into who their customers are and how they behave.
Data can show you who your best customers are and what they want. Not every customer is created equal, and if you focus on your best customers, you can drastically improve your ROI and customer retention and loyalty.
You should capture data around customer behavior, feedback, and referrals. The more information you have about your customers across all of your locations, the more strategic you can be when engaging them.
How can you capture data?
A customer engagement and loyalty platform like Thanx allows you to capture critical customer data that will help you increase your ROI and focus on what matters most. The platform allows you to effortlessly capture customer behavior and feedback while also creating a seamless experience for consumers.
You don’t need to have an online business to be innovative and strategic when it comes to improving your business. Using a data-based platform that focuses on customer behavior can help you break free from your dependence on your POS system.
Now we’ll delve into some of the data you should be capturing and what it can tell you about each of your customers.
Identify VIP customers by measuring average spend and visit frequency
Your best customers are the ones who spend and visit the most – they are also usually your advocates and the ones who feel the deepest connection with your brand. While having the right staff in place, a great product, and a positive atmosphere are important, there is so much more you can do to connect with your customers and motivate them to visit and spend more.
Data-based customer engagement platforms enable you to measure how often each customer visits, what they buy (including SKU level detail) and how much they spend including lifetime value. Once you know this information, there are steps you can take to encourage them to visit more or refer their friends.
The more data you have about your customers, the more personalized you can be in your approach. It’s important to identify who your best customers are and make sure they feel heard and appreciated. When you improve their experience, you not only increase customer loyalty, you also improve your ROI. Research shows that it’s 7 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain one. Placing your focus on your best customers through personalized engagement will increase your revenue.
Use data to timeshift your customers
Once you determine who your VIP customers are and understand their average spend and visit frequency, you can use this data to incentivize them to visit and spend more.
For example, let’s say that one of your best customers, Susan, visits your coffee shop every morning, but never comes on the weekends. You can send her a targeted and personalized offer for a free coffee and pastry on a Saturday. This will not only make Susan feel appreciated and loyal, it will also encourage her to visit more often than she usually does, and possibly spend more and bring friends.
You can also use timeshift to create more traffic during traditionally slow times.
Thanx Timeshift users see 18% traffic increases during previously “slow” times.
Let’s say most of your customers visit for lunch and your evenings are slow. You can send personalized offers to some of your best customers and encourage them to visit for dinner. Using robust customer data will help you incentivize your customers and encourage them to take the actions you want them to take. These efforts can actually help you change customer behavior and result in increased revenue for your business.
Measure winbacks before it’s too late
Sometimes, your best customers stop visiting or begin spending less than usual. This can happen for a variety of reasons. Some reasons you have no control over, like someone moving to a different city, however, other reasons provide opportunities to win back lost customers, like if a customer had a negative experience at your location, or they decided to go to a competitor. A platform like Thanx will alert you when a customer’s behavior has changed and you can take action before it’s too late.
If you win back lost customers, you can actually generate 6X ROI. By using AI, Thanx solves the customer churn mystery and allows businesses to automatically reach out and win back lost customers. If the data recognizes a lapse in visit frequency, that customer can automatically receive a personalized offer to bring them back in.
Collect and address customer feedback
You can drive 14%-21% incremental revenue by privately responding to all customer feedback. If you use a technology like Thanx, each customer will be prompted to leave feedback after they visit your business and make a purchase. If you respond, you can make an unhappy customer not only feel happier but also feel more loyal and appreciated. This helps to make sure that negative feedback doesn’t make it to social media or sites like Yelp, and you also increase loyalty and revenue.
Collecting personal data around feedback helps you measure customer experiences and bridges the gap between technology and the in-person interactions your customers have at your business. Understanding how your customers feel is important to the growth of your business. POS systems don’t offer that.
Analyze trends in NPS surveys
Imagine if your customers were prompted to answer a quick NPS (Net Promoter Score) survey after each purchase they make at your business. They would rate their experience between 1 and 10 and you would be able to see the satisfaction trends amongst all of your customers, across your locations, and against industry benchmarks.
This data helps you address all of your customers’ concerns and increase customer loyalty. Platforms like Thanx enables you to take customer feedback and turn it into powerful and actionable data.
Wrap up
Brick and mortar reliance on POS systems as their systems of truth will soon be a thing of the past. As brick and mortar stores continue to compete with e-commerce companies, they are using data-based customer engagement tools to capture deep insights about who their customers are, how they behave, and what they want. The more data you have, the more tools you will have to improve customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, and improve your revenue and ROI.
Get our free Ultimate Guide to Customer Engagement to learn more.
