Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 28

mystore RetaileR's guide voL. 10.6: teCHnoLogy

can help retailers move with greater agility.
Azar says that the truism that independents
Products like Godfrey's Checkout51 educultivate a high repeat customer base isn't al- cate retailers concerning the ways customways true. "There's a gap between reality and ers spend. While some retailers have a good
the data," he says.
understanding of the ways customers spend
"Most retailers don't have a good handle on money inside their stores, they often don't
metrics like repeat rate and customer lifetime know how customers spend in competitor's
value, simply because they do not capture cus- stores. Checkout51 encourages customers to
tomer data and can't associate it with transactions. upload their receipts to a central database that
Their only knowledge is based on gut feel, which the site shares with subscribers. Godfrey says
(as we have observed) can be orders of magnitude it's important for retailers to understand data
away from the actual numbers," he says.
outside their stores and to know what's hap"So if you don't know who is making pur- pening across retail. "This is the kind of data
chases, you have no way of estimating how that larger players use, and it's the same kind
often people come back, or what they spend of data that smaller players can use to underwithin a given period. Worse, you can't act on stand where customers are going," he says.
any data to drive more sales."
Building a robust customer data- "It's hard to take actions to bring people back if
base takes time, but the work will
you don't know who buys. Running business off
translate into a return. Many customer engagement apps and POS gut and intuition doesn't often jive with data."
systems link to, and include, CRM
- ANTOINE AzAR, thirdshelf
tools. Once retailers have more
control over customer movements, they can tar- ...leveraging your online persona
get messages to specific groups of customers,
Businesses have to have some degree of
tailor sales to repeat customers and modify in- connectedness if they want to be a presence
ventory to suit the needs and wants of the most in the market. Retailers may use free social
loyal customers.
media, like Facebook and Twitter, to communiBusinesses like insightly, the top ranked cate with customers, but not every retailer will
CRM app in the Google apps store, along with have the savvy or the time to smartly craft and
businesses like Salesforce, work specifically maintain their online persona.
with small businesses to construct profitable
Services like sweetiQ build a business's
customer databases. insightly's app has a free online profile, monitor what people say about
option; the subscription rate starts at seven the business and deliver intelligence about
dollars, a considerably low rate for retailers the business to the business owner. Many of
who learn to make use of the data.
these services charge subscription fees and
Azar's business, thirdshelf, creates mobile one-time fees, and while costs add up quickly,
apps branded to individual retailers that en- individually, many of these services are affordhance the customer experience while at the able if the ROI is factored in.
same time deliver customer insights. It's one of
Still, other e-commerce services can delivmany businesses that cultivate business intel- er to retailers a quick ROI. Sites like shopify.
ligence from customers by giving them what com can help independent retailers to quickly
they want: a better experience in the store and move their businesses online-and, ever more
a more personal approach to shopping.
importantly, onto mobile devices. The intui"It's hard to take actions to bring people back tive aspects of the site management can give
if you don't know who buys," says Azar. "Run- tech-wary independents a sense of sureness as
ning business off gut and intuition doesn't they wade into e-commerce and mobile comoften jive with data."
merce. For the price, some retailers may find
they get a fast ROI by plugging into larger
...in managing data better
selling venues than they do by creating someData is a huge part of business, and it's an thing from scratch.
area which many independents may want
to develop because data can build a greater For more Retailer's Guides offering tips and
understanding of customer behaviours. Data tools for small businesses, visit www.retailabout inventory, customers and competitors council.org/research/publications.
...in understanding customers

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canadian retailer | holiday 2014

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Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014

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