Loyalty & customer data

In very simple terms, loyalty describes a customer's faithfulness to a brand. This customer loyalty is crucial for long-term business relationships. At KPS, we engage intensively with our customers in order to strengthen customer loyalty. We ask ourselves questions such as: How do I get to the customer? How can I get them to buy from me again? And how can I stay in constant contact with my customers?

In the world of online retail, things are different and companies can capitalise on this. When shopping online, it is easy to find out who the customer is and what their interests are. This can be determined, for example, through product selection, frequency of purchases and similar data. This helps in the introduction of a well-founded and data-supported loyalty programme, which in turn allows you to gain further customer data.

One of the most important motivations for such a loyalty programme is to offer the customer added value so that they provide as much additional data as possible, which forms an important basis for the further personalisation of the customer approach. The more personalised, the more sustainable and closer the customer relationship.

Do I offer many products that are bought more frequently by customers? Depending on the industry, it can be more difficult to establish effective loyalty programmes. For example, if higher-priced products are offered, these are usually purchased less frequently. As a result, there are fewer touchpoints with the customer where you could award loyalty points or collect further data.

All of these measures help to build long-term and close customer loyalty. Initiatives such as customer referrals can also help to build an organically growing customer base. The main thing is that the loyalty programme suits the company and the customer!

Loyalty is the key between offline and online shopping. If you combine data from both areas, you can create a complete profile of the customer - a single customer view. This allows the customer to be stored in the right customer segment in the database - an important basis for personalised marketing.

When customers register for a loyalty programme, two types of customer data are collected

• On the one hand, master data such as first and last name, address, e-mail, date of birth are collected.
• On the other hand, transaction data is also collected. These reflect every type of interaction with the brand. Both types of data mean that a customer profile can be created from the various sources. The next question to ask yourself is: What can I do with the data?

Comprehensive data helps to identify top customers and supports companies in rewarding desired customer behaviour that is conducive to company growth. Often a lot of customer data already exists, but is stored in different systems and databases that are less accessible. It is therefore essential for a data system to store data collected across various touchpoints in a central location and assign it to the customer. The aim is therefore a single customer view.

The simplest way to use data is with scores. For example, there is the customer lifetime value, which describes how much a customer has spent on a brand in their lifetime and which value scoring they fall into as a result.

Whether in retail or online, loyalty and customer data are hot topics. Those who do not use a well-developed, integrated loyalty programme are missing out on the opportunity to collect customer data. Today, it is more important than ever to know your customers well. Only with a centralised and data protection-compliant management of customer data can you address your customers appropriately, interact with them and create long-term loyalty to your own brand. If you understand your customers and their needs and wishes precisely, you can create special and inspiring customer experiences. The analysis of customers' personal information and behavioural data guarantees in-depth insights and therefore a highly personalised customer approach and tailored recommendations as well as positive effects on the company's success.

It is important to take a holistic approach so that you can personalise your customer approach across all channels. A coherent loyalty strategy, customised to the company's customers, is an important success factor.