193 R E TA I L & CG its profits from member subscriptions, so it can reduce margins on products and cut prices for customers. These lower prices are attractive to customers, which means Costco attracts more subscribers and can continue decreasing prices, and so the cycle continues.” To power their loyalty programmes, retailers must capture and analyse large amounts of customer data from multiple channels in real time. “The rapid move to e-commerce has opened up new experience channels and created vast troves of valuable data that can be used to transform everything from merchandising to supply chain, marketing, customer service and more,” says Rajagopalan. “Data is the great enabler for every retailer – and their data estates are now their best assets. Unlocking the insights hidden inside their data gives retailers what they need to build connected, personalised experiences for customers, employees and partners.” However, to earn access to this data, retailers must first gain the trust of their customers. Rajagopalan advises brands to be explicit about both the information they are collecting and how they will use it to benefit each individual consumer. “Trust is a long game to win, and a short one to lose,” she says. “It takes years to build long-term loyalty, but one small slip-up can reset things to zero so it’s critical for retailers to get it right. If brands want to use customers’ data to drive their loyalty programmes, they must prove they can be trusted to use it wisely and transparently and provide perks such as personalised services, relevant product recommendations, exclusive promotions or better delivery options in exchange.” Brands also need to implement the right technology to manage their loyalty schemes. “Retailers need to know as much as possible about their customers to be able to make them feel special and deliver the types of experiences that will keep them coming back time and time again,” says Anderson. “Now that they’re doing business across multiple channels, they need a robust omnichannel platform to centralise their data, as well as artificial intelligence technology to analyse it for insights. “They also need to upgrade point-of-sale (POS) systems to ensure customers receive the same promotions in store and online, empowering store assistants with instant access to data-driven insights about each customer so they can better respond to the needs of individual customers in real time. Publicis Sapient is working with a number of its clients to take the idea of a headless, omnichannel Empowering store assistants with data-driven insights about customers helps them to provide personalised experiences and product recommendations
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