eBriefOmni-ChannelAccelerationinRetailHowtoTurnYourFirst-PartyDataIntoaStrategicBusinessAssetTableof

Contents030620WhatEffectiveOmni-ChannelAccelerationEntailsDrivingGrowthfromCross-Functional

InitiativesEnablingTransformationalGrowthwithBlueConic?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page2WhatEffectiveOmni-ChannelAccelerationEntailsOmni-channel

accelerationishappeningacrossthe

retailindustry.Traditionalretailerswithbrick-and-mortarstoresarebolsteringtheirecommerce

effortsandcreatingnewdigitalexperiences.Meanwhile,digitalnativesthatgottheirstartinecommerce

arelookingfor

smarter

ways

to

engage

customers

and

drive

growth.The

impactof

COVID-19onconsumers’shoppingbehaviorsandexpectationshasonlyexacerbatedthe

needfordigitaltransformationinretail.However,anumberof

macrofactorswerealreadydisruptingthe

statusquowellbeforethe

pandemic,including:?

Competitivepressure

ontraditionalretailersfromcustomer-centricdigitalnatives?

Newglobalconsumerdataprivacyregulations,suchasthe

GDPRandCCPA?

Third-partycookie

deprecationdue

totrackingrestrictionsinChrome

andSafariCombinedwiththe

impactof

the

pandemic,allthreefactorsareresultinginashiftawayfromthird-partydatainfavorof

first-partydata,the

needforgreaterbusinessagility,andthe

adoptionof

anew,

more

intelligent

customer

engagement

model.?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page3WhatEffectiveOmni-Channel

AccelerationEntailsJust30%of

retailmarketerssaid30%they’reeffectiveatdrivingseamless,consistentomni-channelexperiencesforcustomers.1For

retailers,thismeansexecutingonastrategicvisionof

omni-channel

acceleration,whichwillfundamentallytransformhow

theirbusinessesunderstandandinteractwithcustomers.Morespecifically,theoutcomeshouldbeto:?

Reduce

the

gapbetweenhavingconsumer

dataandactingonit?

Getthingsdone

fasterandinamore

intuitive

and/orautomatedway?

Make

newprogramtestingsmarter,lessrisky,andmore

scalable?

Recognize

andengage

consumersacrosschannelsandtouchpoints?

Offernew,more

relevantandpersonalizedcustomerexperiencesInadditiontorethinkinglegacyorganizational

structuresaspartof

the

strategicvisionforthe

future,retailersarealso

auditing

their

tech

stacks

and

evaluating

solutionstomeettheirbusinessneeds.1:

/resources/forrester-deliver-customer-value/?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page4WhatEffectiveOmni-Channel

AccelerationEntailsModernizingRetailTech

StacksforActivationThe

modernizationof

retailers’techstacksisleadingtowidespreadadoptionofcustomerdataplatforms(CDP)toenable

omni-channel

transformation.ACDP

servesasthe

lynchpintomakingthe

‘single

customerview’(a.k.a.the

consumer

360view’)accessible

tobusinessusersinthe

customerexperience,marketing,ecommerce,analytics,anddigitalproductteams.Whatthese

teamsandtheirtoolslackisaccesstofirst-party

customer

data

that

is

bothunified

and

actionable

toeffectivelyorchestrate

individualized

experiences

acrossallcustomertouchpoints.Attemptstorepurpose

datasolutionsdesignedforinternal-facingpartsof

the

businesssuchasIT,operations,finance,or

datascience

have

provenineffectivefororchestratingcustomerexperiencestimeandagain.Asaconsequence,the

teamsresponsible

fordrivinggrowthareatthe

mercyof

internal(e.g.,IT,the

analyticsteam,legacydatabases)andexternal(e.g.,agencies,techvendors)

entitiestodictate

when,where,andhow

theycanuse

datatoorchestratecustomerexperiences.?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page5DrivingGrowth

fromCross-FunctionalInitiativesWhileomni-channel

accelerationisastrategicvisionformanyretailerstoday,therearetypicallyseveralgrowthinitiativestiedtothatvision—including:?

Cross-Channel

CustomerLifecycle

Marketing?

Analytics&DataScience

Democratization?

DigitalExperiencesThatFosterLoyalty?

Audience

MonetizationThese

growthinitiativesarecross-functional

bynature.Inalmosteverycase,therearemultiplebusinessteamsinvolvedinseekingnew(orexpandingexisting)sourcesofrevenue,data,and/orcompetitive

advantages.?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page6DrivingGrowthfromCross-Functional

InitiativesCross-ChannelCustomerLifecycleMarketingOften,the

benefitsof

anaccessible

single

customerviewthatfirstcome

tomindaredeliveringpersonalizedexperiencesandproductrecommendationsor

reducingadwastewithrefinedaudience

targetingandsuppressionefforts.The

businessoutcomesforbothwillmostcertainlyimprovewithaccesstobetterdata.However,there

isanevengreatergrowthopportunitytoberealizedwhenasinglecustomerviewisinthe

handsof

businesstechnologyusers.Andthatistrue,end-toendcustomerlifecyclemarketing.Lifecycle

marketingisthe

use

of

dataandinsightstoidentifyprioritycustomersegments,thenexecutingcross-functional

programstomove

those

customers

throughtheir

journeys

anddrivebetterbusinessoutcomes.Successful

customerlifecyclemarketingstartswithtransformingthe

underlyingmarketingoperationsandprocessestomake

themmore

efficient.Beforeyourmarketingteamcanbegintodesigninnovative

programsforallcustomerlifecyclestages,youmustfirstaddressoperationalchallengesby:?

Eliminatingstepsincurrentprocessestogettodesiredoutcomesfaster?

EnablingmarketerstorelylessontheirITteamandexternalagencies?

Maintainingastate

of

timelyandpersonalizedcustomerinteractionRead

our

blog

post

tolearnmore

abouthow

youcanovercome

these

operationalchallengesandelevateyour

customerlifecyclemarketingefforts.83%of

consumerssay

they

wanttheirshoppingexperiencetobepersonalizedinsomeway

by

retailersthey

buy

from.283%2

/industries/retail/our-insights/future-of-retail-operations-winning-in-a-digital-era?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page7CustomerspotlightBob’sDiscountFurniture

putsBlueConic’spure-playcustomerdataplatformatthe

centerof

itsmarketingtechnologystacktodrivesmartercustomerengagement.PriortoimplementingBlueConic,the

marketingandecommerce

teamsdidn’thave

accesstothe

transactional

datastoredinthe

company’sIT-ownedERP.Additionally,theywereheavilyreliantonevent-streamdatathatlimitedtheirviewof

customerbehaviorstoa90-daywindow.Asaresult,the

retailerwasmissinganopportunitytoactivate

itsfirst-partydatainwaysthatwoulddeliverbettercustomerexperiencesineverylifecyclestage.Now,thankstoBlueConic,Bob’sDiscountFurniture

isabletoconsolidate

allitsonline

andofflinecustomerdataaswellastransactional

datafromitsPOSandERP

systemsintounifiedcustomerprofiles.Because

the

dataispersistentlystoredinthese

profiles,the

ecommerceandmarketingteamscannow

buildmulti-dimensionalsegmentsthatsupportbothshort-andlong-termlifecyclemarketingstrategies.For

example,the

retailercannow

execute

upselllifecyclemarketingprogramsthatenableittoengageanindividualcustomeracrosschannelsandtouchpointswithpersonalizedmessagingpromotingatoddlerbedbasedonthefactthiscustomerboughtababycribtwoyearsearlier.?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page8CustomerspotlightBeforeimplementingBlueConic,aleadingfaucetbrandinNorthAmericareliedonanexternalagencyeverytimeitwantedtopullcustomerdataforanewGoogle

or

Facebookaudience

segment.Eachtime,itwouldcostthe

businessthousandsof

dollars.What’smore,itwouldtake

severalweeksforthe

segmenttobedeliveredformarketingactivation.Because

the

end-to-endprocessof

buildingandactivatingasegmentwouldtake

solongandcostsomuch,the

brand’smarketingteamdefaultedtorequestingbroadsegmentsthatwouldlikelyreachalotof

customersbutlackedgranularity.Inshort,the

businesswasmissingthe

opportunitytotestanditerateonmoresophisticatedlifecyclemarketingcampaignsdesignedforamuchmore

refined,multi-dimensionalaudience.Now,anon-technical

marketercanlogintoBlueConicanddefineanewsegmentin30secondstoimmediatelyseehow

manycustomerprofilesfitthe

criteria.Fromthere,theycanimmediatelysendthatsegmenttoGoogle

andFacebookusingBlueConicconnections.For

the

firsttime,theycantestnewpersonalizedadexperiencesandmicro-targetatscale—andallwithouthavingtorelyonanagency.?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page9DrivingGrowthfromCross-Functional

InitiativesAnalytics&DataScienceDemocratizationFor

manyretailers,one

of

the

mostimportantgrowthinitiativesistodemocratizeanalyticsanddatascience

acrossthe

organizationtobothuncover

meaningfulcustomerinsightsandquicklyactonthose

insightsinnewways.Analyticsanddatascience

democratizationdoesn’tmeantrainingmarketersandothernon-technical

functionsof

the

businesstolearnPythonandbuildpredictivemodelstoactmore

like

datascientists.Rather,itmeansfindingoperational

solutionsthatwillhelpbridgethe

gapbetweentheoutputof

datascience

andanalyticseffortsandothernon-technical

partsof

thebusinessresponsible

forengagingcustomersanddrivinggrowth.Thebestwaytoaccomplishthisisby:?

Eliminatingexternalcosts,manual

steps,and/orredundanttechnologiestomake

the

end-to-endprocessmore

efficient?

Enrichingdatainwebanalytics,journeyanalytics,andbusinessintelligencetools?

Enablingteamstoactonthe

outputof

customeranalyticstoolsinawaythatallowsthemtoiteratemore

quicklyaswellastestandlearninanon-cost-prohibitive

manner?

Empoweringbusinesstechnologyuserswithoutrobustanalyticsor

datascience

skillstouse

these

capabilitiesinascalable,streamlinedway?

Utilizingsegmentationasaformof

insightbycouplingmultipleattributessuchasage,previouspurchases,interests,andlocationwithwhatcustomersaredoingrightnow?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page10DrivingGrowthfromCross-Functional

Initiatives64%of

retailersareimprovingonlineCX

toadapttoconsumers’growingpreferenceforecommerceshopping.364%Manyretailershave

starteddownthe

pathof

analyticsanddatasciencedemocratizationbyrethinkingwhereanalyticssitswithinthe

company.For

example,manyhave

transitionedawayfromadistributedmodelinwhichanalyticsprofessionalssitwithinthe

marketingteamor

otherlinesof

businessbutdonot

workcross-functionallyacrossthe

organization.Instead,retailersarenow

adoptingacentralizedapproachtoanalytics,or

evenahybridmodelinwhichthere

isacentralizedanalyticsteam,butalsospecialistswithinvariousdepartmentsthatrollup

tothe

centralizedteam.The

retailersthathave

adoptedamore

centralizedanalyticsapproach

—andembracedmoderntechnologylike

aCDP

toachieve

asingle

customerview

—aretypicallymore

successful

inbridgingthe

customerdatagap.Read

our

blog

post

todiscoverthe

typesof

customeranalyticstoolsretailersleveragetodemocratizeanalyticsanddatascience

acrossthe

business.3

/marketers-toolkit-2021-download.html?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page11CustomerspotlightVFCorp.anditsiconicfamilyof

lifestylebrands,includingThe

NorthFace,Vans,andTimberland,sellstheirproductsviaecommerce

andbrick-and-mortarstorelocations,resultinginadiversesetof

customerdataacrosschannelsandbrands.Assuch,the

companyadoptedBlueConicasitsCDP

insupportof

itsdigitaltransformation.More

specifically,VFCorp.chose

BlueConicfortheplatform’sabilitytoalignwithitsstrategicconsumer

centricityobjectivesandenableactivationof

datainmarketing.Ownershipandimplementationof

BlueConicacrossindividualbrandteamsisledbyacentralizedanalyticsteam.ThisteamisusingBlueConictoenableusecasesrelatedtothe

company’sdigitalconsumer

roadmap—startingwithafocusonconsumerdataquality,butalsotobetterunderstandwhotheirconsumersareandhow

theyprefertobe

contactedandengagedwithwhilealsorespectingtheirdataprivacy.ItwascriticaltoVFCorp.thatitsCDP

not

onlyoffermulti-dimensionalsegmentationandadvancedanalyticscapabilities,butthatitalsoaddresseditsdataprivacyneeds.“Froma[CDP]vendorselectionperspective,itwas

acombinationthings...howmodernthetechnology

stackis,advancedanalyticscapabilities,easeofuse,as

wellas

company

culture.These,atahighlevel,arethingsthatwetookintoconsiderationwhenselectingaCDPvendor,andspecifically

thereasonwhywewentwithBlueConic.”—

Reem

Seghairoun,

VP,

Global

Digital

Consumer

360

&Advanced

Analytics?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page12DrivingGrowthfromCross-Functional

Initiatives56%of

ecommercemarketersare56%allocatingmorespendtosecurebettercustomerdataandanalyticstools.4Not

allretailershave

the

resourcestobuildacentralizedanalyticsteamthatsupportsthe

whole

businessandservesasthe

ownerof

asolutionlikeaCDP.For

manyretailers,it’slargelylefttomarketerstoanalyze

dataandcome

up

withtheirownconsumerinsightstobeactivatedintheiromni-channel

efforts.Inthese

instances,analyticsanddatascience

democratizationmeansenablingbusinesstechnologyusersinmarketing,commerce,andcustomerservicetodomorewiththe

dataontheirown.Whetheraretailerislookingtodemocratize

analyticsanddatascience

throughacentralizedanalyticsteamor

it’slookingtoenable

businessuserstostartleveragingpredictivemodelingandanalyticswithoutthe

helpof

arobustdatascience

team,bothshare

twocommonobjectives:1.

Reduce

the

distance

betweenthe

outputof

analyticsanddatascience

effortsandthe

businessusersresponsible

foractivatingoninsights.2.

Createaclosedlooptobringdatabackfromactivationendpointsandintothehandsof

analystsanddatascientistsand/oranalyticstools.4

/original-research-the-state-of-ecommerce-2021/?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page13CustomerspotlightAnapparel-and-accessoriesretailerwithecommerce

andbrick-and-mortarlocationsusesBlueConictounifyitsfirst-partydataandactivate

itinitsomni-channel

strategy.Unlike

otherretailerswitharobustandcentralizedanalyticsteam,thisretailer’smarketingteamhaslimitedin-house

analyticsresourcesandskills.So,

the

marketingteammembersuse

BlueConictobuildtheirownmulti-dimensional

segmentsbasedonacombinationof

loyaltydata,POSdata,onlinebehavioraldata,andcustomerscorescalculatedbyCLV

andRFM

modelsavailableinthe

platform.Since

implementingBlueConic,the

retailerisabletounderstandwhoitshighest-value

customersarebasedonrecency,frequency,andmonetary(RFM)

value,thenuse

thisinformationtooptimizeadtargeting.Theysuppressadstoshoppersinthe

lowestRFM

quartilewhiletargetinglookalike

audiencesthatreflectitstop-three

quartiles.The

marketingteamhasalsogainednewoperationalefficienciesbecause

itnolongerhastospendtimemanuallyuploadingliststoGoogle

andFacebookforadtargeting.BlueConicsyncssegmentsinrealtime.The

teamisevenabletobuildanddistributecustomerinsightsdashboardstoin-store

associates.Because

the

underlyingdataisalreadyunifiedinBlueConic,these

dashboardsareupdatedandsenttoassociatesweekly—andwithminimaleffort.Individualstore

associatesnot

onlyuse

those

insightstoengagetheirhigh-value

customers,butalsooptimizeproductinventorybasedontheirpreferences.?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page14DrivingGrowthfromCross-Functional

InitiativesDigitalExperiencesThatFosterLoyaltyOne

of

retail’shottestgrowthinitiativesrightnow

isbuildingcompellingdigitalproductsandexperiencesthatfosterloyaltyamongcustomers.Infact,manyretailersareaddingChiefDigitalOfficers(CDO)

or

ChiefExperienceOfficers(CXO)totheirC-suite

toleadend-to-endcustomerexperienceinitiatives.Often,these

rolesnot

onlyoversee

acompany’soverarchingdigitaltransformation,butalsothe

variousomni-channel

effortsthatcome

fromit.For

example,furniture

retailersareusingaugmentedreality(AR)tocreatevirtualexperiencesontheirwebsitessocustomerscanseehow

acouch,

coffee

table,orbookcase

mightlookintheirownlivingroom.Othersarerethinkingtheirbrick-and-mortarlocations.Ratherthanonlythinkingofstoresasenvironmentsforcustomertransactions,theyarenow

beingredesignedtobecome

experientialenvironments.Consumerswhoshopinthese

storesarelikelytofindthemfilledwiththe

latesttechindigitalscreens,mobile

associates,andPOSunits—allinanefforttocreate

amutuallybeneficialexperienceforthe

customerandbusiness.81%of

retailersareprioritizingpersonalizationamidthepandemic,while55%prioritizeditbeforeCOVID-19.581%5

/us/report/cx2020?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page15DrivingGrowthfromCross-Functional

InitiativesThe

bigquestiononeveryCDO’smindtodayis,“How

doIimprovecustomerloyaltythroughexceptionalcustomerexperience?”ButbeforeaCDOcantackle

thisbroaderquestionandembarkondesigningnewARandin-store

experiences,theymustfirstaddresstheircore

operational

challenges.Thisstartswithaskingotherkeyquestions.Notably,howcanthebusiness:?

Powerdatatoandcollectionfromdigitalcustomerexperiences??

Buildexperiencesontopof

first-partydatanocompetitorcanreplicate??

Use

high-qualitydatatoimprove

the

relevanceof

interactionsatscale??

Drivedynamic,highlypersonalizedinteractionsacrosschannels??2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page16CustomerspotlightAmerica’sTestKitchen(ATK)isapopularmultimediacompanythatproducesTVshows,magazines,podcasts,cookbooks,andonline

classesforhome

cooksof

allagesacrossitswell-knownfamilyof

brands.Additionally,itsellsproductsandmerchandise

throughitsecommerce

site,ATKShop.WhenATKfirstimplementedBlueConicseveralyearsago,itsprimaryuse

casewastounifymore

than10yearsworthof

historical

dataintorobustcustomerprofilestoimprove

itscustomeranalyticsefforts.Once

the

datawasunified,ATKusedBlueConic’ssegmentationandanalyticscapabilitiestodiscoverhowdifferentaudiencesinteractwithitsbrands.Fromthere,the

marketingandecommerce

teamscouldactonthese

insightsbydesigningpersonalizedupsellandcross-sellmarketingprogramsandexperiencesthatweren’tpossible

before.For

example,itcouldupdate

ATKShoppricinginrealtime,dependingonwhichpersonalizedemailofferacustomerreceivesandclicksontoarriveataparticularproductpage.Because

BlueConicputsATK’sunifiedprofiledatainproximitytoactivationchannels(e.g.,email,web,mobile,ecommerce),itenablesthe

marketingandecommerce

teamstoautomate

programswhileoptimizingforbusinessoutcomes.Now,ATKisusingBlueConictopowernewdigitalexperiencesduringthe

holidaysthatareintendedtodrivecustomerloyalty.Not

onlyisBlueConiccapturingthedatafromthese

customerinteractionsandstoringitinunifiedprofilessoitcanbe

activatedacrosschannels,butATKisalsousingBlueConic’spersonalizationcapabilitiestodeliverthese

experiencesacrossitsbrandwebsitesandATKShop.?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page17DrivingGrowthfromCross-Functional

InitiativesAudienceMonetizationOf

allthe

growthinitiativesretailersarefocusedontoday,audience

monetizationisprobablythe

mostambitious.Nevertheless,more

andmore

retailersaretocapitalizeonthe

highdemandfortheircustomerdata.These

initiativesaretakingshape

inacouple

ways.Some

retailersareofferingnewdataproductsandservicestopartnersandmanufacturersthatsellproductsintheirstores.Othersarelaunchingadvertisingproductsandmedianetworksforbrandsthatwanttotargettheirunique

shopperaudience.Herearesome

of

the

mostprominentexamplesof

retailcompaniesthathaveembracedaudience

monetization(besidesAmazon,of

course):?

Target

brandsitsownin-house

medianetworkcalledRoundel?

Walmart

MediaGrouprebrandsitsadvertisingarmtoWalmartConnect?

Kroger

offersadvertisingplatformcalledKrogerPrecisionMarketing?

Walgreens

introducesitsnewWalgreensAdvertisingGroup(WAG)?

CVS

launchesitsownadnetworkcalledCVSMediaExchange

(CMX)83%of

companiesthattrusttheaccuracy

andcompletenessof

theirfirst-party

customerdataareabletomonetizeit.683%6

/us-en/research/the-data-powered-enterprise/?2022BlueConicIntellectualPropertyB.V.Allrightsreserved.Page18DrivingGrowthfromCross-Functional

InitiativesAdvertisersarelookingfornewwaystoreachtheirtargetaudience