Omnichannel customer engagement is pivotal for today’s retailers. Customers want a consistent experience with your retailer, regardless of how or when they interact. Companies with an efficient omnichannel customer engagement strategy retain an average of 83% of their customers, compared to only 33% on average for businesses with weaker strategies.
So how can your retailer get it right? The secret is point of sale (POS) data.
Your POS system is more than just a tool for receiving payments. It collects a variety of customer transaction data that, when analyzed correctly, POS data provides detailed insights about your customers and products.
Because your POS system extends to all corners of your retail business, POS data is collected from multiple channels, regardless of where or how your customers shop. This could be in-store, online, or via your mobile app – giving you a comprehensive set of data.
You can use POS data to make vital connections and discover insights to inform your omnichannel strategy.
An omnichannel strategy guides the process of providing a consistent experience across customer channels.
For example, if a customer visits your retailer in-store regularly, once a week, and buys a wide variety of household and food items, they're likely doing a weekly grocery shop. Data collected at the POS, like basket size, can even infer how many people they’re shopping for, i.e. is it a family shop, or for a single, person household?
If the customer then uses your online channel, for example ordering a grocery shop online, it’s beneficial if their experience is relevant and tailored to them.
There might be opportunities to advertise, provide a coupon, or upsell certain products. This level of personalization makes shoppers more likely to return.
Your POS data can help you provide relevant offers to your customers. It does this by keeping track of factors such as products purchased, basket size, spending, transaction history, and more.
You can achieve this by using a 1:1 payment token that's unique to a customer’s transaction card. While POS data never records full payment card details, this data can be used to create a non-unique payment token. Or, more commonly, your POS system can collect this data when a customer signs up to your loyalty card scheme.
Your retail marketing software can then make sure that customer offers are tailored. For example, if a shopper receives a coupon at till it'll be relevant to them. Or if they interact with your retailer online, you can make sure that messaging or offers are targeted. With this functionality, you'll make sure customers receive a relevant experience across multiple channels.
Your POS systems generate a large amount of POS data. But to utilize it, it needs to be processed and analyzed properly. And it needs to be collected in a single format, using a centralized system. Retail marketing software can help you achieve this, and more.
By processing your POS data this way, you’ll have visibility of your data in real-time, in the same format, all in one place. This will help fuel omnichannel strategy decision-making – using accurate, up-to-the-minute data and not guesswork. With this information, you can make sure that decisions are relevant to your audience and customer base, and spot more opportunities to engage them.
Every shopper fits into a customer group. These are often segmented by behaviors, preferences, and circumstances. When you put customers into groups, you can target them more effectively at scale. If you're a large retailer with multiple locations or a global retailer this is beneficial.
Your POS data will tell you the information you need to effectively segment your customers. Then you can decide a strategy for each group using this data. Plus you can utilize targeted channels, mobile apps, digital receipts, and coupon at till to provide relevant offers to specific customer groups, and rule out marketing communications that won't be relevant to other groups.
It's common knowledge that data is king. But actually unlocking its potential for your retailer can be a difficult process. Especially if you're trying to set up your own internal retail data analytics system or if you don't have the internal resources to do so. A retail marketing software solution is a straightforward solution for gathering, analyzing, and actioning your valuable customer data.
.svg){kind=small}