Considering how competitive and ever-changing the retail industry is, retailers need to find better ways to entertain and delight their customers. It’s important to take advantage of opportunities and better understand their shoppers if they want to stay on top of the competition.
In this article, we are going to focus on customer insights and how they can help you offer better customer experiences to your shoppers.
What are customer insights?
Customer insights are the interpretation of customer data, feedback, and behavior. The conclusions drawn from the interpretation of data are used to improve customer support and experience. Also, some customer insights can even impact the business strategy or the promotion of new products.
In retail, quantitative data can show if a customer purchased a product. However, customer insights can reveal the reason behind the purchase decision. This, of course, provides a clearer picture of why your customers are purchasing or avoiding a certain product. It can also impact the way you distribute and market your products.
Why it’s important to leverage customer insights
Customer data along with shopping behavior and customer feedback can offer you essential customer insights, but why is it important to collect and understand this data? Because it has a massive impact on how you promote and sell your products.
1. Customer insights can help you improve the shopping experience
One of the most important things both in-store and online is to offer your customers an amazing experience. Statistics show that, when it comes to making a purchase, 64% of people find customer experience more important than price. While you have the option to wiggle the price, you can’t play around when it comes to customer experience. By understanding your customers, their needs and wants, you will be able to create unique experiences in-store and online that will impress shoppers. Better experience = Better sales.
2. Data can help you personalize the experience of customers
Yes, customer experience is important. In the last year, we’ve also seen an increase in demand for personalized experiences. Customers are expecting brands and retailers to offer personalized offers.
By gathering customer data, you will be able to see what your customers buy and what are their main interests. Based on this information, you can offer a tailored experience.
3. Can help you improve sales
If your shoppers are happy and receive personalized offers, the chances of them making a purchase are much higher. This means better sales for you and a better customer experience for your shoppers.
How can you collect customer insights?
For eCommerce platforms, customer data is easy to track, monitor, and use. However, for brick and mortar stores, there are fewer options when it comes to data collection. This doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to collect data and analyze it.
Collecting data in-store
If you are selling exclusively in-store, there are only a few opportunities to gather customer insights. One of the best ways to do so is to take advantage of retail tech. Proximity marketing tools can collect data from customers and you can use it to offer a better, more personalized experience and to provide targeted ads directly on their devices.
Also, if you want to focus on understanding your customers and their shopping patterns better, you should try collecting qualitative data with the help of a focus group or a feedback survey.
Taking advantage of the omnichannel approach
If you rely on an omnichannel approach, then it is easier for you to collect data and analyze it. You can use any type of analytics for your website and social media pages. Connecting the online and offline environments will help you fulfill the demands of your customers.
Customer insights are extremely valuable for your business. They can help you better understand why your customers make certain purchasing decisions. Also, data will show you how to market your products in a way that attracts shoppers.
