How CMOs can identify what their customers want from an in-store experience

It’s easy to see that changing consumer expectations around the in-store experience have largely been driven by the more sophisticated and personalised experiences provided by online giants like Amazon, ASOS, Netflix, etc.

As a result, 65% of UK consumers now see customer experience as a crucial factor in their decision making (PwC).

This shift has led to over half of UK consumers citing thoughtful and personal experiences as more important than discounts and coupons (Walnut). 

But what is it that customers actually want to experience when they enter a store and how can physical retailers find out what they are?

In this How To Guide, we’ll breakdown how CMOs in bricks and mortar can identify the customer behaviours and preferences that will successfully drive a retail marketing strategy.

The five steps that will help CMOs find out what customers want from their in-store experience.

1. Do your research – there’s tons out there

Personalised, convenient and fast experiences are now considered the most valuable differentiators for shoppers, coming above loyalty schemes, brand image, or store design, according to PwC.

Translating these broad concepts into tangible experiences, research reveals the following:

2. Make sure you’re partnered with the right EPOS provider

The savvy CMO that you are, we’re going to assume you have a mobile-first strategy in place (if not, you should read why you need to have one in place here). 

EPOS systems provide various business reporting capabilities, i.e. daily sales, stock level, purchase order reports, etc. But the real question a CMO should ask is: ‘what data can I receive from the checkout that will benefit my marketing strategy?’

Basket data is where real customer insight can be found, and why so many EPOS providers in the UK choose to partner with Yoyo (we’re one of the only companies worldwide that can access this granular level of data).

3. Have a CRM that translates customer data into valuable customer insight

Like oil, data is only useful once it’s been refined. This is why you’ll need a CRM that is able to translate SKU basket data into insight that can monitor existing lines, detect customer behaviour patterns and predict the success of future product innovations.

Combined with this invaluable customer data insight, Yoyo’s unique business and marketing platform provides CMOs with: 

Real-Time Data
Yoyo pulls through and refines data in real-time. This means predictive CLV values, lifecycle stage models, customer segments, financial reporting, and so on, are dynamically updated in the moment.

Self Service Platform
This invaluable data filters through to an intuitive Yoyo-powered marketing platform, where multi-channel campaigns can be built and sent, quickly and at-scale.

Easy Reporting
Our retail partners can access and easily share a range of reports – from campaign performance and financial uplift, to wider product and financial analytics. All displayed in a user-friendly format.

4. Utilize your customer data to make informed decisions 

You now know what your customers like to buy and when. What next?

Talk to them in a way you know will suit them best. 

On average, we check our phone screens for texts, emails, social updates, push notifications etc, every 12 minutes of the waking day, so grabbing a customer’s attention at just the right moment is crucial. 

If you can identify a segment of customers who tend to visit your store in the morning on the way to work, you can create an automated campaign that delivers a reward or offer at just the right moment. 

This places your brand front-of-mind at just the right moment, while making a customer feel like their being treated as an individual, not just another shopper.

Yoyo’s business and marketing platform not only enables you to view real-time business performance, it also reveals real-time campaign impact, whether your customers are making those key return visits and using their personalised rewards and offers. 

And of course the platforms measures whether your in-store experiences have resulted in an uplift in overall sales.

5. Build out your mobile-led offering!

Nobody likes long queues, being unable to find what they want, waiting ages for the bill, or going through laborious red tape to earn loyalty points and rewards. 

You’ve seen the research and you now have a mobile-led strategy that’s revealing real-time customer behaviour insight and delivering personalised campaigns. 

Data insight and enhanced functionality combined, a Yoyo-powered app enables retail CMOs to tailor their in-store experience exactly to how their customers like to shop..

If you’ve got this far, why not download our latest report on what the future looks like for high street retail…

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