How Forward-Thinking Brands Are Leveraging Zero-Party Data To Win With Customers

 

By: Ray Chelstowski

Today consumers are demanding more personalization from the companies they do business with, and many brands are responding. Businesses like Amazon and Netflix have seen explosive international growth and deep loyalty by building truly personalized customer experiences. They understand their customers, both individually and as a whole and don’t use a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, they are constantly finding ways to personalize the experience even down to each individual customer.

Brad Weston, the former CEO of Petco famously said “It’s all about personalization and customization. Retail brands are going to have to do more than just sell products. You must create an environment where consumers want to do things outside of just purchasing a product. Engage them in the brand in a more holistic way.”

Companies like Petco that are excelling at personalization are relentless about it, proactively looking for opportunities to better understand their base – and then building new products and services that address their needs.

Increasingly this begins with capturing what is being called “Zero-Party Data”. Unlike other data that organizations have traditionally captured, the Zero-Party Data process gets customers to “raise their hand” and explicitly tell brand what offers and incentives matter to them most. The power of Zero-Party Data is that it captures consumer intent and isn’t merely a history of their actions and transactions with a brand. Research has shown that, not surprisingly, most membership and loyalty customers are willing to share Zero-Party Data if they know the special incentives that follow will meet their needs in a more personalized way. As the traditional methods of gathering consumer data – including the much beloved “cookie” – are rapidly falling out of favor with privacy-savvy consumers, gathering Zero-Party Data is becoming more important and more urgent for organization’s who consider themselves customer-centric.

Nordstrom has placed personalization at the center of their market proposition. They see it as an extension of their exceptional experience, largely because it encourages customers to go the extra mile and gives the store the tools and the insight to provide the kind of truly remarkable service that is central to Nordstrom’s reputation. The company has long been admired for their personalized approach, both human touch and digital with its user-friendly app and robust loyalty program. Working together this level of personalization has ensured the sense of loyalty that Nordstrom customers have toward the store.

At Kognitiv we work directly with clients like Nordstrom’s helping them bring personalization to their members in ways that improve retention, expand membership rosters, and bring richer value to rewards. This is transforming loyalty and creating a new dynamic kind of ecosystem where everyone wins.

ray.chelstowski@kognitiv.com