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Taking a Leveraged Approach for Consumer Analytics

By Elie Y. Katz || May 16, 2024 || Originally published on cstoredecisions.com

How loyalty programs and understanding customer data can drive profitability, customer service and deliver you a competitive advantage.

For convenience store owners, the ability to deliver a unified and personalized customer experience is front and center. Many chains are using scan data to complete a thorough consumer analysis, which can bring strategic advantages, and most chains understand the finer points of collecting scan data, but that’s only half the battle.

Knowing how to maximize your data analysis to drive sales, best the competition and improve your bottom line is the ultimate goal.

Scan data analysis can be effective in better targeting customers. As organizations increasingly integrate their systems, omni-channel opportunities to gather and utilize data in interesting ways to make smarter merchandising decisions.

Real-time analytics are a key part of identifying and understanding the customer across retail channels and creating the right assortment at the right time for that customer. By investing in systems that handle and interpret customer and sales data, c-stores can position themselves for greater sales opportunities while offering personalized shopping experiences to their customers.

This is where a loyalty program can have its greatest benefits. Tracking your consumers’ shopping habits allows you to target them with offers that better resonate with their preferences, which means it’s more likely to spur new sales opportunities.

Capturing consumer data, in conjunction with a loyalty program, which rewards consumers with discounts on foodservice, gasoline and other key categories throughout the store, gives companies a real-time understanding of who is shopping their stores and when. It allows chains to predict, with high accuracy, what customers are looking for throughout the day and ensures each store is ready to meet their needs.

Scan data helps identify, target and reward consumers with offers that influence future purchasing decisions. Furthermore, loyalty program integration improves your understanding of customers so you meet their needs with improved merchandise assortment, timely and seasonal promotions and precise targeting at the right time of the day. This data can even lead to updating planograms so high-impulse, high-margin items are easily accessible and more toward the front of the store.

With this in mind, Ignite Retail Technology, which specializes in implementing loyalty programs for convenience store chains of all sizes, outlined its Five Benefits of Loyalty Programs for Convenience Stores that organizations can expect the following benefits from their loyalty programs. They are:

• More Customer Data
• Use the Customer’s Voice
• Community Building
• Improved Customer Retention and Referrals
• Operating Cost Savings

More Customer Data. Once a customer joins a loyalty program, marketing teams can track their preferences, buying habits and interests. In fact, most Americans are willing to trade personal information for loyalty program perks, according to Forrester Research. Organizations can use this data to personalize outreach and customize
monthly offers to different customer personas.

Use the Customer’s Voice. Rather than develop many new marketing campaigns, marketers can rely on their rewards program members to drive more business.

Organizations can ask customers to review the company or program on third-party sites. Successful loyalty programs often delight customers so much that they feel compelled to share their experiences on social media, which can bring in new business and loyalty members.

Community Building. Many people, especially loyal convenience store customers, want to feel like they’re a part of something larger than themselves, and loyalty programs can offer that. Virtual events, call center/customer service lines and online forums can foster communities and discussions from which marketing teams can receive firsthand customer feedback.

Improved Customer Retention and Referrals. Loyalty programs reward repeat customers with exclusive offers and personalized treatment, such as coupons and birthday gift cards, which drive customer retention. Loyal customers often tell their friends and family about the program’s special offers, which brings in new referrals.

Operating Cost Savings. Although companies must spend money on the loyalty program benefits, management and marketing, it costs less than acquiring new customers to replace those who went to a competitor — with a loyalty program.

As retail evolves into an omnichannel experience for the customer’s time, attention and hard-earned money, the winners in the competition for sales dollars will succeed by unifying the entire shopping experience through alignment of the processes and technology to support customer expectations.

Understanding scan data, targeted offerings for existing and potentially new customers and removing friction from the sales process will go a long way toward growing your. business. Take advantage of the opportunities technology affords your company.