How does the physical store play big data?

[Guide] The next important resource for online retailers and physical stores is data.

Beijing Time July 20 News, the U.S. Science and Technology blog site VentureBeat Friday published a signed Zakari Haiman (Zachary Hyman) commentary. As the co-founder of the Life Consumption guide Service Spoton, he introduced the entity store how to understand customers and win business opportunities in the data age.

The following is an overview of the article:

The next major resource for online retailers and physical stores is data. E-commerce is a huge attraction, in part because every deal it makes offers sellers a better chance to understand their customers. However, this information-sharing situation has been compromised by new technologies, with new POS terminal systems, digital loyalty software and other management tools designed for merchants to make smarter decisions for store businesses. The following is the real store in the data age to win the five major categories of important data.

Who is my client?

Businesses first need to know important data about their potential customers. This means requiring a deep understanding of consumer buying habits. For example who is the new customer, who often comes to patronize and which are the lost customers who need to be redeemed. At the same time, businesses need to learn about other things that are not purchased, such as what social networks they typically use, and what kind of media they love most. These data will help businesses tailor their customers ' promotional strategies to maximize the benefits of their products.

When do customers come to shop?

Network sales and physical store sales is one of the main difference is the physical store as long as the opening of the business will appear costs, from the manpower to the store and so on. Through the new POS terminal system and digital loyalty program, businesses can quickly know the size of the consumer traffic, and can be based on the flow of time to arrange staff, products and services to maximize the use of off-peak sales time.

What is the best way to reach customers?

The data generated by new technologies can help identify the most effective means of communication-email, cell phone, or social media-once you have established contact with your customers. As a result, businesses can determine which way to stimulate consumer behavior when launching a product.

For example, frequent consumers are often attracted to the main menu, and occasional customers may want to try new products or services. And everyone's consumption habits are also different, some consumers do not like to use the kind of consumer coupons, and some consumers do not like to use coupons during the peak.

The data function of the new technology means can help the merchant to capture these consumer information, which is impossible for the traditional offline marketing channel.

What is the ROI of the loyalty marketing strategy?

Customer loyalty is a very important marketing pillar for many offline businesses, especially those that tailor their services to consumer preferences and shopping practices.

In fact, if the use of digital technology, not all consumers are in an equal position, the different loyalty marketing methods in different regions and groups of feedback generated by the diversity.

With the gradual shift to digital loyalty management, marketers are now better able to judge which product services that have been launched through effective data analysis have received positive feedback from consumers.

In addition, the data can provide businesses with the overall impact of loyalty management tools, including actual data and subjective experience. In the context of new marketing channels such as group buying, data analysis becomes increasingly important.

What is the physical business advantage?

Most businesses are faced with the choice of resource allocation issues, and efficient data can help companies understand the different geographical customer base differences.

This includes different marketing models for different types of traffic, and which products and services attract different customer groups.

Of course, businesses also have the reason to adhere to the offline business, that is the offline shopping experience does have an essential difference with the net purchase.

Physical commerce is not only a business, but also an integral part of society as a whole, and by applying the data from the next generation of integrated software, these entities will be able to play an important role in social life for decades to come.

(Responsible editor: Lu Guang)