How Zero-Party Data Can Take Your Customer Experience to The Next Level
Zero-party data is collected directly from the customers on their own accord giving brands essential data to personalize the experience to each person, resulting in a dramatic shift in power to consumers’ hands to voluntarily provide information.
Ongoing changes to data privacy regulations mean zero-party data is quickly becoming necessary for brands to understand their customers. Tobias Buxhoidt, CEO and founder of parcelLab, shares that to get the complete picture of what customers want, brands must continue to collect and utilize zero-party data throughout the post-purchase process to improve and personalize future experiences.
The past year has brought considerable changes to data privacy, with new restrictions on third-party data completely changing the way brands reach their customers. Recently, Google’s announcement to phase out the use of third-party cookies and Apple’s iOS 14 update, which requires apps to ask customers for permission to track their data, are transforming the way consumer privacy is addressed. Despite the industry-wide changes, customer insights are still crucial for brands to better understand their customers and provide more personalized interactions to drive retention and brand loyalty. Zero-party data is collected directly from the customers on their own accord giving brands essential data to personalize the experience to each person, resulting in a dramatic shift in power to consumers’ hands to voluntarily provide information. As a result, brands will need to play by the customer’s rules to provide the best possible experience.
See More: Why Marketers Should Not Be Too Confident About Their Data Privacy
Ask Your Customers What They Want
Gathering zero-party data is easy and can be non-intrusively integrated into the shopping journey as a natural part of every customer’s experience. On the front-end, tools such as quizzes, conversational pop-ups, specific incentives for certain groups of people, etc., can organically gather information from customers to hone in on exactly what they’re looking for. Prompting customers with quizzes to specify what category they’re looking to shop for, what occasion they’re shopping for, or who they’re shopping for can give brands the invaluable zero-party data needed to customize the shopping experience for each individual. Creating a tailored approach for every customer based on their unique preferences is critical for creating a better shopping experience while also leveraging additional contact points that you might miss out on.
How to Use the Post-purchase Process to Gather Data
Front-end operations aren’t the only way to gather zero-party data. Many brands underestimate the importance of the post-purchase experience, missing out on the prime opportunity to continue gathering data, even after customers check out. Surveys are a great way to maintain contact with customers after a purchase is made and enable retailers to collect valuable data to further curate the customer experience for future purchases.
Understanding what a customer’s experience is in real-time is beneficial and enables brands to learn what that specific customer is looking for to better tailor their experience in the future. Visibility can be as simple as open and click rates from a shipping confirmation email. Or click profiles from the number of times customers check their order status, showing how engaged or excited they are about their order. Brands can use this information to learn what segment a customer belongs in and begin personalizing the experience in real-time to fit that segment’s individual needs. Most brands are missing this component with their delivery and post-purchase process.
See More: Data Privacy: A Business Playground or Management Minefield?
Customers want to be informed throughout the last mile of their purchase which can be a target area of improvement for brands. By increasing visibility post-purchase through proactive email communication with shipping and delivery updates, brands can reach customers in new ways. Zero-party data gathered from creating these additional touchpoints post-purchase can personalize the experience to drive customers back to the brand’s site to shop again.
Finding the Right Technology
In the current information age, everything comes back to data – it drives nearly every aspect of the business, from the very start of an idea to the final product. Taking advantage of the technologies at your disposal, such as Operations Experience Management platforms or automated communications to not only gather the data but analyze and utilize it in ways that create these personalized journeys is paramount for brands to reach customers as changes to third party data rules continue to change.
Building upon existing zero-party data and personalizing the post-purchase experience for specific customer segments through observing what products are purchased, what channel of communication a customer prefers, and more will require the right technology to work with the brand’s goals. Whether it’s using these technologies while customers are shopping or implementing them in the post-purchase process, these are some best practices brands can keep in mind as a starting point when gathering zero-party data:
- Straightforward questions are key to incentivizing customers to participate in the survey without it feeling bothersome.
- Creating a chatbot function that uses real-time, conversational language can pull customers in to share what they are looking for or questions they might have
- Find out what channel customers prefer to be notified on which can provide a better experience for each individual while also providing helpful insight for the future.
- Asking customers along the way how the experience is going and following up after an item is delivered are essential ways to keep the connection going.
- Use various data points such as local weather, store hours, traffic updates, etc., to enhance the post-purchase touchpoints.
Zero-party data can help inform brands where their post-purchase experience may be lacking i.e. shipping times, communications about delays, or delivery experience. Reaching customers to gather information directly from them creates new ways to personalize and improve the customer experience and build customer profiles that can be utilized to better target or serve the customer as they return to shop again. Zero-party data will be the new norm, and it’s up to brands to get ahead of the curve and find the strategy and technology that delivers for their customers.
Do you think zero-party data could change customer experience for the better? Tell us your thoughts on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. We’d love to know!
MORE ON MARKETING DATA GOVERNANCE
