From A Customer Perspective

Consumers are no longer what they used to be. Before they buy, they look around, gather a ton of data about their product, compare prices and are aware of the market forces. They want to be treated as unique. They are influencers and mini-tyrants who will leave shop elsewhere in the blink of an eye if an organization does not keep up. An organization needs to outrun them and be very responsive to the ever changing market trends.

The good news is that organizations have all the information needed to understand, catch and nurture these empowered consumers. Because they literally leave traces everywhere. They leave colossal masses of data from various sources such as Twitter, Facebook, industrial sensors, Geo-tracking data, voter registrations, sports statistics, website logs and much more.

Big Data comes with real predictive insights, actions and results as well. This blog talks about some of the views on the way markets are changing and how an organization can make informed use of these trends to strengthen their profile. I believe this gives retailers a tremendous opportunity to focus all their efforts in building a strong relationship with the consumer and fully utilize what Big Data has to offer. It is not an easy initiative but, I believe Big Data is something all of us will continue to learn and utilize over the years to come and use it to our advantage.

1) Fast Customer + Big Data = Big Marketing

The good news is that an organization has all the information needed - for a 360° view of the customers. There is massive amount of external information that can give superior insights into the customer’s minds and behavior.

2) The customer extends tyranny over the market and can highly influence the pattern of market trends. A customer responds when he or she is being focused upon. Gone are the days of loyalty and it is based on a public cycle of buying and influencing.

Metaphorically expressed as:

HAPPY CUSTOMERS TELL 9 PEOPLE
DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS TELL 22 PEOPLE

3) Big Data Technology is remolding customer-vendor relationships into something more dynamic, personal and dialectic. Customers want a far reaching personal experience and want it to be unique. With all the data needed to understand a customer is at hand, the process is made very simple. Today it is possible to make a full digital footprint analysis of purchasers by auditing and merging internal and external data feeds, turning those into real insight and making real-time decisions based on individual profiles.

4) Making new customers and keeping them is the motto. McKinsey claims that 55% of the current marketing budget is spent on new customer acquisition and only 12% on customer retention. This division gives us a rough idea to where the focus of the organization lies. One among the many tools big data has to offer is the warning signs that a customer is on the verge of switching to competition. Big Data tools tell you when customers are making negative comments about you online, when they have partially switched to the competition or when their shopping basket has changed in content or size.

Big Data can also be used to recognize frequent shoppers and thank them for their loyalty which enhances the personal shopping experience.

Reference: Analyzing Customer Behavior- Big Data Research Papers by Greenplum.

Peter Hinssen-Predicting What Happens Next