In today’s demanding e-commerce landscape, the imperative to understand customer behaviour and deliver seamless experiences is driving business owners to increase their investment in enterprise technologies. According to an IDC report, spending on customer experience (CX) technologies in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to reach US$43.8 million by 2027.
However, even with a wide array of technologies, understanding customers’ needs becomes slow and cumbersome if the data is scattered across various locations. This can lead to inconvenient login experiences and an inability to detect fraudulent activities, which is unacceptable in industries where speed and security are crucial for retaining customers. Therefore, it is vital that businesses manage their data effectively, starting by establishing a single source of truth.
Every data point helps
Organisations that successfully implement a single source of truth can identify the needs of both potential and existing customers, and establish a baseline for normal behaviour patterns. By leveraging this information, employees can modify their products and services and deliver robust security that does not disrupt convenience. The other benefits include:
- Enhanced customer segmentation
A consolidated view of customer data enables organisations to group customers based on various factors, including behavioural patterns, history, and preferences. This approach allows them to tailor product recommendations and determine the right authentication features to implement, thereby maximising customer loyalty and experience. - Improved customer retention
Unifying data helps employees identify potential pain points in customers’ journeys that can lead to churn. Addressing these issues helps retain customers, for example, by streamlining communications or offering special discounts. - Efficient resource allocation
Organisations with the capacity to monitor customer behaviour effectively can optimise resource allocation and boost operational efficiency. For instance, identity authentication efforts should focus on users who initiate high-risk requests to reduce fraud-related activities. - Real-time personalisation
Unified customer data allows employees to monitor real-time customer interactions. For example, customers engaged in risky activities would undergo stronger secondary authentication that does not involve passwords, such as biometric and selfie identification. - Enhanced predictive analysis
Leveraging a complete view of customer data allows employees to anticipate future trends and behaviours. With this information, they can plan future marketing campaigns, sales tactics, and customer service strategies. - Compliance and risk management
Centralised data storage ensures that customer information is kept up-to-date and secured from abuse or theft. By pairing unified data with AI-driven analysis, users can detect abnormal behaviours and restrict access to mission-critical files and systems. This enables organisations to comply with local and global data regulations and boost customer trust.
Keeping data in one place
Having fragmented data complicates organisations’ understanding of their customers. Additionally, storing excessive amounts of data can increase the risk of privacy compromises. Therefore, before centralising data, it is important that organisations empower customers to control the release of their personal data and identities.
Following this, it’s important for organisations to consider technologies that can store and manage millions of data points efficiently, with minimal latency. Such solutions should ideally be compatible with existing legacy systems, which would facilitate the smooth transfer and synchronisation of data across platforms.
Effective management of customer identities and access is critical for maintaining security and efficiency. Products that include features for identity orchestration, authentication, and user management can help streamline these processes. Implementing passwordless authentication, for example, can simplify registrations and sign-ons, potentially reducing the risk of security breaches and improving the speed of services.
Smooth-running, personalised experiences, whether in customer service or security, enable businesses to excel in the highly competitive business landscape and make customers feel valued. To achieve this, organisations need to unify all their customer data points to augment their business intelligence. While it may seem daunting at first, integrating the right solutions and strategies can organise all their data, allowing employees to gain a comprehensive view of their customers.
