Photo: RetailWire
According to BRP’s “2018 Customer Experience/Unified Commerce Survey,” only 23 percent of retailers are able to identify customers inside stores before they check out.
Of the 23 percent, 13 percent have ways to identify customers when they walk in and another 10 percent sometime during the pre-checkout stage. Fifty-seven percent can identify customers at checkout. Twenty percent are unable to identify customers at all at the store level.
The findings were based on an online survey of more than 500 North America retailers conducted in March and April.
BRP’s study noted that not being able to identify individuals prevents associates from leveraging customer information to allow personalized interaction such as clienteling and guided selling that can drive a better experience.
Online customer identification is easier because it doesn’t rely on opt-in via mobile phones. According to the study, 60 percent were able to identify customers online before checkout, including 30 percent when browsers first visit the website.
When asked what types of incentives they offered customers to encourage in-store identification, the top answers were personalized service, 37 percent, and product incentives, 30 percent.
The number of retailers that don’t offer customers any incentives to identify, however, has increased from 18 percent last year to 37 percent this year.
BRP wrote, “Unfortunately, this means that fewer retailers see the value in gathering customer information. In practice, incentives create a strong correlation to the rate in which customers identify themselves, and identification creates opportunities to personalize the shopping experience and or offer special discounts and promotions, which typically translate into higher sales.”