Connect in-store and loyalty data to email and SMS

00:00 Introduction: Activate the Customer Data You Already Have

Hello, everyone. My name is Greg Polhemus, and I've been with Listrak for about 10 years. I've held a very technically focused role throughout that time and have probably worked with several hundred client accounts over the years. While I consider myself an expert in all things Listrak, I also have extensive technical experience across the broader digital ecosystem.

My focus has really been on understanding how different technologies work together, including customer data platforms (CDPs), backend systems, inventory management systems, customer databases, and all the other components that make up a retailer's technology stack. Over the last several years, I've spent a lot of time looking at how these systems and the data they contain can work hand in hand with Listrak.

Today, I want to walk through how you can activate some of the valuable customer data you probably already have or are working hard to collect and organize. We'll focus particularly on loyalty, mobile app, and in-store data, and how bringing that information together can create more connected customer experiences and new opportunities for engagement and revenue.

01:23 Connect Data Across Your Customer Ecosystem

One of the first things we need to do is meet the data where it lives. Your customer data platform (CDP) probably contains a tremendous amount of information about your customers, but you also have valuable data coming from other sources throughout your technology ecosystem. That might include product information, third-party vendors, mobile apps, loyalty programs, and other customer interactions. What we want to do is bring all of those signals together.

Listrak is already collecting a significant amount of customer activity. We're tracking how shoppers engage with your website, interact with your email and SMS campaigns, and ultimately convert. But we can make that information even more valuable by connecting it with mobile app interactions, loyalty purchases, rewards points, and especially in-store data, which is one of the biggest untapped opportunities for many retailers.

Once that information is connected, your ability to orchestrate customer experiences becomes even stronger. You have a unified view of the customer and can recognize that someone isn't just shopping and engaging online. They might also be purchasing in-store, interacting through your mobile app, or actively participating in your loyalty program and redeeming rewards. Bringing those interactions together allows you to better understand each customer and create more relevant experiences across their entire shopping journey.

02:27 Unlock the Value of In-Store Customer Data

One of the most impactful things I've seen while working with clients on their in-store data is just how much of a difference it makes when that information is connected. Even among retailers already bringing store data into their marketing platforms, there's often still a disconnect. They're seeing incredible results from connecting the data, but their customer engagement strategies remain heavily focused on digital shopping behavior.

For retailers with a significant physical store presence, 90% to 99% of their revenue may be coming from stores. When you bring those in-store customers and purchases into Listrak, you can immediately introduce a much larger audience into your digital marketing journeys.

For example, one of my clients saw their post-purchase journey grow by approximately 40 times after connecting their store data. They went from reaching roughly 10,000 to 20,000 customers per month to having about 400,000 customers entering that journey each month. That's the kind of impact bringing in-store data into your marketing program can have.

But here's what was especially interesting. They discovered that 95% of those customers weren't even engaging online, yet they were receiving digital-focused messages encouraging them to return to the website or redeem online coupons. We weren't acknowledging how those customers actually shopped or engaging them in a way that reflected their relationship with the brand.

By connecting in-store purchase data, retailers can start recognizing those differences and communicating with customers in ways that are much more relevant to their shopping behavior, whether they prefer purchasing online, in-store, or across both channels.

03:45 Identify Your Most Valuable Customers

When you bring all of this in-store data and customer information together, it improves your ability to understand who your customers really are. You now have a true omnichannel view of your customers, including your VIPs. Some of these shoppers may be purchasing online, but they're also buying in-store, engaging with your mobile app, and taking advantage of loyalty programs and rewards.

One of the things we've seen through our new Stores dashboard is that omnichannel customers are often significantly more valuable. They're engaging with your brand across multiple touchpoints, purchasing more frequently, and typically have higher average order values. Whether someone shops primarily online, in-store, or across both channels, understanding their complete purchase behavior helps you identify your most valuable customers.

It also changes how you identify customers who may be at risk of churning. If you're only looking at digital purchase behavior, a customer might appear to be disengaged or likely to churn when they're actually continuing to shop regularly in your stores. They may be browsing products online, checking out a promotion, or researching an item before visiting a store to see how it fits, feels, or compares with other products.

Without that in-store visibility, you're missing an important part of the customer relationship. And when you do have that information, you can make smarter decisions about when and how to engage customers. If someone who regularly purchases in-store hasn't returned in a while, for example, you can recognize that change in behavior and create a timely campaign to encourage their next visit.

Bringing these data points together allows you to more accurately identify your VIPs, recognize customers who may be at risk, and deliver relevant messages based on how they actually interact with your brand.

05:19 Personalize Marketing with Store and Loyalty Data

Once you start bringing all of these data points into Listrak and putting them to work, the impact can be tremendous, and you can start seeing results very quickly. Let me share a couple of examples from clients who have begun personalizing their marketing based on how customers actually shop, particularly through their stores and loyalty programs.

In the first example, we worked with a retailer to improve its post-purchase journey by incorporating in-store purchase behavior and VIP customer information. Nearly 90% of the engagement in that journey was coming from store buyers. Previously, the retailer had a single-message post-purchase journey that essentially thanked customers for visiting the website. But 95% of those customers weren't shopping online, so the message wasn't relevant to their experience. By changing how we communicated with those customers and making the messaging more appropriate for their shopping behavior, we were able to create a much more relevant post-purchase experience and see the difference in revenue performance.

For another client, nearly 99% of revenue was coming from in-store purchases, but their marketing program was still relying heavily on traditional broadcast messaging. We started creating segments based on store purchase behavior, loyalty participation, and mobile app engagement, then developed content specifically for those audiences. Instead of sending everyone the same promotions, we could encourage store shoppers to visit their nearest location, highlight loyalty benefits, or provide coupons they could actually redeem in-store rather than online.

When we tested this more personalized approach against their existing messaging, engagement increased by more than 40%, and conversions increased by more than 100%. That's a significant difference, and it came from recognizing how customers preferred to shop and communicating with them accordingly.

Think about your own shopping behavior. If you typically shop in-store and receive an offer encouraging you to return to a nearby location, that's probably going to be much more relevant than a promotion that only works online. These are the kinds of opportunities you unlock when you connect your customer data and use it to deliver more personalized experiences.

07:10 Activate Data Across Automated Customer Journeys

Once you have all of this customer information connected, the next question is how you put it to work across your marketing program. It's not just about creating more relevant broadcast campaigns. You can use store, loyalty, and app data to improve the orchestration of your automated journeys throughout the customer lifecycle.

Think about identifying your VIP customers, understanding their value, and creating different experiences based on their behavior. You can also use that information to recognize when valuable customers may be at risk of churning and reach them with relevant messages before you lose their business. Your post-purchase journeys are especially important here because they give you an opportunity to continue engaging customers based on what they've actually purchased, regardless of whether that purchase happened online or in-store.

There's also an important measurement opportunity. Acquiring a new customer digitally can cost $50 to $70, and if that customer ultimately makes a purchase in-store, you may not be connecting that sale back to your digital marketing investment. That makes it difficult to understand the full impact of your SEO, advertising, and other acquisition efforts.

By connecting in-store purchase data with your digital marketing activity, you gain better visibility into those customer relationships and the revenue your marketing is influencing. You can recognize customers who engage online but purchase in-store, bring them into the appropriate automated journeys, and continue communicating with them in ways that reflect their complete shopping behavior.

08:01 Connect In-Store Behavior to Digital Experiences

When a customer makes a purchase in-store, you now have an opportunity to connect with them immediately through an appropriate post-purchase journey. But you can take that experience even further by using Listrak Experience Builder to personalize what they see when they return to your website. You can create onsite content that's relevant to their in-store purchases, loyalty activity, or mobile app engagement, helping connect those different shopping experiences.

For example, if someone regularly shops through your mobile app, you might highlight an app-exclusive offer or remind them that they have 50 loyalty points available. You can then use a deep link to bring them directly back into the app, where they can continue shopping. The same approach applies to customers who prefer shopping in-store. Rather than always directing them to your website, you can deliver content and offers that encourage another store visit.

The important thing is making these experiences purposeful. Every automated journey should consider whether someone is a VIP customer and whether there are signals that they may be at risk of churning. That applies to cart abandonment, browse abandonment, post-purchase, replenishment, and other customer lifecycle campaigns.

Think about the value of those relationships. Depending on your business, a VIP customer might have a lifetime value of $500 or even $2,000. Losing just 10 of those customers can represent a significant amount of revenue. If you can reduce churn among your VIP customers by even 10% to 15%, the impact can add up quickly.

By bringing store, loyalty, and app data together, you can identify those valuable customers more accurately and create experiences that encourage them to stay engaged, regardless of where they prefer to shop.

09:34 Improve Personalization and Revenue Opportunities

When you bring all of this customer data together, you can identify your VIP customers more accurately, better recognize when someone may be at risk of churning, and create onsite experiences that are relevant to how they actually shop. Another important benefit is improving your product recommendations. When you know what customers are purchasing in-store, you can use that information, along with your product data, to deliver recommendations that reflect their complete purchase history rather than just their online activity.

There's tremendous value in connecting all of these interactions and making sure customers receive the right information, whether they're shopping online, in-store, or through your mobile app. Your automated journeys should recognize who those customers are, understand how they engage with your brand, and provide relevant offers and content they can actually use. The goal is to create a connected experience where your marketing is working appropriately for every customer, regardless of their preferred shopping channel.

One of the biggest opportunities this creates is getting more value from the money and effort you're already investing in digital marketing. You might spend a significant amount acquiring a new subscriber or customer online, only to have that person make most of their purchases in-store. Without connected data, you may not recognize the value of that relationship or understand the full impact of your marketing efforts. But when you bring those purchases into Listrak, you can identify those customers, continue engaging them, and create more opportunities for repeat purchases.

We've consistently seen that omnichannel customers can be more valuable than customers who shop exclusively online or in-store. So it's important to build automated journeys that recognize those different behaviors and communicate with customers in ways that are relevant to them. Whether someone purchases through a store, engages through a kiosk, shops in your app, or redeems loyalty points, those interactions shouldn't disappear into separate systems without informing your marketing.

Ultimately, that's what activating your existing customer data is all about. You're bringing those interactions together, using them to improve personalization and automation, and creating a more connected retail experience that helps you build stronger customer relationships and drive revenue.

Thank you.