May the data be with you: What do retailers need to do next to capitalise on Black Friday?

With footfall reported to have decreased across the UK by 9.6% over the course of the weekend as shoppers favoured online purchases, it’s clear the tactics worked online, with reports that sales of non-food item sales leapt by 11.8% this year. This meant that retailers had to be prepared in a different way to previous years in order to attract people to their online site over competitors.

Despite this shift in approch, for some, there were still technical issues, with websites such as Argos and John Lewis experiencing glitches throughout the course of the morning as traffic surged.

Retailers that experienced these sorts of problems must therefore make sure these issues are ironed out to reduce negative brand perception over the rest of the month and into the Boxing Day sales, to prevent this from occurring again. This involves careful planning and optimisation online, so that websites are fully prepared for popular online shopping days in the future. In addition, those retailers that are having problems need to use the next few weeks to re-build relationships and prepare for the next wave of sales.

The way retailers interact with consumers across their entire CRM marketing approach, whether it be via email, social or other digital channels needs to seamlessly complement their wider experience both on- and offline. If it doesn’t the chance of brand disengagement driven by expectations being unfulfilled will only increase.

With more people shopping online this year, there is a huge opportunity for retailers to capture data which they can then use to drive effective, targeted communications that add value to their customers. Teradata Marketing Applications is expertly placed to help brands utilise their data assets in a far more meaningful manner to not only influence communication strategies, but wider business decisions based on individual behaviour traits and preferences.

Using browsing history from the weekend, and in the days leading up to the event, will allow retailers to send insight-driven and individualised emails based on products customers have previously viewed. This will strengthen the relationship between the customer and the retailer, particularly if their customer abandoned their purchase at the last minute. It may be that they found that particular purchase elsewhere, so why not send accessories that compliment their original idea?

For example, if they bought a PS4 why not send them information relating to additional controllers, or games? This will add value by personalising content when you know there’s a base level of interest. These approaches are immensely valuable to consumers and can easily increase an individual’s propensity to buy. Not only does it show people that the retailer understands their needs, it is making it far easier for them to make future purchases on their own terms.

However when it comes to the right approach its important to remember that what was right yesterday, may not necessarily be right tomorrow. According to the FT, consumers turned to their smartphones and tablets to drive a sharp increase in online sales this year. With 76% of the UK adult population now in possession of a Smartphone, retailers need to understand not only what to send to whom and when, they also need to understand how those messages are going to be read and recieved.

In the US, large retailers such as Walmart have been steadily increasing their investment in improving the integration of their in-store and online services, as shoppers increasingly use mobile devices to research products. Empowering customers to interact using multiple channels is increasingly going to rise to the fore as retailers look to transform the retail experience.

Data is fundamental to achieving this in the most streamlined way possible. Not only does it help shape the experience from the outset, it also enables it to be constantly adapted. It’s much quicker for your customer to give up on your website or throw away your mobile app and go to a competitor than it is for them to leave a physical store. Retailers must make sure that they are prepared to give the customer the best possible digital experience across all the channels to avoid them leaving within a few moments – if they can’t even get on to the website or have a completely different experience across the other channels, it’s a sale lost immediately.

It’s important to note that although the events are very lucrative Black Friday and Cyber Monday are not isolated calendar dates that retailers can now forget about, and move on from. It’s now time for them to implement a marketing communications programme which continues to attract customers still buying their Christmas presents, which for many may be the final minutes before the shops close on Christmas Eve.

Jon Williams, Country Manager UK&I, Teradata