Cross-device tracking consumers without them signing into accounts is ‘the golden bullet’ says Shop Direct’s Sam Barton
Shop Direct’s head of user experience, Sam Barton, has said that cross-device tracking consumers who aren't signed into an account is “the golden bullet” for businesses.
Speaking at The Drum’s Digital Convergence event in London today, Barton said that at the moment the brand is only able to track consumers who are signed into their accounts, making it difficult to fully understand big data collected about their habits.
“Customers that shop with us across different devices are 15 times more valuable than those that shop on one device, so we understand the importance of cross device. From that insight we started retargeting on mobile and looking at the data behind that.
“At the moment we just [track] people who are signed in – that is the golden bullet. We design user journeys based on the profile of the customers we are seeing and within UX we create personas by the way people are using cross devices. That influences the interface and how we target them, and it influences everything we do," he said.
Also speaking at the event, Steve Forde, head of viewer relationship management at Channel 4 said the broadcaster uses big data to learn more about the “human being” that is the viewer.
“We believe by 2020 two thirds of viewers will come through connected devices which creates an interesting strategy for broadcasters. We have introduced lots of MBTs to nudge customers into deciding what to watch,” he said.
“We have terabytes and terabytes of data to understand what customers are watching and how we can use that data to influence decisions on TV. The next thing to see is how and if data can influence which programmes we can make in the future”.
Forde added that by collecting and reacting to big data, Channel 4 has been able to add value to the advertising community, which not only puts “more eyeballs on advertising” but also adds to the viewing experience.