<strong>Customer Information Acts as Superpower for Growth and Success</strong>

In today's fast-paced and hyper-competitive business landscape, the key to success lies in understanding your customers like never before. Customer information has emerged as the new superpower, providing businesses with invaluable insights into their target audience's preferences, behaviour, and needs. By leveraging this treasure trove of data effectively, companies can tailor their strategies, deliver personalized experiences, and stay ahead of the competition. In this article, we will explore how Indian businesses can harness the power of customer information, and leverage it for sustainable growth.

The Riches Lie Within: Tapping into Customer Information

Push to purchase

Much like a skilled archaeologist unearthing hidden treasures, businesses can tap into a wealth of valuable customer information to gain a competitive edge. Indian businesses, big and small, generate vast amounts of data from customer interactions, online behaviour, purchase history, and social media engagement. For example, one common challenge for most e-commerce firms is a relatively high shopping cart abandonment rate, which leads to lost revenues.

This can be resolved by analyzing customer data and identifying the specific reasons behind cart abandonment. Armed with such insights, you can consider offering free shipping for orders above a certain threshold or displaying shipping costs upfront to reduce abandonment situations. Some brands are using these insights to offer targeted discounts to customers who have products added to their cart pushing them towards a purchase.

Complex or lengthy checkout processes can also be a deterrent to completing a purchase. Through data analysis, e-tailers can pinpoint the exact steps where customers tend to drop off during the checkout process and work towards a resolution.

Many businesses are using customer data to determine their pricing strategy. They use insights such as purchase history and price sensitivity, to identify price points that maximize both revenue and customer satisfaction.

Service delivery

For most Indian firms, ensuring an efficient and responsive supply chain can be complex, leading to delays, excess inventory, or missed opportunities. Customer data can be used to shape supply chain decisions. For instance, historical sales data and demand forecasts can help businesses adjust production schedules, optimize inventory levels, and ensure that products are available when customers need them. This reduces operational costs and improves customer satisfaction.

Businesses can also utilize customer feedback data to identify areas of improvement in products or services. For example, customer reviews and surveys can highlight common pain points or desired enhancements. By collecting and analyzing this feedback systematically, businesses can prioritize improvements that resonate with their customer base, enhancing overall customer satisfaction.

Personalization: The Key to Winning Customer Hearts

Personalized attention makes you feel valued, and you're more likely to become a loyal customer. By understanding customer preferences, buying habits, and pain points, companies can tailor products and services to suit individual needs. This personalized approach not only enhances customer satisfaction but also drives brand loyalty, leading to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth referrals.

Organizations must continue to invest in creating a single view of the customer across their physical and digital presences as well as marketplaces to gain a better understanding of both demand and the customer. Options to pick up in-store, ship from the store, ship from the distribution center, and manufacture direct-to-consumer are all in play as delivery optimization and last-mile fulfillment continue to best serve the customer.  Direct-to-consumer and omnichannel retail will continue to compete for the hearts and minds of customers by building engaging brand journeys, in-store and digital experiences, and improved fulfillment. Intending to increase revenue through all channels, retailers and consumer goods firms are focusing on how to better guide consumers through a personalized multi-channel journey.

The Power of Anticipation: Predictive Analytics in Action

Predictive analytics is the superhero of customer information. By using historical data and advanced algorithms, businesses can predict future customer behavior and trends. For instance, consider a manufacturer that wants to optimize its inventory management to reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction. Using predictive analytics, the manufacturer can develop a demand forecasting model that takes into account historical order data, seasonality, and customer segmentation. This model predicts future demand for specific components with a high degree of accuracy. With the predictive demand forecasting model in place, the company can optimize its inventory levels for each component. Frequently ordered products can maintain lower safety stock levels, reducing holding costs. For parts with longer lead times or sporadic demand, they can maintain higher safety stock levels to prevent stockouts.

Using predictive analytics, the company can also calculate dynamic reorder points for each product based on expected demand and lead times. When inventory levels reach these reorder points, automatic reorder triggers can be initiated to ensure that stock is replenished on time.

Predictive analytics can also be applied to supplier data. The manufacturer can predict supplier lead times and performance, enabling them to collaborate more effectively with reliable suppliers and explore alternative sourcing options for critical components. This predictive prowess empowers businesses to be one step ahead of their customers' needs, setting the stage for business growth and a loyal customer base.

Strengthening Trust and Loyalty: Security and Privacy

Trust is the foundation of any successful relationship, and customer trust is no exception. Indian businesses must prioritize data security and privacy to build long-lasting relationships with their customers. Robust security measures and transparent privacy policies reinforce trust, assuring customers that their information is safe in the hands of the company. This trust becomes the bedrock of loyalty, encouraging customers to stay with the brand and recommend it to others.

Our research suggests more than nine of ten (93%) consumers worry more about their data now that organizations operate distributed work models, with almost four in ten (38%) expecting those organizations to ensure everything is secure, no matter where their employees work from. And majority of Indian consumers, almost 83%, are willing to pay a premium to use products or services from organizations that have a clear and explicit commitment to safeguarding their data.

In the dynamic landscape of Indian business, customer information is undeniably the new superpower. By harnessing this wealth of data, businesses can personalize their offerings, better predict needs, and strengthen relationships with their end customers.

Written by - Saurabh Saxena, Regional Vice President, Open Text, India.