5 things we’ve learned doing analytics for Retailers

Cartesian Consulting

www.cartesianconsulting.com

1. You cannot overemphasize the importance of contactable

information• Typical email capture rates for retailers with loyalty

programs = 55% (mobile > 95%)

• Some go as high as 75% Email capture, some as low as 20% Email capture

• Email response rates 60% higher than SMS response rates for most campaigns, Email + SMS an even more powerful combination

Leaderboards help improve the quality of data capture

2. Profile information is often overrated as a predictor

(the crime is the extent of inaction it leads to)

• Behavioral attributes beat profile often

• Similar profiles have wide variance in behaviors, similar behaviors have less variance in profiles

• Those that have attempted to capture profile information have not put it to use

• Age is often low contribution

• Occupation pretty much never pops up

• Even mobile operator is usually weak

3. Traceable cross-brand customers are FEWER THAN YOU THINK

• Between complementary brands databases in the online space: 11%

• Between online + offline retail complementary: 8%

• Between complementary brands of a multi-brand group: 8%

• The yield from dedupe algorithms has a similar story

4. Most of the hurdles are deeper than smart analytics and IT

• Most marketing folks think brand and campaign they just do not think Models, Segments, contact optimization

• Most marketing folks will over-ride analytical outputs with gut feel no matter how compelling the evidence

• Most marketing folks don’t have the KRAs that would compel them to think data

Some marketers will insist on marketing to customers who refuse to respond

Redemption Campaign% Responded

% Control % Target

HIGH VALUE-DISCOUNT SEEKERS 1% 5%

STARS 5% 12%

PRODUCT A ORIENTED 1% 2%

NON-DISCOUNT SEEKERS 2% 4%

PRODUCT B ORIENTED 2% 2%

LOW VALUE-DISCOUNT SEEKERS 0% 5%

BOUNCE 0% 0%

ACTIVE 0% 0%

NEW 0% 0%

Overall 1% 3%

5. A COE is doomed to under-service many

• Hard to pull off till you have a history of using analytics, and a culture that can attract and retain talent

• Many marketers find it hard to get any joy out of a COE sitting somewhere remote

• They need hands on, flexible, proactive and involved operations

• They’re not good with briefing analysts in detail… the analyst needs to “get it” and be willing to iterate, often

6. (Bonus point) If you don’t contact-optimize, you will suffer

• There is a number of outreaches in a month beyond which people will switch off from your communication

• Your deliverability on Email is highly dependent on following best practices

• The short term gains are just not worth it

Thank You!

smittal@cartesianconsulting.com