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The Power of Selling Through Data

By Mario Gamboa - Intelimétrica
CEO

STORY INLINE POST

By Mario Gamboa | CEO & founder - Thu, 05/05/2022 - 14:00

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The internet and social media have changed the retail landscape forever. Today, any customer can check a website or a social media platform to get information and recommendations on any product or service prior to making any purchase.

In 2021 alone, e-commerce in Mexico registered a 27 percent increase over 2020, reaching a value of MX$401.3 billion (US$19.6 billion). This represents, according to a recent AMVO study, 11.3 percent of total retail sales, a figure that will continue to show a consistent increase given new consumer buying habits.                                 

Today, the user is in command and brands should listen and offer products and services through different channels. The agile companies able to analyze the customer’s digital journey will reap significant competitive advantages.

In this new scenario, in which the user sets the agenda, it is important to meet their requirements and demands in a more personalized fashion, maintaining consistency in all the communication channels and, most importantly, gathering as much data as possible to increase conversion rates (an index that measures how an initial expression of interest is converted into a purchase or a transaction).

Digital conversion refers to all of the information that is collected on a possible customer on each of the websites visited prior to becoming a customer; for example, a buyer is looking to purchase a garment and for that purpose visits the website of a department store, or perhaps the flagship store of a specific brand. Likewise, the user may have received advertising on social networks or clicked on a specific design on Instagram, which led him or her to purchase a product.

The important thing to understand is that when a prospect shows interest in a product or has carried out any specific search action through the internet, social networks, or websites, we are one step closer to the sale.

By centralizing the prospect's search information into a Data Lake (a large-capacity data repository), brands can send a promotion, discount, or text via chat boxes, SMS, or even an email. These automated actions can also be combined with other tools, such as customer service phone calls, and accelerate the customer's sales rate conversion.

The benefits of digital conversion include sales increase, superior customer experience, faster checkout, increased brand awareness, and, most importantly, lower customer acquisition costs (CAC).

The implementation of this type of project, from a technological standpoint, requires a Data Lake, a customer relationship management (CRM) system and the prospect's "digital footprints" — the record of sites he/she has visited before converting — and, finally, the development of algorithms with which the conversion campaign will be generated.

Algorithms allow us to perform "simulations" to determine which actions and routes are the most efficient to achieve greater conversion rates and personalize communication with the customer. In our country, the real estate industry already relies on these tools to promote and sell homes with great success.

Data analytics, and a larger volume of processed data, plus artificial intelligence, based on the development of predictive algorithms, pave the way to endless possibilities to better understand consumers and create tailor-made offers, ultimately increasing competitiveness. The technology is already available; it is just a matter of deciding to take advantage of it.

Photo by:   Mario Gamboa

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