In-store data collection: 5 tips to meet the challenge
Collecting customer data in a physical store often seems more complicated than online: slowing down the checkout process, errors in entering information… However, it should not be neglected, because the physical store is being reborn, especially thanks to the digitalization of points of sale and effective web-to-store strategies. In 5 tips, collect customer data more easily and more quickly in store.
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The main mission of the teams in physical sales outlets is to advise and sell products or services. But their role is actually much more extensive and complex! They must actively participate in the shopping experience offered to visitors, in the creation of a trusting customer relationship, in the development of consumer loyalty…
These employees are also asked to collect personal data from customers when they check out, as soon as they create a loyalty card, fill in a delivery address, register for a newsletter or a competition, etc. However, collecting customer data at the point of sale is often seen as a tedious task that slows down the customer’s shopping experience!
Here are the 5 tips to implement in your offline retail strategies to improve the collection of customer data in your stores.
1. Involve your sales staff in the data collection strategy
At first glance, the mission of collecting customer data may seem secondary to your employees in physical stores. To get them on board, you must make them aware and convince them of the need to have a reliable and exhaustive database! You must therefore explain the importance of collecting customer data and explain the benefits: sending personalized offers, generating traffic in store, increasing sales…
And to help your teams succeed in this mission, don’t hesitate to provide them with all the necessary tools (training, arguments, standard answers to objections, etc.).
2. Equip your staff to collect reliable data
Put an end to the use of paper forms to collect your customer data and equip your cash register software with Data Quality Management tools! Also, don’t ask your customers to fill out your data collection forms themselves or to activate their loyalty card on the Internet. These practices have a much higher loss rate than if your teams were to collect the data themselves.
By equipping your stores with Data Quality Management tools, your sales advisors can enter the required information in a few clicks and the data will go directly into your CRM tools!
3. Accelerate data collection to save customer service
Keep in mind that the store employee is often multitasking (advising, cashing, stocking, ordering shelves, creating loyalty cards…) and that customers do not like to wait.
To save time for your sales advisors and avoid losing customers at the checkout, the data collection must be as fast as possible. Here are two best practices to achieve this:
- Autocompletion
Streamline customer data entry by installing autocomplete solutions in your checkout tools. This functionality offers suggestions and additional information in the form fields (email, postal address, etc.), based on the characters already entered. In addition, the data entry tools help avoid typing errors and standardize the data. Thus, the collected data is ready to be used by your marketing departments as soon as it is collected!
- The principle of Data Minimization
Opt for Data Minimization, a principle imposed by the GDPR, which recommends collecting only the data necessary for the desired purpose. Fewer fields to fill, therefore less time spent collecting!
4. Make it easy for customers to give their consent
Your customer-facing employees play an important role in building trust with consumers. It is therefore essential that they comply with the collection rules imposed by the GDPR.
Give them the means to simply obtain and retain the customer’s formal consent at checkout, without slowing down the shopping journey. There are now easy-to-implement tools to collect customer consent in-store, in compliance with GDPR obligations.
5. In multi-channel, don't collect what is already collected!
Your collection must be adapted to the multi-channel buying behavior of your customers. A customer in store may have already filled in some personal information online and not remember it. Avoid having your salespeople enter information that you already have in your database!
The clienteling applications connected to your CRM allow you to identify the customer in real time, which prevents your advisors from wasting time and creating duplicates.
For more info, see also: Improve you customer service efficiency with real-time data quality
About DQE
Because data quality is essential to customer knowledge and the construction of a lasting relationship, since 2008, DQE has provided its clients with innovative and comprehensive solutions that facilitate the collection of reliable data.
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