I can’t believe that this is some new insight — I’ve been guiding brands to use data in this way for more than a decade. And the data has always been there for those that have known what to acquire and how.

The problem has been one of acknowledging where the value lies. Brands/retailers have taken the shortsighted route: acquire some data and quickly try to sell something with it. Whereas the best use of data is to offer something meaningful in return without purchase expectation and the long tail benefit will be increased sales. Leverage data to create a valuable experience for the consumer and ultimately the consumer will reward the effort with a sale — quite possibly without discounting profits away.

An example of my approach is to take the data analysis and initiate a dialog that gently validates or refines the assumptions before risking the relationship by say offering a vegan chicken recipe or coupons.

No — customer data will not transform the grocery experience, for three reasons. First, it’s not like this is a new data form — we’ve had this data for years and we’ve had sufficient computing power to make meaningful headway. That we haven’t made that much progress suggests that we won’t in the near-term. Second, in a grocery paradigm where shoppers almost always have a choice of where to shop and are not highly loyal to a chain, having your own customer data is only half the story. Why do I buy some products at Kroger and others at Publix? I know the answer, but do they know? Third, using augmented reality to provide sales data is very cute, but a total misapplication of effort. What more can a store manager possibly glean from that view than an automatically updated spreadsheet with alerts that stock is running low?

Data should be driving all the decisions that we make. We used to make “gut” decisions because we didn’t have data or we had more anecdotal data. Now we’ve got more data than most people know what to do with. We have reviews, social feedback, surveys and hashtags, on top of all the POS data.

Customer data is transforming how we do things, and makes for better decisions if we know the key indicators we’re looking for. The trick will probably be to be nimble and quick with data and stay away from analysis paralysis.

Regional grocers may have an advantage of moving faster than national chains from a procurement and executional standpoint but they’ll also need to be able to manage the larger data flow that is coming in.

Grocery retailers and brands have been analyzing shopper data for decades and while new insights will continue to shape and evolve the grocery shopping experience, I’m skeptical that this represents some form of significant transformation. I believe these will be incremental gains and refinements.

As for who has the advantage — I say the national chains. In my experience, national chains generally have greater resources and more sophisticated tools and techniques for analyzing and applying insights from data.

Mining customer data has become critical for all shopping so why not in groceries? Eating is something we do every day. The real question will be, how do the majority of retailers compete with what Tesco, Kroger and Walmart have spent on this? Even Kroger, as stated in the Wall Street Journal article, is feeling the bite from what they spent on hiring data scientists, engineers and app developers. They are expensive and can speak firsthand to that fact.

Regional grocers will need to truly focus on their customers more than ever before but I think it will be impossible to do that without being able to effectively and accurately analyze and take action on their data quickly.

The ability to use and understand data has the power to transform everything. Unfortunately, if a retailer is using the data to “get people into the store” they are losing the value of the information. The data will tell what people want and how they want it. It should transform what the brick-and-mortar store is all about. But it won’t. It will be used by the retailers to try and stop the consumers from transforming and the retailer will lose.

Can data transform the grocery experience — no. Converting the data into actionable insights about the customers and their shopping patterns might, as long as the retailer can then execute against the insights better than their competitors.

Stephen pointed out that retailers will only be able to collect data on their customers and not those of their competitors. If those competitors can use the data they collect better, then they will keep the customers.

This is bread and butter stuff! As the article notes, Tesco and Kroger — via dunnhumby — have been using this type of insight for years. The only possible exception is for companies like Aldi — where the proposition is one-dimensional and straightforward enough to negate the need for in-depth customer data.

However, as any observer will know, dunnhumby and especially Tesco have had their struggles in maintaining growth and share. The lesson here is that insight is only a tool to aid sound decision making. Actually making the right calls and executing well are the real keys to success.

Whether regional or national in reach, those grocers with loyalty programs and/or branded apps can very definitely transform the shopper experience, provided they invest the time and talent into understanding from their customers what is most meaningful in the way of a tailored in-store experience.

Locally-sourced product mix, shelves stocked with the most sought-after items, personalized communications that nurture trust with customers, presented at the right time and in the right manner, and a very intentional in-store experience can in tandem uniquely position grocery retail as a destination consumers will desire to spend time and dollars. The key is building trust with judicious use of the new analytics and insights.

Well, I guess we could say that AMAZON is busy using customer data to transform the grocery shopping experience. As for everyone else, there are still too many barriers in the way: as Ken says, too shortsighted a view of the opportunity, as well as too many silos, an IT investment perspective focused on cost containment rather than strategic investment and too few internal skill sets prepared to use the data gathered in any long-term, strategic way.

We just completed a study on customer engagement in retail, to be published in December. What I learned is that retailers think “promotions” are the same thing as “engagement.” And that pretty much sums up everything that is wrong in retail today — and grocers are no exception.

Grocers have been using customer data for years. What’s new here is the methods in which they will use those data insights to deliver smarter offers to their customers and help return grocers to the days of old when they knew each customer personally and knew exactly what products they liked best. In other words, bring back personalization that matters and is relevant to their customers. Regional grocers may have an advantage here, but most likely only until such time as the national brands break through their internal data silos and realize they have access to more insights than they could imagine. What do they think Amazon has been doing in the grocery space all this time?