Enhancing Experiences, Elevating Profits: The Role of Customer Insights

This is the second of a three-part series of articles written by BrainTrust member Lisa Taylor, Director of Retail Consulting at Thought Provoking Consulting, about topics discussed during her time at eTail Boston 2023.

All retail experiences should start with the customer. Oftentimes, however, that isn’t the case. Companies make decisions as “business decisions”: what someone “thinks” the customer wants or needs, utilizing gut instinct or a focus group of one.

The retail landscape has never been more competitive or complex, and as technology progresses, customer expectations continue to rise. The old “stack it high and let it fly” doesn’t work anymore. Retailers need to have a deep understanding of why customers shop with them, and data only provides part of the story. Having a contextual understanding of customers’ needs and turning those insights into action will drive Brand Love. Not only will customers return, but they will tell others, creating a network effect and building your business in the process.

At the eTail Boston conference, I had the opportunity to moderate a panel discussion with experts across a variety of disciplines to gain an understanding of how they use customer insights. After the conference ended, I reached out to two of my panel experts to get more insight into the potential pitfalls of bias in research and how to directly influence product development using the voice of the customer.

Scott Fennell, Senior Manager of Omnichannel Performance and Analytics at Groupe Dynamite, shared, “I believe one of the biggest issues surrounding bias in the data collection and analysis process are the questions being asked, whether on the front end when speaking to customers, or internally when expressing the need for understanding. Are you or your teams ‘leading the witness’ and trying to achieve a certain objective, or are you allowing an open exploration of any information you may have to develop a meaningful story?”

We also discussed how technology is breathing new life into the process and opening up possibilities. “Based on the ever-increasing processing and learning abilities in the tools we have access to, the scope for learning about customer interactions and behaviors, away from traditional transactional-based insights should give greater insight into a much larger cohort of potential customers who may be considering the brand when interacting across any channel.”

One way to move away from bias is to take a crowdsourced approach to product development, much like David Henry, COO and co-founder of Card Isle, has done. Card Isle has a digital-first approach to selection and design, which has transformed its ability to collect feedback from and take action on customer preferences.

When asked about this approach, David said, “We've built into our platform the ability to securely monitor and aggregate quantitative data about how each of our card designs is performing in the browsing, selection, and personalization stages of card selection. Each of these steps is almost entirely hidden in a traditional approach to greeting cards, and when this data is passed to our artists, they are able to use it to improve their existing designs and inform the next designs they are planning to make.”

He continued by explaining why this strategy has been so successful for Card Isle’s business model. “Focusing Card Isle's energies on closing the feedback loop between creator and customer, instead of on being the curator or gatekeeper, gives our artists the freedom to rapidly test new content ideas and determine if they are resonating with our customer base in a matter of days instead of months.” This process of continuous feedback unlocks innovation at the speed of the customers and their ever-changing preferences, providing companies like Card Isle with the ability to react to the latest trends.

One thing the panel agreed on is taking a holistic approach by integrating data with qualitative and quantitative insights to bring forth the “why” behind the engagement and purchase motivation. Quantitative insights provide the scale of understanding, while qualitative insights provide a richness and extra layer of depth.

Regardless of the approach, the utilization of deep insights to truly understand your customer can mean the difference between success and failure — it allows you to relate to your customers and meet them where they are. Otherwise, you are merely activating on what you think they are looking for. Sometimes luck will be in your favor, but more than likely you will be out of position.