Gathering customer data across multiple channels is crucial for CRM program

Multi-channel retailers need to collect customer data across all channels if they want to run effective CRM and loyalty programs, says Mark H. Goldstein, CEO of Loyalty Labs Inc.

The key to customer loyalty is to deliver the right product to the right customer at the right time, Goldstein says. But unless a multi-channel retailer can gather information on a customer’s activity across the store, web site, catalog and mobile operations, it won’t have the complete picture needed to make the targeted offers that build loyalty, he says.

“If you’re a multi-channel retailer, you really need to do it everywhere,” Goldstein says. “You can’t just say, ‘Oh, I got a CRM system for my Internet customers.’ Well, if you’ve got a bunch of stores, it gets all screwed up because the store systems don’t recognize what the web system recognizes.”

That means the retailer could end up recommending the wrong products or fail to recognize a discount offer the customer may have earned on the web. “You can create a situation where the customer is dissatisfied,” he says. “If you’re a good multi-channel retailer, you want consistency across all your channels. That’s a requirement for doing CRM and loyalty right.”

A good CRM system ensures that a customer will get the best experience and treatment whether they are shopping online, in the store, via the catalog or on the phone, Goldstein says. “If you’ve got that, the customer is going to come back,” he says.