Synqera Wants to Leverage Big Data and Real-time Customer Responses
Ekaterina Savchenko, Head of Marketing for technology startup company Synqera, told Loyalty 360 that her company’s biggest challenge is showing marketers that a retail technology solution can successfully leverage a combination of Big Data and real-time customer responses to viewed content through a device’s sensors.
Synqera announced this week a joint pilot program with Ulybka Radugi, one of the largest Russian retail chains. Through the program, Synqera will selectively integrate its software-hardware solution within Ulybka’s 280-plus locations throughout Russia starting in July.
The devices Simplate -- backed up with the Synqera software platform -- will be installed at the checkout points of the Ulybka Radugi piloting stores, delivering to customers personalized targeted content and gathering customer insights on the other. The Synqera technology allows a twofold solution: to increase the average customer profitability by offering targeted products, and to promote a bonus-based loyalty program with “check-ins” directly at the cashier counter.
The piloted solution serves as a proprietary facial recognition media communications device using Synqera software platform at the point of payment within Ulybka Radugi physical shops.
Synqera's software syncs the physical profile of each customer facing the sensors-enabled checkout device, data from the loyalty card, and actual shopping basket with the parameters of preliminary uploaded content. The software then creates rich visual media on the interactive customer display for each customer's unique order, shopping tendencies and response rate, in real time. This highly personalized content can be also delivered outside the store through mobile apps, SMS text messages, e-mail, or website content customization – all channels being managed via one back office interface.
Savchenko said according to a recent study by IBM, only 15% of brick-and-mortar retailers are piloting Big Data initiatives, while 57% are developing Big Data roadmaps.
“Collection of all the relevant data you need for the proper analysis and better understanding of your customer is still an issue for offline business, and this is a first challenge,” Savchenko said. “When transformation of the business tasks into technical specification for the further Big Data magic application and its transformation to the business value is the challenge number two, as this is relatively a new area of technology used in retail.”
Savchenko said the joint pilot program came about because Ulybka Radugi was looking for a solution that could create targeted communications with customers and increase average customer profitability through better customer service, visualization of the loyalty program benefits and relevant product offering. She said that such a solution had to be suitable for integration with a company’s CRM system and loyalty program.
What makes the Synqera solution unique, according to Savchenko, is a combination of innovative technologies. It includes the way multiple data flows are collected from the customer (data of loyalty card, shopping basket, customer behavior right at the checkout point), business (ERP, CRM, promo), and external environment (weather forecast, Internet events); the way it is analyzed (results of the Big Data analysis (historical data accumulated by the business) and enriched with results of the analysis of customer behavior and environment made in real-time); as well as content visualization (the pre-uploaded content pieces are triggered in a real-time sequence based on the actual customer profile and current business priories).
Savchenko described the pilot program as follows:
First, the loyal customer database will be segmented based on the personalized clustering executed by Synqera. Then, the bunch of test product offers will be described with relevant target audience characteristics and other proper KPIs for display on the device' screen. In process of the actual checkout session, this will give possibility to match the right content to the right customer. At the same time, loyal customers will be updated with the benefits of the new bonuses-based loyalty program, while customer
without loyalty card will be offered to sign in. Customers will also be invited to participate in a small survey through the Simplate device’s touchscreen, making their impact to improvement of the customer service. What’s more, the solution embeds interactive and attractive content: the gamification element: loyal customer will receive achievement badges (equal to the certain amount of loyalty bonuses) based on the particular triggers.
All this will be accompanied with useful customer information: check amount, gained discounts, sum of accumulated loyalty bonuses, and information on how to spend them.
Savchenko said Ulybka Radugi will evaluate using other parts of Synqera’s toolset such as personalization of SMS, emails, and mobile apps to create a truly multichannel
personalized communication platform.
Savchenko believes the solution will help retailers increase customer loyalty and customer engagement because customers will have access to very useful information at the checkout; and they will be asked to evaluate service level, product assortment, and other relevant factors.
“Customers will receive relevant personalized product offers and loyalty program offers, and that will raise the value of this offering,” she said. “Last, but not least, customers will be motivated to come again through the gamification element (the system of achievement badges).”
Regarding customer loyalty, Savchenko said the “big idea” behind the Synqera solution is to “make customers happy” through relevance of the products and services.
“We strive to emulate highly-personalized and relevant online customer experiences in the real world,” she explained. “Such a personalization serves as the keystone of the Synqera philosophy -- we do believe that if you feel something is made specially for you, knowing what you like and what you need, that most probably you will be satisfied and engaged to come again. That's why the slogan we use in all communications sounds as "your personal story" - and counts both for the customer and for the business.”