The top 7 CDP use cases for retail marketing in 2023

Thinking about investing in a customer data platform (CDP) to organize customer data and take your retail marketing to the next level? CDPs are the backbone of all marketing practices because they allow you to understand your audience using real-time data, and this comes with significant advantages for retailers in particular.

Here are seven of the most common CDP use cases for retail marketing.

1. You can segment your audiences

A CDP is a software solution that collects and unifies customer data so you can build a single and coherent profile for each customer. And why do retailers need a CDP? In short, because no customer is the same. Everyone has their own interests, preferences, and buying habits. So you must tailor your marketing campaigns to these data points to stand out. Generic marketing messages won’t cut it in 2023, and customers are ready and willing to walk away from brands that still use them.

For retailers, utilizing customer data platforms allows them to segment audiences based on buying history, survey data, and demographic information — maximizing both personalization and relevance. This means that instead of sifting through terabytes of unorganized customer data, you can let a CDP do it for you. Most CDPs will clean, structure, and organize your data logically, so it’s easy (and intuitive and user-friendly) to build customer segments.

With Lytics, you can easily build highly segmented audiences based on user behavior and interests for more personalized marketing. Plus, Lytics automatically updates your audiences as candidates newly meet or no longer meet your specific criteria, taking the manual hassle of audience creation off your plate.

2. You’ll meet government regulations

We’ve enjoyed a decade of total freedom when it comes to handling customer data. There were almost no restrictions, and you could do whatever you wanted with it.

However, the world is quickly changing for the better, and retailers must meet strict government regulations if they want to keep their doors open. Policies like the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) are typical examples of these regulations. Still, governments worldwide are introducing new bills at an alarming rate.

You’ll face hefty fines if your customer data isn’t organized and secure. For example, Luxembourg fined Amazon €746 million in 2021 because they didn’t meet data regulations.

So if you want to avoid these fines, CDPs are a must, particularly those with data clean room capabilities.

3. You can promote in-store purchases by tracking online behavior

Retailers are also starting to use geofences recorded by a CDP to connect the online and offline customer experience. For instance, let’s say a customer adds an item to their cart, but something pops up. Maybe the wifi cuts out, or they have something to see to. Your CDP will store these data points, and when the customer visits your brick-and-mortar store, they’ll be prompted to buy these items. No more disjointed omnichannel experiences for buyers who engage and purchase across devices and channels. 

This creates a more personalized customer experience as it reminds them about a product they wanted to buy but forgot about.

4. You’ll be able to retarget users after cart abandonment 

CDP for retail can also help you retain online prospects.

Customers rarely buy something the first time they visit your website. Fortunately, you can use a CDP to collect and store customer data. From here, utilize Google or Facebook retargeting to prompt prospects to continue their purchase. Leverage your ad platforms to reach and reengage users, like those who have unsubscribed from your marketing emails.

These reminders cost almost nothing to set up, and if you can just convert a small percentage of customers that abandoned their carts, you’ll boost your returns.

5. You can track past purchase history

By tracking a customer’s purchasing patterns and storing them in a CDP, you can accurately predict what they’re most likely to buy. For example, if a customer buys an espresso machine from your online store, there’s a high likelihood they’ll need coffee beans to make good coffee.

So when they visit your store the next time, present them with your most popular coffee beans and other accessories as a personalized product recommendation. Customers won’t have to search for what they’re looking for, as everything is on the homepage.

6. You can promote online purchases to offline customers

Retailers are also starting to use CDPs to promote online purchases to offline customers.

If you have a record of customer transactions at your brick-and-mortar store, you can use a CDP to fetch this information and use it to cross-sell and upsell products on your online store. For example, if you sell video games and a customer buys a PS4, you can start suggesting games that your customer may like when they visit your website.

7. You have control over ad frequency 

A big problem that retailers have is that they’ll show the same ads and marketing messages to the same person multiple times, which can make your promotions annoying and ineffective. Managing this is especially difficult if you communicate with your audience across multiple platforms.

Luckily, by storing, organizing, and structuring customer data, you can cap the frequency at which you want an ad to be shown to a specific prospect. This gives you complete control over customer engagement and marketing spend.

Quick look: why organize and activate customer data with Lytics?

As we’ve covered, a CDP solution is necessary for retail marketing success as it lets you segment audiences, meet government regulations, and personalize customer experiences based on previous buying habits — all without compromise or operational disruption. This shows customers that you care about their needs. You aren’t creating marketing messages based on guesswork, and this can encourage them to choose your brand even if the competition is more affordable. And customer loyalty, especially when it lasts, is priceless.