Consumers want personalized benefits, so much so that they’ll share some personal details to get them, according to the State of Consumer & Retailer Data Survey 2020, a study by data management company Stibo Systems.
But only up to a point.
Among shoppers, 49% will provide data to get loyalty program points. Yet only 23% will do so to receive weekly coupons.
And a mere 11% will trade information for personalized product recommendations, location-based offers or streamlined in-store service.
Moreover, brands have to be careful about sharing the personally identifiable information they do pull in -- 70% of consumers want their address/phone number protected above all else.
Shoppers seem less worried about seemingly anonymous online behavior --15% demand that their browsing history be protected and 9% say the same about their cart contents and 6% their purchase history.
Stibo surveyed over 500 retailers and 500 consumers.
Oddly, it found rare convergence among shoppers and brands on some points.
Among retailers, 54% say coupons designed based on purchased items are effective. And 50% of consumers agree.
In addition, 42% on both sides favor special offers based on items scanned in-store.
Still, only 24% of consumers are fond of brand emails with their name in the subject line, versus 30% of retailers who feel this is an effective tactic.
In a seeming reversal, 50% of consumers desire advertising geared to their specific interests, while 44% of retailers concur.
Of the retailers polled, 51% say personalized coupons sent by email drive in-store business. And 45% feel the same about coupons delivered through mobile/app.
Consumers seem to agree — 47% of consumers say personalized coupons will incentivize them to visit a store.
In general, two thirds of consumers agree that, “The more personalized the experience a retailer offers, the more positive relationship I have with that retailer."
Of course, it’s not easy to deliver all this. Retailers say they have trouble achieving real-time consumer engagement (41%), personalization (33%) and a single view of all consumer product/data (36%).
Of the types of data, retailers rate these a the most helpful in driving personalization:
Transaction activity—54%
Gender/age—41%
Website activity—39%
Then there's regulation.
On the positive side, 88% of retailers have started an initiative to deal with the California Consumer Privacy Act, and 31% have developed a plan or are already compliant.
However, one in four do not even know what the CCPA is, and one in two are not at all concerned about it, or only slightly so.