Cast your mind back to the ‘good old days’, where the shopkeepers knew his customers by name, knew their habits and when they needed to top up their shopping. If they wanted to buy a gift for that special someone, he would make suggestions based on conversations they’d had previously, and he always popped in a special treat for the child’s birthday he knew was coming up.
But then Scale stepped in, the enemy of personalised service. Big product variety, big numbers of customers meant big changes in retail. Personalisation gave way to the demands of Scale, who demanded people be treated the same, processed the same and given a number instead of a name.
Now the two worlds are colliding, and the data that Scale produces can enable personalisation. Retailers are looking to merge online and offline customer data in order to provide tailored, and more profitable consumer experiences.
