Understanding customers better has always been critical. Identifying the heart of the commercial challenge and developing customer led solutions to solve them is critical.
Meeting customers needs and simplifying the customer experience using data and digital is a key skill of the new Chief Marketing Officer and delivering the most relevant, inspirational messaging and experiences through advanced segmentation and targeting is a skill every CMO must ensure is delivered.
Starbucks do that
Starbucks carries only 200SKUs but has managed to meet the needs of customers with relevant offers and communications whoever or wherever you are.
How?
Starbucks Influencing Wheel
Starbucks created a segmentation for customers by day of week, time of day and purchasing details, creating the Starbuck’s Influencing Wheel: which helps frame the problem in terms of what they know about a customer. Transaction data allows Starbucks to know what behaviours can be observed at purchase time. External f
- ENTERPRISE Influences / Transaction data allow Starbucks to know what behaviours can be observed at purchase time ( Food, Beverage, in-store experience etc.)
- EXTERNAL Influences ( Weather, Competitors, Events, Community) may impact the way customers behave so Starbucks collected data to simulate local conditions that may affect purchase behaviour.
- CUSTOMER Characteristics ( occupation, demographic, need state, day part, media channel preferences etc.) Not all behaviours can be observed in a transaction so Starbucks deploy .a social listening strategy in order to capture some aspects of a customers lifestyle and how products& services may fit into that lifestyle
Customer needs for coffee on way into work, is different to lunchtime or afternoon during the week, and again different to weekend morning coffee. This data is combined with open data to give highly tailored and timely communications with live triggers- offers in the right place at the right time. Arriving at Manchester Piccadilly rail station for early (5-55am) train to London I get an alert on my phone to pick up a Starbucks coffee for the train. and it really does taste sweet that early in the morning…..
Starbucks also improved the customer experience by being one of the first retailers using a digital app that allows payment through Apple pay or creating a Starbucks wallet that is automatically topped up.
Starbucks are leading the way in delivering the power of value based customer delivery, leveraging data driven analytics and digital technology to drive L4L growth.
Data Pulses storytelling 