Why Retailers & Brands Need Data Collaboration

In this guest post, LiveRamp COO Melanie Hoptman, says with the end of third-party cookies, retailers and brands collaborating around data will become more important than ever…

Brands and retailers have long known the importance of data with many players committing enormous resources to capture it. But for all the progress that has been made, companies often squander these resources, investing as if only to improve data capabilities within the four walls of their own marketing department.

The impending end of third-party cookies combined with the increased desire for both privacy and personalisation from consumers is creating a perfect storm, reducing the amount of data companies have access to as well as their ability to utilise this data effectively.

Data collaboration can resolve this while also unlocking concealed value. It ensures improved data access, better understanding of consumers, and more effective campaigns while meeting privacy concerns. Further, with the breakout success of cloud-based data collaboration tools and retail media networks, companies are more empowered and energised than ever to build, share and leverage their data with partners.

Expanding Data Access

While brands have begun to boost their first-party data strategies, many brands – especially those new to the scene – will struggle to replace third-party cookies effectively. For many brands, the central issue is time, and racing to replace decades of insights with brands’ own data. Furthermore, brands have typically not owned relationships all the way into consumers’ hands – many are missing key links in their data, which makes it harder for them to generate the necessary insights in order to drive successful campaigns.

Enhanced data collaboration between retailers and brands unlocks the best of both parties’ insights. Brands can better measure their impact by leveraging retailers’ insights into actual purchases, and understanding their omnichannel customer journey; brands can even collaborate with other brands to understand their customers’ profiles across multiple different channels. From retailers’ ends, the engaging new experiences brands can now power using data drive better relationships with consumers, driving more loyalty and eventually, revenue.

Even beyond the brand-retailer relationship, right now, brands can turn to any corner of the ecosystem and find experiences being enhanced with data collaboration. In television, for example, brands leveraging data collaboration can unlock new levels of insight into their campaigns and how they activate across the range of broadcast mediums available to advertisers. Furthermore, in the ever-intensifying battle around understanding TV measurement, data collaboration can help to deliver better insights than ever around real outcomes like conversions and purchases.

Understanding Customers

Data collaboration brings retailers and brands real customer journey analytics, enabling their marketers to better understand their audiences and their preferences. By securely connecting customer data with partners, marketers can map out the customer experience more effectively so they can improve on it. Collaborating with unexpected partners can further enhance knowledge of customer behaviour in other settings to unlock additional insights and allow for enhanced communications.

Additionally, many customers want these partnerships. They trust their favoured brands and are willing to share their data anonymously and securely in order to gain better experiences. In an era where personalisation rules, brands and retailers can’t risk being out of step with customer needs and desire for customisation.

Collaboration is King

Retailers and brands have come a long way since the digital transformation first swept the retail industry. Now, data collaboration is poised to give retailers and brands the kind of intelligence previously reserved for tech giants. Those that don’t embrace data collaboration are set to be left behind.

A new era of retail has arrived in Australia.

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liveramp Melanie Hoptman