In today's fast-paced retail world, the success of a Customer 360 strategy is reliant on the seamless integration of real-time data. With dynamic information constantly streaming in from various and scattered touchpoints and sources, seamless integration methods empower organisations to build a comprehensive view of their customers. That 360-degree view enables rapid response to customer needs and preferences with a personalised and contextually relevant experience.

This is especially relevant in retail businesses — including wholesale companies, CPG manufacturers and ecommerce organisations — as they navigate the complexity of evolving buying behaviours. Omnichannel agility and digital transformation are fundamental to retail success. The construction of a Customer 360 from real-time data is integral for a customer-centric business, wherein deeper, personalised relationships are expected in an ever-changing marketplace.

“In the fast-paced landscape of technology, access to real-time data isn’t just a luxury, it’s a necessity. It’s the compass that guides decision-making, fuels innovation, and gives organisations the power to anticipate customer needs, optimise operations, and stay ahead in the competitive market.” - Simon D’Morias, Director, Redkite

The challenge of a real-time, Customer 360 view

The primary barrier to a Customer 360 is fragmented, siloed data. Disparate data sources, from marketing channels to spreadsheets to CRM systems and outdated data warehouses, hinder holistic analysis. It’s difficult to examine the customer journey when performance marketing metrics are separate from customer success metrics. 

The goal of a Customer 360 is to develop a consolidated, centralised view of touchpoints as customers engage with a business to visualise the customer journey from start to finish. By merging data from different sources, like customer data from Salesforce and product data from legacy ERP systems, a new dimension of insights unfolds, driving market strategies. 

When customer data is centralised, this wealth of data, when harnessed and interpreted correctly, translates directly into: 

• Customer views that drive personalised experiences
• Product, inventory, pricing and competitive intel to optimise pricing models
• Supply-chain insights to optimise inventory and reduce out of stocks
• Cost reduction due to operational optimization 

The power of real-time data for Customer 360 

Real-time data enables retail businesses to understand and actively respond to their customers' needs, preferences and behaviours in real time. By offering an ever-evolving and contextually relevant snapshot of the customer's journey, real-time data ensures that the Customer 360 view remains current, nuanced and incredibly valuable in today's fast-paced and data-driven landscape. 

Some ways real-time data enhances a Customer 360 include: 

1. Personalised recommendations: Capture the latest user insights and boost satisfaction, retention and customer lifetime value. Identify immediate upselling and cross-selling opportunities to streamline the user journey.

2. Supply chain management: Provide immediate product availability and store location insights to reduce stockouts and overstocks, optimise inventory and meet the needs of your customer.

3. Promotions and discounts: Achieve dynamic pricing and personalised recommendations to boost engagement and conversion rates, aid demand forecasting and align promotions with available stock.

4. Order tracking and delivery updates: Reduce shipping uncertainty, enhance transparency and maintain customer satisfaction, including proactive issue resolution and loyalty generation through timely notifications. 

Fivetran and Redkite: Leveraging expertise alongside enterprise-standard technology

Fivetran and Redkite can combine their capabilities to provide a real-time Customer 360 view by combining seamless data integration and analytics expertise. 

Fivetran provides a vast array of connectors that empower enterprises to seamlessly link scattered data sources, including customer experience data from Zendesk, sales data from Shopify, marketing data from digital channels such as Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising and many more. Custom connections, such as SFTP and Amazon S3 add to that comprehensive suite of data integration . By harnessing the full spectrum of these connectors, you gain a crystal-clear understanding of your customers.

“Fivetran supports over 500 sources of information from SaaS applications, file sources, streaming services and ERP enterprise databases. Consolidating customer and supply chain data from many systems, using real-time data replication, helps businesses to get value from data faster. This helps to deliver superior digital experiences, retain customers and innovate rapidly.”

Redkite is a data partner that helps companies and institutions set up their data for effective use,by lending their data expertise to organisations looking to capture and respond to customer information instantly. 

By using Fivetran to gather data from diverse platforms and systems and then leveraging Redkite's data expertise to build deliberately, retail businesses can create a holistic and real-time Customer 360 view. 

This integrated approach ensures that you have access to a wide range of customer data, and the analytical capabilities to derive meaningful insights from it, ultimately leading to a more informed and personalised customer engagement strategy.

This timeliness enables personalised engagement, dynamic segmentation and proactive support — all of which significantly improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Furthermore, it provides a competitive advantage by allowing businesses to adapt swiftly to changing market dynamics and customer preferences, staying ahead of the curve. The immediacy of real-time data empowers better decision-making — at scale. 

“Fivetran best of breed data ingestion tools combined with the excellent professional services delivery by Redkite, is a partnership that works to simplify complexities, scripting a narrative where our clients’ data seamlessly collaborates together. Efficiency is key to crafting success with every integrated moment.” - Sonia Patel, Lead Data Consultant, Redkite

What Customer 360 looks like in practice

IJsvogel Retail, a Dutch pet and garden products chain, faced challenges with disparate data, lacked a data warehouse and struggled with outdated processes. 

CTO Herman Holterman recognised the need for a big-data solution and opted for Fivetran to integrate data into a single warehouse, providing a reliable source of information for better decision-making. The new system streamlined processes, saving time and enabling faster time-to-market for new solutions. The democratisation of data improved business units' access, fostering proactive and creative use of information. 

The enhanced data quality and awareness transformed IJsvogel Retail from discarding data to valuing it for future insights, supporting the company's growth and transition from wholesaler to retailer.

“My team can now focus on what really matters, which is creating value for the business, and that’s a big deal for us. What’s more, with the new architecture, the setup, using best practices and open-source standards, we can attract more talent.” - Herman Holterman, Chief Technology Officer, IJsvogel Retail

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