Is a CDP platform necessary for a unified client profile?

No. Identity, consents and data owners need to be resolved. If an existing CRM, loyalty or data platform solution can reliably merge the required events and pass them on to channels, no separate CDP is required to create or buy.

How do you deal with the same person shopping anonymously and online?

The system must clearly distinguish the confirmed identity from the expected coincidence. Email, phone number, loyalty ID and account can help link the story, but questionable coincidences should not automatically connect two customers.

How is the scope of data for connected customers determined?

The data required for clearly defined service actions are connected. Identity, loyalty status, applicable consents and purchase history are relevant to the loyalty service. Events of browsing or campaigns are included only with a reasonable use purpose and a proper basis for access and use.

How do you assess whether a connected story has improved loyalty service?

It is necessary to monitor the number of times an employee no longer finds a purchase or is unable to adapt the benefit due to the customer. The impact of the offers is assessed separately by comparing similar groups of customers and including discount costs and returns.

Retail customer data and loyalty management system

The service worker finds purchases and loyalty information belonging to the same customer. Doubtful account coincidences are checked and the use of data is applied for a specific purpose.

Loyalty card, e-commerce account and purchase history are not always linked to the same approved customer. The team does not see which information is relevant for a specific service action. The customer has to repeat the information, loyalty benefits are applied unevenly, and the purchase history becomes unreliable for evaluating offers.

How the solution works

Client confirms account or loyalty card connection
Purchases and returns are added from the channels registering them
Data appropriate for that action is provided for the service or proposal
Incorrect tying or changed customer choice is corrected in all recipients

Key challenges

Customer purchase history and loyalty data split between channels

Solution capabilities

Linking accounts and loyalty cards

Confirmed tying allows service to continue on another channel. Possible false tying of accounts must be traced and corrected.

Limits on Data Use

Before information is passed on to the campaign, the basis and customer choices that are applied to the specific use are checked.

History of Purchases and Loyalty

Returns and corrections update the customer's history so that future bids are not based on cancelled purchases.

Suggestion Audiences

The team forms an audience based on approved criteria, and receives a valid discount from the pricing system.

Business context

Customer purchase history and loyalty data split between channels: Loyalty card, e-commerce account and purchase history are not always linked to the same approved customer. The team does not see which information is relevant for a specific service action. The customer has to repeat the information, loyalty benefits are applied unevenly, and the purchase history becomes unreliable for evaluating offers.
Loyalty Offer Meets a Known Customer: A fragmented purchasing history can lead to an inappropriate offer or unsuited loyalty benefits. A reliably linked profile allows you to continue service and select audiences based on the data used legally. It is important for the customer that his/her choices are respected and the offer has clear value.

Core features

Linking accounts and loyalty cards
Limits on Data Use
History of Purchases and Loyalty
Suggestion Audiences

Key integrations

Loyalty / CRM System: Loyalty ID, membership status, points and service history.
Point-of-sale system (POS): Purchases in stores and customer identification events.
E-commerce and the app: Account, purchases and customer authentication signals.
Source of Consent Management: Relevant state of authorizations for marketing and other data use.

Potential impact (%)

The ranges indicate an illustrative relative change in the metric under the stated assumptions. Results depend on the starting position and actual use of the solution. Percentages for different metrics must not be added together.

Share of duplicated or unlinked active customer profiles

12–42%Decreasing

This illustrative scenario assumes that 30-60% of errors can be addressed through the data and rule checks described. That share is assumed to fall by 40-70%. Company data is needed to verify both the addressable share and the resulting change.

Auditing the part of active profiles for which a reliable duplication or non-coupling problem has been identified. The percentage is calculated on the number of all verified active profiles.

Time of search for loyalty, consents and purchase data in customer service

12–36%Decreasing

This illustrative scenario assumes that 30-60% of manual data entry and handover work can be addressed. That share is assumed to fall by 40-60%. Company data is needed to verify both the addressable workload and the resulting change.

Compare time for standard service scenario before and after profile merge.

Part of negative feedback about loyalty program service

4–15%Decreasing

Indicative assumption: 15-30% of negative reviews relate to unclearly applied customer loyalty terms. The solution could reduce this proportion by 25-50%. This is a scenario of potential; the assumptions need to be verified by feedback collected by the company.

When a company starts collecting reviews, negative reviews about the loyalty program's service are counted from all evaluations received on this topic. The same method of evaluation is applied before and after installation and similar customer groups are compared. Without initial data, the actual change is not determined.

Conditional calculation scenarios. The assumptions have not been validated against client measurements.

When this solution is relevant

Purchases, loyalty rights and consents of the same client are stored in several unrelated systems.
Service staff do not see previous client referrals, and communication is duplicated or sent based on outdated data.

Implementation requirements

For customer profiles, the criteria for linking loyalty cards, online accounts and purchases are described. Cancellation of false connections and changes to permissions must reach participating systems before using shared data for individual offers.