BE YOUR OWN AMAZON: PART 1
I think we can all agree that no one needs another discussion about how dominating Amazon is, or how the company is drastically impacting the retail space - we’re past that. Instead, we’d like to spend the next couple of weeks talking about how Amazon does what they do, and more importantly, how everyone else can not only compete with them, but how they can win.
The fundamental approach Amazon took to domination was simple. From the start, Amazon knew that tracking and understanding their customers as individuals was essential. That being said, it’s no surprise that Amazon is always watching. They know what you search for online and track where and when you buy it, plus so much more with their app and Amazon Prime services. They focus on the big data at the individual customer level, which clearly forms the backbone by which Amazon leverages artificial intelligence to predict and suggest future purchases. So how do you fit in?
Amazon looks at and factors in social data, customer purchases, browsing history, customer lifecycles and rich customer profiles to create hyper-personalized shopping experiences for their customers. Through marketing emails and other means of communication, Amazon uses their aggregated data to suggest content and products that target each individual's needs and preferences in the most compelling way. To really entice you, Amazon sends out personalized coupons and discounts for the products they know you want to buy. You know their methods are clearly working when you click on that "other people also bought" item in the middle of the page...and then buy it. Amazon not only understands you as an individual, but they also understand how you fit in (as an individual) with others who partake in similar behaviors. They don’t just rely on your age, race or income, but instead targets you based on your actual digital footprint. To Amazon, you're more than just a number lost in a generic group of people. We all know that Amazon might be doing things right, but are you? Think about it. What do you know about your customers on an individual basis? Are you treating them with the respect and attention they deserve? At first glance, you probably know that your customers shop with you once a month. You know what they bought from you, but that’s about it. What if you truly understood your customers? What if you knew where else they shopped, what they bought, where they hung out, who they hung out with, where they live, plus so much more. Imagine all the insight you’d gain. Imagine all the possibilities of catering to each and every want and need. Imagine treating your customers as an individual, not a hazy shadow.
We here at Mogean are doing just this. With our cutting-edge data science, we’re helping companies truly understand each and every customer on an individual basis. With Mogean the possibilities are limitless and believe it or not, we’re just getting started. Do we have you intrigued yet? Stay tuned for part two of our Amazon series. We’ll continue the discussion by exploring how to take this information and turn it into concrete personalized experiences with advertising at scale. Soon enough, you’ll too be really competing with Amazon.