As part of different loyalty schemes and programmes, huge amounts of data are gathered each and every day to monitor people and their behaviour. At the same time, people are starting to understand the huge value their data poses to retail business, wanting more control over of what is being collected, shared and how. On the 4th of December, Forum Virium Helsinki organised a workshop which discussed future customer experience and loyalty cards from the perspective of MyData.
The workshop brought together 30+ professionals interested in retail and MyData. Via inspirational talk from researcher Kai Kuikkaniemi (HIIT), we first explored the fundamentals of MyData and how privacy should be taken into account in the digital and physical retail of the future.
Kuikkaniemi dived into digital identity and consent management. One of the key issues here is trust: how it is built and maintained. If people trust your company, brand or service, they allow collection of data. Customer loyalty programmes are one of the things in retail business which are designed and run to build trust. But they need to be supported by trustworthy technology, personnel data management and services which are easy to use and understandable – even into a very detailed level if necessary.
“Trust is in the core of MyData in retail: to achieve it, the companies need to able to create easy-to-use and understandable services,” Kai Kuikkaniemi says.
The data-driven talk was followed by strategist Minna Lenander (SEK Loyal) who turned to emotions: when in control of your own data, what in fact would be the motivation to give anyone access? Lenander also discussed, how data enables interaction based on feelings, and how marketing needs to touch your feelings (not only deliver information) in order to make you move and act.
“What we feel directly influences on how we think things should be put forward,” reminds Minna Lenander.
CEO Jukka Meklin introduced Kliento service and what it takes to run a customer-driven loyalty program today. In 2014, Kliento and Helsinki Region Transport (HRT) started collaboration to launch a new kind of customer loyalty service for local shops and restaurants in Helsinki. In his presentation, Meklin pointed out that the future customer experience, and loyalty programmes creating those, need to be personal and interactive. Data is fetched and analysed from a multiple set of sources. However, the relationship is based on interaction, ownership and trust: only utilizing the data customer has been willing to share by choice. The focus is in the value experienced by the customer. Service design and attention to detail is a key element in creating value for the end users.
“Future customer experience and loyalty programmes need to be personal and interactive,” concludes Jukka Meklin.
The participants with various backgrounds discussed also further the future retail experience, what could be the future of loyalty cards based on MyData. There was a mutual understanding on that we are not talking about physical cards but digital services. It was also discussed, who are the parties who could to serve as data operators, and whether we are ready to actually pay for the MyData operator services, and what kind of services should be built on MyData to make them meaningful in retail.
The workshop was held in Kalasatama, in the brand new REDI Living Lab. The space, opening in January, showcases SRV’s unique construction project. Once completed in 2022, REDI will cover eight skyscrapers, parks, beach promenade and the largest shopping and lifestyle centre in Helsinki. It’s no doubt that it will be the future center of whole Kalasatama area. What’s interesting is that, REDI will be in fact a hub combining shopping, experiences and living. This is why it will also be an interesting place to test and explore the shopping experiences of the future linking digital services and physical space.
The future of loyalty cards based on MyData is not about physical cards – but digital services.
The workshop was organised by Forum Virium Helsinki and Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, as part of Street Smart Retail project which seeks new ways to utilize technology innovation in retail. Street Smart Retail is funded by Institut of European innovation and Technology / EIT Digital.