Unlocking Transparent Identification: Maximizing conversions for the retail holiday surge

Every retailer is looking to hit YoY comps in a market where acquisition performance is declining alongside retention being impacted by inflation. In any market where demand is at risk, marketers should put a premium value on identification.
Justin Roisman
Managing Director of Marketing | CITY Furniture

At our most recent Coffee & Commerce event, we discussed the tremendous opportunity that the BFCM holiday traffic surge presents for retailers — given that last year, a staggering 74% of shoppers visiting retailers’ sites went unidentified by brands.

Reaching this massive but anonymous audience goes beyond simply increasing paid media dollars, it requires having visibility into identification and a strategy for optimization, which serves as the bedrock of the entire customer experience.

Transparent identification offers a solution that not only enhances reach but also optimizes acquisition budgets, improves personalization, and boosts retention. To make the most of this approach, it’s imperative that retailers prioritize ID rate as the cornerstone of their funnel metrics, making it easier to track conversions across the entire shopper-to-customer journey. 

When polled at Coffee & Commerce, 86% of attendees noted that identification is somewhat or very important to their business, however, only 14% knew their ID rate. After further discussion most attendees admitted that they aren’t confident that they are maximizing onsite sign-ups and are mostly reliant on abandonment triggers to convert shoppers. We heard repeatedly how their sites are limited to only identifying shoppers who login, which represents a mere 4-8% of all site visits. The conversation underscored the critical importance of having both a comprehensive strategy and the right technological tools to identify visitors at every point of the website, not just during login. 

What challenges and learnings have retailers derived from their identification today?  

Across the market, retailers are seeing less traffic to their sites and fewer conversions, which is leading to hyper-awareness around efficiency.

I opened the discussion by asking the room to shed light on their approach to the market-wide challenges. 

ALDO Group’s Senior Manager of Digital Experience, North America, Gurbani Ahluwalia, speaks to her team’s focus on explicit consent at every touchpoint, which has always been a top priority for ALDO Group, given their concern for privacy. Safe and transparent identification brings context to the once anonymous shoppers, ultimately generating more revenue by allowing retailers to customize and personalize the experience to a shopper’s past behavior and preferences.

Another retail leader, Cole Haan’s Director of Ecommerce, Mark Danisewicz, finds their membership program insightful for understanding their customer base. Still, they’re exploring how to identify new visitors and target them effectively in the future. 

Sarah McMahon, who leads Retention Marketing & Audience Activation for Vans, highlights the need to integrate their existing systems to detect and unify multiple email accounts of a single shopper, ensuring seamless marketing activations based on shopper preference.

The Director of CRM for UNTUCKit, Shannen McLoughlin, mentions that they are redefining what identification means to their organization. Historically, they measured identification by total emails sent versus total users to the site.

Out of the site sessions taking place, how many sessions can you identify with an email or SMS ID?

ID rate is a tangible metric that will have a direct impact on conversion efficiency. This stat provides retailers with visibility into the opportunities they have to connect preferences to new visitors, returning visitors, or loyal shoppers. 

Bluecore’s CMO, Jason Grunberg, asks Gurbani how ALDO Group views their identification strategy from a priority perspective. Gurbani explains that while the digital teams understand its significance, the executive leadership is still figuring out the next steps toward achieving stable identification. 

Mark shares his team’s priority of testing new activations such as SMS, membership, and other benefits or programs that increase identification. They are interested in exploring how to enhance their current loyalty programs to further improve their ID rate.

I float a selection of questions for retailers to spark internal conversations with their teams:

• What is my baseline ID rate? How does that change with seasonality?
• What kind of traffic mix am I driving to my site? How does that influence my ID rate?
• With that understanding, how do you maximize ID rate above this baseline?

As they discuss, Mark sheds light on Cole Haan’s site capture approach, which involves an intuitive pop-up module. In light of cookie consent laws, and to avoid bombarding new customers with immediate offers, they are currently refining their approach to ensure a more engaging and informed interaction with potential customers. The intent is to create a welcoming environment that introduces the brand before presenting them with offers upfront. 

Jason shares Brilliant Earth’s strategy for nurturing potential customers through more informed efforts using Bluecore’s identification network. As a jewelry company where visitors often make significant purchases, Brilliant Earth decided to implement a capsule newsletter as part of their nurture flow. This newsletter delivers “How To” insights and expert knowledge related to shopping, helping to establish a relationship with new customers.

The brilliance of this approach lies in its ability to segment customers based on their readiness to purchase, but is only made possible through transparent identification. By identifying those who are ready to buy and guiding them through a separate funnel from those still in the discovery phase, Brilliant Earth can tailor their marketing efforts for optimal conversion. This is particularly impactful during the holiday season when competition is high.

Preference centers arise as a topic of agreement across the room. Mark describes the preference center as a powerful tool, saving over 50% of unsubscribed users. It allows individuals to sign up for a series of emails and choose their own touchpoints, preserving the list’s integrity and size. Delivering this experience effectively is powerful for identification and building long-term customer loyalty.

Gurbani goes on to suggest implementing prompts that encourage users to self-identify their product preferences, such as size and other relevant details, to enhance the overall shopping experience and drive further identification.

Bluecore supports this idea of offering some sort of value exchange – other than just an offer – in return for signing up to receive emails. She proposes incorporating an exit intent feature that asks shoppers if they would like to save the items they have browsed for future consideration. 

When any of these tactics are built into the shopper experience and executed properly, they contribute to a positive ID rate. 

How are you encouraging customers to sign up for loyalty programs? 

Loyalty programs are a great nurture funnel, but every brand has a different approach to building a loyal customer base. BFCM is a great opportunity to grow that community and drive repeat purchases. 

Allison emphasizes the importance of rewarding actions with points, which allows for a more inclusive approach. By earning points for various activities within the larger ecosystem, such as engaging on social media, retailers can create a rewarding experience that extends beyond only sale or site interactions.

Sarah Cascone, Bluecore’s VP of Marketing, highlights Lulu and Georgia’s achievements in expanding their loyal shopper base through a well-established identification strategy. By effectively segmenting marketing triggers based on things like insight into which shoppers have a discount affinity or a preference for a certain category, Lulu and Georgia have been able to double their repeat buyers in a matter of just 9 months.

Pet Supermarket’s Director of Ecommerce, Matt Ezyk, describes their successful loyalty program, which covers their range of brands comprehensively. With a subscription-based business model and private label brands, they efficiently run discount campaigns that have proven to deeply connect with their customer base. Excited about pushing boundaries with Web3 technology and other innovations, Matt aims to strengthen their loyalty program even further.

The path forward with identification

Transparent identification is all about adopting a test-and-learn approach, especially in preparation for the holiday season. It starts with focusing on the identification rate, a metric that should be discussed in every marketing team meeting and integrated throughout the entire customer funnel. As BFCM approaches, it’s pivotal that retailers look beyond their old tactics and seize the opportunity to implement proven identification and customer experience strategies, making the most of the retail industry’s highest-trafficked holiday.