Personal data about consumer spending patterns and habits has always been a prized commodity in the retail world. Knowing what products consumers are interested in, how to proposition them for sale, and how to keep customers coming back into the store is a constant challenge for retailers. Cyber security and emerging ethics around individual privacy and the use of personal data for business further complicate the issue.
Barely a week goes by when we don’t hear about some big data breach (eBay, Yahoo, Canada Revenue Agency) where the confidential information of many users has been compromised by hackers, inside thieves or even government agencies. Then there’s the issue of how our information is used by the businesses and organizations collecting it (which is just about everyone), and how much we buy into and consent to their practices.
Consumer Consent: A Spam-Sheild
It’s no longer acceptable, for example, to sell our personal information to any third parties seeking to make a buck online. A big part of this has to do with consumer consent:
Businesses across Canada, especially smaller companies, are scrambling to prepare for Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation, which comes into effect less than four weeks from now on July 1. CBC News
In Canada, companies will require “express consent” (I agree to receive your newsletter) to send emails or messages through social media to new prospects, and implied consent, such as previous sign-up, for existing customers.
The Right to be Forgotten
Changes to the laws and rules governing individual privacy online are occurring in Europe as well. Specifically, the notion of an ‘individual’s right to be forgotten’ has recently been imposed on Google:
In a landmark decision, The Court of Justice of the European Union said Google must listen and sometimes comply when individuals ask the Internet search giant to remove links to newspaper articles or websites containing personal information. Campaigners say the ruling effectively backs individual privacy rights over the freedom of information. Toronto Star
Other big internet players have also had to acknowledge our rights over our personal information and content. Remember when Instagram tried to assert copyright ownership over all users’ photos on the site in late 2012? They quickly reverted back to their original TOS after an intense online backlash.
Personal Data Driving Facebook Ads
With 1.3 billion users, Facebook is a highly visible public company. That means when they infringe on individual rights or misuse personal data, they are likely to be called on it. After all, it’s our profile information and history of interactions with the site that are currently driving a surge in Facebook advertising.
Facebook’s ad revenue is growing because there is an appetite for receiving personalized ads and offers. There is also a degree of consent here as many of these ads are based on the brands we’ve ‘liked’ or expressed an interest in. When we go into a store with a personalized offer we received on Facebook, we are implicitly giving our consent and buying into the process.
Facebook ROI
Social media marketers know that we are more likely to make a purchase in-store if we’ve had a digital interaction with the brand:
In fact, conversions increase 40 percent when customers use digital before and during shopping in-store… The digital impact on in-store shopping and purchases is greater and growing faster than previous projections indicated. (The New Digital Divide, Deloitte, 2014)
The challenge for business is figuring out the types of offers and ads that lead to a happy and satisfied customer; which can be done by measuring things like conversion rates in-store that are driven by digital interactions.
Source Metrics provides analytics software that measures in-store conversions initiated by digital adspend, through popular social media platforms like Facebook… where the digital rubber hits the retail road.
