Know more. Spend smarter: Multi-touch attribution analytics tool helps retailers zero in on digital marketing efforts

BY SEAN C. TARRY

For many retailers with a national presence, accurately measuring the impact of digital marketing efforts on store sales can be a daunting task, not to mention an expensive one. Fortunately, thanks in large part to proprietary technology developed by Moneris, the task just became a little easier.

Canadian Retailer sat down with Duri Alajrami, Head of Marketing, Communications and Digital at Moneris, to discuss the uses and benefits of Offlinx.

Canadian Retailer: Which retailers can best take advantage of Offlinx?

Duri Alajrami: The businesses that will find the most value from Offlinx are national retailers that have a healthy digital marketing budget, online sales volume, invest in digital marketing campaigns over various channels, such as search, social media, email, programmatic display ads, and are currently using tools that account for online conversion only. By leveraging Offlinx, these retailers can uncover valuable insights on the true customer journey of their shoppers, down to the store level.

CR: What problem is this tool solving for retailers?

DA: Offlinx answers the question digital marketers have been asking since the first advertisement appeared online: What is the return on my online advertising investment? By applying a multi-touch attribution method, Offlinx measures—in sales revenue dollars— the impact of digital channels in driving customers to a store location to complete a purchase.

Marketers can drill into channel-level data and measure the impact of paid versus organic search, affiliates, referring sites and social media channels, to better understand average customer spend, average purchase size, revenue per visit and other in-store sales KPIs.

CR: In today’s omni-channel world, how can retailers keep track of what marketing initiatives are truly producing results?

DA: To succeed, retailers need to tune in to the trends that influence their customers’ purchasing habits. This means understanding their customer personas, how and where the shopping journey starts, what environmental factors fuel their high and low spending habits and through which channels, and what cultural, seasonal and economic factors impact their shopping lifecycle.

To do that, retailers today need to be able to measure customer engagement at all touchpoints, attribute the impact each of these touchpoints has on the overall customer journey, and optimize their marketing spend to focus on what matters the most to these customers.

CR: How important is it for retailers to make data-driven decisions? What are some of the consequences of missing out on valuable data?

DA: Businesses cannot afford to ignore data. Technology has opened the market to competitors with flexible business models and creative avenues to appeal to the modern consumer. Established retailers need to cut through the noise with relevant messaging and urgency if they want to adapt in today’s hyperactive digital world. They can accomplish this with data-backed conclusions that illustrate how customers engage with their brand and campaigns and help them stay agile on those platforms. In today’s international marketplace, it is important for retailers to recognize that knowing more results in spending smarter.

CR: Where should retailers start when it comes to leveraging this type of data?

DA: The information retailers need to steer their decision- making is right in front of them: overall and campaign-based marketing costs, store-level performance, online engagement through social media, email campaigns and other digital tactics, and sales revenue. Since it can be difficult to connect these data points with an accurate, statistically relevant method, equipping your business with the right tool to bridge these gaps is the best start. Offlinx can make these connections and reveal the last mile of the customer journey into the store that other analytics tools ignore. The tool offers a fuller, multi-dimensional view of the path-to-purchase based on consumer browsing activities and purchase transactions. By using Offlinx, retailers have a better idea of the true potential of their digital marketing investment.

Moneris is excited to offer RCC members a free 90-day trial of Offlinx. Members who are interested in this offer can contact Sean McCormick, VP Sales of Ancillary Products & Services, at sean.mccormick@moneris.com. Or, for more information about Offlinx and how it can help your business more accurately measure the impact of your businesses digital marketing efforts, visit moneris.com/en/Products-Services/Enterprise/Offlinx.