Converged Channel Shopping Gets Personal

NCR has launched a new consumer preference management solution, the NCR Enterprise Preference Manager, that enables retailers to provide an online portal through their Web site for customers to manage their shopping experience based upon their declared preferences and presence in a retailer’s channels.

Consumers can select from a variety of preferences, including how they receive communications, when, where, and how they get offers and many others. For example, they could indicate they like to receive communications via text message, in Spanish, and want digital receipts. The NCR Enterprise Preference Manager enables retailers to respond to  consumers declared preferences and dynamically adapt to their needs through synchronized, multiple channels (kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, web and mobile devices.)

Marketers can capture and use consumer preference information across all channels and co-create a shopping experience with customers. This leads to more relevant, highly personalized offers and a converged retailing experience, where consumers can start transactions in one channel and complete them on another.

The NCR Enterprise Preference Manager features learning technology that automatically adapts to a consumer’s shopping history. It also rapidly integrates with a retailer’s existing loyalty or customer relationship management (CRM) software, including the NCR Advanced Marketing Solution, extending the functionality of existing business software and safeguarding technology investments.

“Preference management puts consumers in control. Those retailers who offer a converged experience across channels are able to remove silos between physical and digital retailing. They can then deliver the relevant and personalized offers that consumers want,” said Mike Webster, vice president and general manager of NCR’s retail and hospitality line of business. “NCR is helping forward-looking retailers change how they engage in conversations with, and create experiences alongside, shoppers, enabling them to build enduring relationships with consumers.”

“Shoppers are increasingly reliant on new technologies, such as smart phones, or recommendations from their social networks,” adds Paula Rosenblum, managing partner at Retail Systems Research. “It is vital that retailers enable these consumers to shop seamlessly across channels, according to their preferences, in order to gain the privilege of their loyalty and see tangible return on investment from marketing programs.”

The Enterprise Preference Manager is part of the NCR c-tailing solutions, a set of software and services that enable retailers to offer consumers greater personalization and consistency across channels, such as the Internet, mobile devices, social media, and in the store.

In an independent July 2009 report, “Marketers: Stop the Abuse! Adopt Preference Management,” Forrester Research reinforces the need for marketers to offer consumers the ability to manage communications preferences. According to the report, 77 percent of consumers feel  companies should let them decide how they can contact them. The report also states, “Consumers want control and they are increasingly accustomed to getting it.”

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