Retailers are digging a "gold mine" of customer data to boost their business.

Customer shopping behavior is crucial data for retailers.

After a month of buying diapers for her child at a supermarket, this customer received an advertisement offering the same diapers but in a size suitable for her child's age, so she happily continued shopping without feeling bothered.

This is one of the ways retailers are "reading" data to reach customers with the right needs, increase efficiency, and improve marketing, especially in the race to retain customers.systems.

Leverage customer data.

During the recent Lunar New Year holiday, consumers were overwhelmed by the sheer number of promotional programs. These promotions were adjusted daily, even hourly, especially in the days leading up to the holiday.

Ms. Le Thi Mai Linh, executive vice president of Central Group, which owns the Big C supermarket chain in Vietnam, said this is a race driven by timing, and supermarkets must keep up with every change in the market.

Based on customer purchase data, this system has launched promotional programs to encourage customers to return for future purchases.

According to Ms. Linh, the management team looks at the data to understand customer shopping trends and conducts quick analyses at that moment.

"We look at the sales volume; sometimes customers lean towards buying discounted items, and other times they choose items with free gifts. For example, during the days leading up to Tet (Lunar New Year), customers buy fruit to stock up, so we design a fruit discount program. As a result, purchasing power at this system during Tet increased significantly, exceeding expectations," said Ms. Linh.

Big data will reveal a lot of information about customer psychology and shopping behavior.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Son, CEO of Tiki, said that when it was a small e-commerce site four years ago, all customer information, from identity, age, and gender to every interaction and click on the site, was stored.

"Vietnamese businesses have limited data collection capabilities, so to accurately know what our customers buy, where they buy it, whether they are male or female, etc., we collaborate with leading global partners to exploit this data. To date, we have achieved an accuracy rate of 25%, which is quite high compared to the few percent of other retailers," Mr. Son said.

Many retailers are also beginning to recognize the importance of "customer data" for increasing sales effectiveness.

The partnership between Saigon Co.op and Nielsen research company at the end of 2017 was considered a historic turning point for both parties.

Ms. Nguyen Linh Trang, deputy director of Co.op Smile, said that after telecommunications, retail is the sector with the most customer data.

Each customer transaction is a piece of data, automatically connecting to multiple information tables, including specific information about the product, the store, the time of purchase, and more.

According to Ms. Trang, having data changes everything significantly. Adding or removing items is based on actual market developments. Data is the foundation for retailers to work with suppliers.

"In reality, managing a hypermarket is not as difficult as managing a small convenience store because the number of items on display is limited. The key is identifying potential customers to encourage their shopping habits and optimizing logistics," Ms. Trang stated.

Knowing what your customers want is key to winning.

In fact, Saigon Co.op has had a data analysis department since 2016. Currently, this department has about 30 people working on analyzing consumer data, habits, and behavior.

Although all of Saigon Co.op's previous decisions regarding product development and management were based on this data, things still lacked clarity and transparency.

"Since partnering with Nielsen for data analysis, we've been able to delve deeper into details and specifics, resulting in cleaner data and more accurate customer analysis. This greatly supports our promotional and sales programs, as well as optimizing product lines..." - Ms. Trang said.

However, the decision to share consumer goods data with a partner was a difficult one, requiring careful consideration from the entire Saigon Co.op board. For over 20 years, this retailer has kept its customer data private and never opened it up to anyone.

According to Ms. Mai Thi Lan Van, marketing director of Adayroi, investing in technology to exploit big data is a necessity for retail businesses, as it also involves investing in customer data mining.

The retail market is increasingly fragmented, the shift to online shopping is inevitable, and businesses must understand their new customer base. Furthermore, Vietnamese consumers prioritize price and supplier reputation before considering product quality.

"Our approach is to access customer information accurately and provide them with the information they need through technology applications so that customers receive care without feeling inconvenienced," Ms. Van explained.

Vietnamese consumers, as well as those in the Asian region, have the fastest-changing consumer behavior. Products that were popular a few years ago may not even sell anymore, let alone lose their popularity.

"The data excavation, therefore, doesn't necessarily have to retrieve data from the past 20 years, but only from the last few years. However, it also shows that things are happening very quickly," Ms. Trang said.

Leveraging data to "understand" customers.

According to Mr. Tran Anh Tuan, director of The Pathfinder consulting company, most Vietnamese businesses have not yet invested in and systematically exploited data to increase revenue and business value in the digital age. Meanwhile, retaining a loyal customer is less expensive and more economical than acquiring a new one.

"Retaining loyal customers is crucial and requires effective customer care and follow-up programs, which can only be achieved with a database and accurate analysis. Understanding what customers buy is key to attracting them to continue purchasing and using the product long-term," Mr. Tuan said.