Customers want to feel seen and understood by brands, a high bar that is sometimes met by physical retail and scarcely met by e-commerce. 

Frequently mistargeted ads can hurt a retailer’s reputation if customers develop a negative perception and experience a decrease in trust and brand loyalty. 

In the case that the ad does target the right customer and they visit the site, a generic non-personalised onsite experience could lead to similar feelings of discontent.

“We’ve all had that awkward moment when someone reintroduces themselves even though you’ve already met, it feels impersonal and off-putting,” Chris Hackett, Epsilon sales director, told Inside Retail. 

“It’s equally frustrating when that same person keeps asking you the same question – even though you’ve already answered,” he added.

An over-reliance on last-click attribution ignores the broader journey a customer has taken by treating every interaction like it’s the first. 

Instead of using a ‘spray and pray’ approach, Epsilon utilises its unique profiles on 17.5 million Australians to generate curated user journeys through online media into an interactive site experience, on behalf of brands, guiding the customer from an online ad to an onsite or offline/in-store purchase.

“As a brand, you don’t want to have a goldfish memory. You want to start every interaction with impact and maintain a consistent, meaningful conversation across all touchpoints,” explained Hackett.

“Failing to do so isn’t just inefficient and costly, it damages the brand experience and wastes valuable resources,” he continued.

A customer journey, powered by Epsilon, consists of serving personalised ads crafted using data points from past interactions.

Clicking through, the targeted customer lands on a website, which recognises them and showcases products suited to their preferences. With personalised recommendations and offers, they are guided to make a purchase.

Taking a cookieless approach 

Epsilon can track individual customer journeys and guide retailers to better shape their traffic to avoid high bounce rates, low conversion rates and abandoned carts.

Unlike most providers, Epsilon is not tied to the cookie – which has been steadily declining in value as customers continue to limit and block its crumbs.

“To build meaningful connections with individuals and deliver impactful brand experiences, we must move beyond cookie-based targeting, regardless of its deprecation (if ever),” Hackett Stated. 

“By leveraging thousands of data points across multiple identifiers, we ensure quality and performance without sacrificing scale, a challenge frequently encountered with cookie-based solutions,” he added.

It is this cookieless approach that allows Epsilon to guide retailers and brands through off-site and on-site personalisation, targeting customers on a one-to-one scale.

“Maintaining an ongoing conversation across all channels is key. In today’s highly competitive market, where convenience is all but expected, it’s not enough to simply get it right on the first click; the real goal is ensuring that click leads to a purchase or action,” Hackett explained.

“Personalising the path to purchase based on the individual and the relationship you’ve built is arguably the most crucial factor,” he continued.

“Having the ability to control this journey, while identifying and addressing drop-off points, not only benefits your brand but also fosters a positive, lasting customer experience.”

Increasing customer lifetime value

Personalising the whole journey is not only better for the customer experience but also for the retailer’s bottom line. A data-driven approach that avoids the ‘spray and pray’ method leads to better conversations.

Epsilon looks to take this future-proofed and personalised approach one step further for brands by also measuring customer lifetime value.

“While acquisition is essential to the bottom line, repeat purchases are just as critical. Too often, we see a disconnect between the two, usually due to gaps in data,” Hackett shared. 

“The true value lies in nurturing the relationship from unknown visitor to customer, and ultimately, to brand advocate.” 

Epsilon is a one-stop shop for creating personalised user journeys on behalf of brands, driving customer lifetime value and measuring incremental revenue uplift. 

“We’re highly confident in our identity solution and its ability to guide an individual to be a loyal advocate,” Hackett concluded. “So confident, in fact, that we guarantee incremental ROAS and increased customer lifetime value, an offer that’s truly unique in the market.”

• To learn more about Epsilon’s products and services, visit here.