Leveraging digital twins for enhanced customer experiences in retail
Posted: March 17, 2023
Customer experience is best when an organization can anticipate customers’ wants and needs. Marketing teams can respond by using the “digital twins” concept to drive revenue, engagement, loyalty and efficiency while feeding insights into new product and service development.
Consumer confidence is key for many industries. It’s not just about someone having confidence in a brand but having confidence in themselves as consumers. A digital twin can help businesses improve that experience and retain loyalty while identifying the friction points that lead customers to move to competitors.
What is a digital twin of a customer?
A digital twin of a customer (DToC) is like a copy or model of a real person. It collects information about the person and can change over time. Companies use it to better understand their customers and show them they care. The data from the digital twin helps companies learn how people buy so they can do things differently. For example, they can give customers personalized offers and a more customized service.
By creating the digital twin of a customer, organizations can better understand who their customers are, how they interact with their business, and what makes them happy. This helps businesses create meaningful customer experiences that keep them returning for more. Companies can respond quickly and accurately to customer needs and use this data to develop new products and services.
The idea of the digital twin is becoming increasingly popular in the corporate world because it allows companies to put their customers at the center of everything they do. With digital twins, no two people have the same experience which keeps engagement high and loyalty strong.
A DToC uses both online and physical interaction, and it’s dynamic, updating as new information comes in and recognizing that a single person can exemplify more than one persona, which may shift over time. The twin collects enough data to simulate the customer experience accurately – moving them to more positive consumer-business relationship stages by fulfilling expectations and providing unexpected moments of delight.
Gartner stated that “A DToC is more than the concept familiar to marketing executives of a ‘persona’. Instead of merely collecting data points, it provides context and predictions of future behavior.’”
Key recommendations for CMOs and marketing teams
Create personalized offers and services tailored to the individual customer
Digital twins are becoming increasingly popular in the corporate world because they allow companies to put their customers at the center of everything they do.
Companies can create personalized experiences by leveraging the data collected from the digital twin. The data can be used to understand customer behavior, preferences, and needs. Companies can then use this insight to tailor their products and services to individual customers. For example, they can offer special discounts or promotions tailored to each customer’s specific interests and needs.
Recognize multiple personas and dynamically update as new information comes in
Companies can use digital twins to identify multiple personas by collecting data about their customers and using it to understand their needs better. By understanding the different types of people that interact with their business, companies can create experiences tailored to each individual. This personalized approach keeps customers engaged and loyalty strong.
Digital twins can also help businesses understand the customer journey. By understanding how people interact with their business, companies can identify areas where the customer experience can be improved. This helps businesses create a more seamless and enjoyable experience for their customers.
Collect enough data to accurately simulate the customer experience and predict future customer behavior.
Companies can use digital twins data to predict future customer behavior in various ways: they can use this data to anticipate customer wants and needs and suggest new products or services that would better meet those needs.
Organizations can use digital twins to further enhance their customer experience in retail by developing new strategies that leverage the data from the digital twin to drive engagement and loyalty.
Want to learn more about how retailers use data privacy to boost customer engagement?
Read our What challenges do retailers face around data privacy guide to understand how consumer brands can embrace data privacy to win customer trust.