Just 16% reap business benefits of single customer view

Of those companies that don't have a SCV, 85% said the lack of it had led to business problems and 18% believe it had led to them missing out on cross- and up-sell opportunities.

"The benefits of a SCV are indisputable, both in terms of costs savings for the business and customer satisfaction, but our research shows that many marketers are still struggling to make effective use of the data that their business holds across multiple-channels," said Nigel Wilson, managing director for data and analytics at Experian Marketing Services.

"Some organizations are already on their way, so the rest need to see SCV as more than just an intangible ideal and instead a key business requirement for the future if they are to avoid being left behind by their competitors."

Here's how Experian divvied up the 400 responding businesses according to their stage in planning SCV:

11% - The No Plans - No plans at all to attempt a single customer view at this time;

17% - The One Days - Not yet started down this route, but will do at some point in the future;

29% - The Planners - Currently planning a single customer view strategy;

19% - The Implementers - In the process of implementing a single customer view strategy;

8% - The Unfinished SCVs - Have a single customer view strategy in place, but it is not yet effective;

16% - The SCV Elites - Have a single customer view solution in place and it is effective.

"Our research found that even the SCV Elites - those furthest along the journey to implementing a true SCV solution - had only integrated 3.2 channels from the average of 6.65 through which they collect data," concluded Wilson. "We are definitely moving in the right direction, but many UK businesses have a long way to go in their data journey, in fully understanding their customers and achieving effective multi-channel communications".

Having a SCV enables personalized, multi-channel engagement with customers, something they desire. Experian's research included the survey of 2,000 UK consumers of which 74% said they would respond positively to personalized marketing communications and 44% would request additional marketing information.

Tags: data management, database marketing, loyalty marketing, multichannel marketing, single customer view