Report: Retailers consolidate ownership of customer data
Walnut Creek, Calif. -- Retailers appear to be putting in the foundational elements to create a coordinated focus on the customer experience. The percentage of respondents to a new survey from RSR Research reporting that Marketing is the primary owner of customer data internally nearly doubled from 2012 to 2013, from 33% to 61%, and those reporting no explicit owner fell from 33% to 17%.
Other internal areas covered in “Marketing 2013: Organizational Drift” also have increased ownership of customer data. Store operations, e-commerce/direct, and merchandising all showed increased ownership from 2012.
However, RSR Research analysis shows this increase appears to be driven more from a recognition of the value of customer data that is generated in all aspects of the business (especially customer-facing ones), rather than a diversification of ownership of consolidated data sources.