The customer databaseIt's not always easy to create a customer database for a restaurant or business! Aside from questions about how to implement it, budding brands find it hard to see the benefits, and all too often prefer social networks. Yet a well-managed database is a far more effective way of getting to know your customers, communicating with them and keeping in touch between visits.
Apart from the times when they are present between the four walls, convenience stores sometimes find it hard to engage in conversation with their customers. Social networks are diluted in the mass of online information, advertising is very expensive and old-fashioned loyalty cards don't allow for exchange... Too bad, because a large proportion of the customers who walk through your door may be interested in your news!
All too often, building up a customer database seems like a distant, complicated solution, even reserved for chains and major brands. We agree, collecting customer data isn't necessarily natural for a start-up retailer! And yet, without contact data, it's impossible to get to know your customers better, build loyalty and keep them informed of everything that's going on with you.
Communication is the key to getting customers talking and coming back. And for this, a database is the ideal tool. Above all, it's a list of contacts that can be used to multiply long-distance interactions via text message, even when your customers aren't on your premises.
And above all: without spamming! Thanks to enriched data, our knowledge of customers' habits enables us to offer them relevant content every time. In the end, when it's done right, businesses can put in place friendly and effective local communication, always with the prior agreement of the participants (the base).
While they're essential for extending the reputation of a store or brand, social networks aren't the most accurate way of reaching your existing customers! Even with a large follower base, you can never be sure that people who subscribe to your content will notice it. Conversely, by building up a database of customers, all the recipients already know that you exist - since they've agreed to be part of the list. The marketing budget (which, by the way, is very modest compared to the benefits) is put to better use.
It's easy to set up: you build up a list of customers interested in your news, on a voluntary basis, of course. Subscription takes place at the point of sale, and the data is integrated into a specialized app that tells you a lot about your clientele. The data belongs to the restaurant owners and shopkeepers (and is never passed on to third parties).
The customer database is then used to distribute various content and promotions by email or text message, in small bursts. Events, new products, loyalty programs... All the information you need to keep your customers up to date with everything that's going on in your business or restaurant! As an added bonus, the data can also be used for contextual communication, for example, to follow up on a customer who has stopped coming, or to offer a gift on the eve of a birthday.
The best part? It's so easy to set up! Pongo' s solution is perfectly suited to up-and-coming retailers, enabling them to collect essential customer information (age, gender, preferences...) with their permission, using tablets installed at the point of sale. From there, we're teeming with ideas for loyalty programs or targeted campaigns based on personalized SMS messages, to get the conversation started on a solid (data) base!
