Going global: Data considerations for growth in an international market

Data collection methods

If you’re planning to prioritise data quality within a new market, your first step should be to evaluate the data collection methods suitable for that market. This could involve website form fills, Customer Relationship Management systems, point-of-sale systems, customer feedback forms, or other data sources specific to the local market. As part of this, ensure that any data collection methods align with local privacy regulations.

Efficient data collection enables retailers to quickly gain insights into customer behavior, preferences, and market trends. By collecting data from sources such as sales transactions, customer surveys, website analytics, and social media platforms, retailers can better understand their customers’ needs and preferences in the new market. This data can help identify patterns, preferences, and market trends, which in turn can inform decision-making, marketing strategies, and product development.

Validating contact data

Validating contact data is essential to ensure its accuracy, to improve the effectiveness of your marketing, customer engagement, and sales efforts. To verify that the contact data is accurately entered at the point of collection, you could consider implementing data validation solutions into your data collection systems to prevent data entry errors and ensure completeness.

With data degrading at 10-20% per year, contact data validation should be an ongoing process. Regularly review and update contact data to maintain its accuracy and relevance. By employing a combination of tools, you can maintain reliable records for your customers and improve the effectiveness of your outreach and engagement efforts. Additionally, leverage data enrichment tools that add extra intelligence to your data to increase its value and drive deeper customer understanding. Experian’s contact Data Validation solutions enables you to capture and maintain accurate addresses, emails and mobile phone numbers for your customers globally at the point of entry or post-collection. Combined with a broad range of enrichment opportunities including demographic and location-based datasets, you will have the ability to accurately understand the profile of your new and existing customers and visualise their physical locations to find new opportunities.

Data integration

Integrate data from various sources to gain comprehensive insights. Start by Identifying the relevant data sources that contain contact data, such as customer databases, CRM systems, e-commerce platforms, loyalty programs, social media, or third-party data providers. As part of this, consider both internal and external sources that can provide valuable information for analysis. Next, standardise and cleanse the data to ensure consistency and accuracy regardless of its sources. Validate the data to correct errors, ensure data integrity, and profile it to identify and resolve duplicates. You can then merge and consolidate the data to support analysis and reporting. This integrated data can provide insights into sales performance, supply chain efficiency, customer behavior, and inventory management, enabling you to make informed decisions and optimise operations.

Experian Aperture Data Studio enables seamless data flow and integration across different systems and sources. You can build consistent, accurate, and holistic views of customer data and ensure that the infrastructure supports your growing international operations.

Identify the ideal customer profile for your business

Developing an ideal customer profile (ICP) helps retailers understand their target audience and tailor their marketing efforts accordingly. In an international market, cultural, demographic, and socioeconomic factors can vary significantly across countries and regions. By creating an ideal customer profile specific to each international market, retailers can identify the characteristics, preferences, and needs of their target customers. This understanding enables them to create personalised marketing campaigns, develop region-specific products, and offer targeted promotions, ultimately driving customer engagement and increasing sales.

According to The HSBC Report^[1], an increasing number of businesses consider global expansion as a key to success. Therefore, there is a growing demand for high-quality audience intelligence to help expansion strategy planning from both a location investment and effective campaign planning perspective. With the right data, you can make effective decisions about your international growth strategy, from location planning to consumer marketing activities. Experian WorldView is a single source of consistent data, enabling better decision making across the globe, helping retailers attract new customers and keep them engaged.

Continuous monitoring and improvement

Overall, data quality initiatives such as leveraging data collection, validating data sources, data integration, and developing an ideal customer profile can provide valuable insights and inform strategic decision-making for retail businesses expanding into international markets. By focusing on these data considerations, retail businesses can ensure the integrity of their data in an international market. It helps retailers understand their customers better, optimise their operations, and deliver personalized experiences, leading to growth and success in the global retail landscape.