This week I, and Stibo Systems colleagues, attended NRF 2019: Retail’s Big Show in New York, where we listened to amazing sessions and spoke with various retailers – both domestic and international. These are my take-aways from one of the most significant retail events in the world.

Let me start by highlighting the one NRF topic that seemed to bind all the others together: data! Data and data management were hot topics and at the forefront of the business driven conversation. It seems there is now a better understanding of the need for high-quality data and good data management as the foundation for business success.

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The return on investment (ROI) of master data management is a topic that keeps captivating people – in particular, those considering investing big in MDM. And with good reason. Because as is the case with all investments, people want to know: What’s the outcome? What will we get from the money we spend? It’s business logic. But nonetheless, the answer isn’t always straightforward as it isn’t necessarily easy to quantify the value of high quality data and smooth data processes.

With this in mind, here are a few helpful steps that can help you determine the ROI of a master data management implementation.

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Does your IT architecture partly consist of legacy systems, citizen apps, shadow IT or deprecated systems? Here are some of the pros and cons that you should consider before retiring an IT system.

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In my previous post, I discussed the next evolution of CRM, which involves using master data management (MDM) as the foundation to provide a comprehensive understanding of your target audiences. I covered data issues present in many CRMs today, including missing, antiquated and inaccurate data, and how MDM can help overcome them. In this post, I reveal the many ways complete, unified customer data improves business outcomes and delivers value to organizations and customers alike.

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“The purpose of a business is to create a customer.” - Peter Drucker

Every day, businesses around the world deploy customer relationship management (CRM) in the hopes of selling faster and smarter, building engaging experiences, delivering personalized messages and more. Gartner estimated CRM software revenue reached $39.5 billion in 2017, overtaking database management systems revenue to become the largest software market globally. 

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From apparel to appliances, and from food to furniture, electronics, machinery and everything in between, manufacturing in the U.S. and around the world continues to grow. Digital transformation and a desire to reduce supply chain complexity have resulted in many manufacturers developing capabilities for reaching customers directly. It could be the reason why by 2020, 60% of manufacturers will rely on digital platforms that will support as much as 30% of their overall revenue.

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Marketing organizations need to be data-savvy out of one obvious reason: because consumers are savvy and impatient – and not very loyal.

To get on par with your customers, it sometimes takes a great deal of change management. Based on experience, I have compiled the following list of how to create a data-savvy marketing organization.

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John Wannamaker’s more than 100-year-old outcry: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half” was true for a long time, but not anymore. Thanks to data-driven marketing and data-analytics tools, we are now in a much better position to determine our marketing ROI.

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As a marketing manager with the responsibility of qualifying leads and serving users with relevant content, CRM is your most valuable tool.

Of all customer data systems, your CRM should contain the most fine-grained view of your customers. There are some caveats, though. In order to address customers and users in the most relevant and personalized way, it's crucial to keep the data clean and trustworthy.

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We used to look forward to emails. When we received a “you’ve got mail” alert, we were eager to see who it was trying to communicate with us. Now, outside of work, most of us receive email overload and rarely want to open them. Vendors have it rough. If they want to engage with us, whether it be on the phone, by email or via the ads we see online, it better be worth our while. Consumers of today want personalized messages and offers, and if vendors can’t keep up with those demands, competitors are easily accessible and just a few clicks away.

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