5 Ways Brands Can Use POS Data for Targeted Customer Marketing

Connected point-of-sale systems are playing a central role for brands looking to develop more targeted marketing strategies. According to a 2017 report by Boston Retail Partners, 60% of retailers plan to have centralized POS within the next two years, with omnichannel integration being the leading POS priority.

While it’s not uncommon for cloud-based POS systems to be integrated with popular marketing applications, the savviest brand marketers are taking it a step further by using sales data to connect with individual customers on a highly-targeted level. Pushing their POS systems to the limits, these brands are also finding innovate ways to extrapolate data to measure the effectiveness of their ongoing hyperlocal campaigns.

Here are five examples of ways that brands are strategically using their POS systems for targeted customer marketing right now.

1. Matching reservations to POS data to generate targeted offers
Leveraging the data from their reservations and POS systems, businesses can learn more about their customers and plan more targeted marketing strategies. Fig & Olive, an upscale eatery with eight locations spread across the United States, has started funneling the customer data it collects through its OpenTable reservation system and the purchasing information that’s gathered through its Micros POS system to create win-back offers when guests have not been in for 30, 60, or 90 days. With data from the POS in play, Fig & Olive can target its campaigns to just those customers who’ve spent above a certain dollar amount, and they can make offers more enticing by featuring images of the specific menu items customers have ordered in the past.

2. Tracking which promotional campaigns brought in guests
The old way of marketing was to distribute paper coupons and count how many of those coupons were redeemed. By switching to digital coupons, and then connecting those coupons to the POS, businesses can go deeper and measure exactly how much revenue is generated by each campaign. The marketing team at Richard Sandoval Restaurants, a restaurant group with more than 35 locations, has integrated promotion buttons into its POS units to allow servers to track when guests arrive with emails from their campaigns. Discounts from those campaigns are then applied and tracked, allowing the company to precisely measure how much revenue can be attributed to each campaign.

3. Developing a consistent brand experience across touchpoints
The more places a brand can integrate its POS system, the more consistent the shopping or dining experience will be. Most cloud-based POS solutions now have the capability to integrate with loyalty, e-commerce, CRM, and order management platforms through APIs. With these integrations in place, businesses are able to recognize customers across every touchpoint. For example, a member of a business’ loyalty program might see his most recent order pop up on the screen when he goes to place another order at a kiosk or a drive-up window. Having a consistent brand experience across multiple touchpoints is part of having a strong omnichannel strategy.

4. Consolidating data from multiple business locations
Connected POS systems give brands a way to break down data silos and take advantage of the synergy that comes from having multiple business locations. As a restaurant group with more than a dozen locations spread across the East Coast, Garces Group has been able to pool its customer data in real-time through its POS system. The company tracks changes in guest visit patterns and identifies which customers are loyal not just to a single restaurant, but to multiple Garces Group establishments. Creating a centralized POS system can be a challenge for larger brands, particularly those with franchisees, but when it’s done correctly, brands have the ability to seamlessly track which customers are visiting which business locations and how those changes in vistation patterns are tied to various marketing campaigns.

5. Anticipating spikes in product demand tied to campaigns
Even the best marketing campaign can be stymied when the products being promoted to customers go out-of-stock. Utilizing the data from their POS systems, major brand retails are making more strategic buying decisions on a hyperlocal level. POS data can show retailers which specific product variants are most likely to sell out at specific store locations. This information is especially useful as large retailers roll out national campaigns tied to major events, like the holidays. Brand manufacturers may also be able to use this information, when its provided to them by the national retailers they supply, to anticipate spikes in product demand.

Stephanie Miles is a senior editor at Street Fight.