5 Platforms to Help SMBs Identify High-Value Customers

In the eyes of local merchants, not all customers are created equal. Frequent customers who spend big and tip well are the gold standard for small business owners. But with digital coupon usage on the rise — 55% of U.S. adults will redeem digital coupons in 2014, according to eMarketer — it’s important that merchants know who what types of customers they’re reaching with their mobile discounts and promotions.

Here are five platforms that small businesses can use to identify high-value customers worth targeting.

1. Troglo: Identify valuable customers based on loyalty, purchases, and interests.
A marketing platform for retail environments, Troglo uses in-store analytics to identify trends and generate customer profiles. These profiles are a useful way for businesses to identify which high-value individuals are visiting their stores based on loyalty, purchasing histories, and interests. Customer lists can be segmented based on visit history, location, demographics, purchases, and interests, as well. Once a business has identified its most high-value customers, it can target them with personalized messaging through Troglo’s platform.

2. Aislelabs: Segment visitors based on past shopping histories.
Another in-store analytics platform, Aislelabs identifies valuable customers based on context, location, and behavior. Retailers, restaurants, and shopping malls can get a “holistic view” of their customers’ online and offline activities, and they can cross-reference those behavior profiles with visits and CRM systems. Using visitor segmentation tools and location technology, businesses are able to target customers based on which other stores they’ve visited recently. For example, a high-end clothing boutique could deliver real-time promotional messages to customers who’ve shopped at luxury jewelry stores in the past seven days.

3. Swipely: Compare repeat vs. new customers.
Swipely has created a way for businesses to generate more analytics from the point-of-sale systems they already have in place. The platform works with every major POS system, collecting data behind-the-scenes and generated customer profiles. As a result, businesses are able to see the percentage of new vs. repeat customers, along with the value of an average sale from a regular customer vs. a new customer. Swipely gives businesses a list of their top 100 customers by spending and visit frequency, and enables users to drill down to learn details like a valuable customer’s favorite products or most requested services. Customer details also include transaction histories, loyalty milestones, and a list of marketing campaigns received.

4. ShopKeep: Track customers through the POS.
ShopKeep has integrated a customer tracking system directly into its cloud-based POS solution. Businesses that use ShopKeep to process transactions can automatically track customer data in the “BackOffice.” This data is then used for online and offline marketing efforts. By analyzing the purchasing histories of their customers, businesses are able to see which products their top spenders are buying most frequently. They can also introduce those customers to similar items that they may enjoy. Customer lists and purchasing histories can be exported at any time, to be analyzed on any outside marketing platform.

5. FiveStars: Increase the lifetime value of customers.
FiveStars is a loyalty platform that integrates into a business’ existing POS system and provides a way for customers to earn points based on what they buy at a number of participating establishments. Businesses can award their most frequent customers with “VIP status.” They can also use purchasing data to identify multiple tiers of customers, based on things like spending histories and visit frequencies. Automated promotions and marketing campaigns are then available to bring back specific customer segments, such as VIP customers who haven’t been shopping for the past 30 days.

Know of other platforms that businesses can use to identify high-value customers? Leave a description in the comments.

Stephanie Miles is a senior editor at Street Fight.