The majority of UK shoppers believe retailers are failing to use their data effectively, new research from Cognizant has shown.

The study, which surveyed 1,000 UK consumers, revealed that retailers have not resolved the dilemma of what customer data to use and how, with only 38 per cent of shoppers believing that retailers actually use their data effectively.

The news follows a recent report by the UK Cards Association which found that online shoppers in the UK spend more per household than consumers in any other country. However retailers are unable to reap the full benefits of personalisation as existing customer data is not fully used to their advantage, combined with in-store technology that is still not living up to its full potential.

The Cognizant research found that UK shoppers can become indifferent to retailers if they receive irrelevant offers from them.

Just over half of those surveyed claimed that they often receive offers that do not provide value and 56 per cent say they often do not include products relevant to them.

Almost half (43 per cent) think that retailers know them well if they offer promotions for similar goods based on past purchases and personal preferences, as well as through their preferred communication channels (39 per cent).

A quarter (26 per cent) of those surveyed also believe that in-store technology does not work properly.

Steven Skinner, senior vice president of retail and consumer goods consulting at Cognizant, said: “There is still a lot of room for retailers to use technology to their advantage. However, the research has shown that shoppers only see the value in the personalised relationship if the technology is actively enhancing their shopping experience and unfortunately, at present, it is not.

“For technologies such as AR, loyalty and mobile payments to be adapted in-store, retailers need to move quickly on their strategy today by gathering shopper insights to understand what their target market really wants. They need to prepare user friendly applications and importantly, make sure their investments work and delight, instead of frustrating and turning off their shoppers. There is a big opportunity for those retailers that get this right.”

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