A new study has revealed that 44 per cent of companies reported a “significant increase” in both growth and revenue generation as a result of using customer analytics, while 58 per cent reported significant improvements in customer retention and loyalty.

However, only 16 per cent considered their brands “very effective” at delivering real-time interactions across various channels, with 30 per cent indicating they were “not effective at all”.

The findings come from a survey and interviews with more than 560 business leaders drawn from the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council and Harvard Business Review readers undertaken earlier this year.

“Real-time customer analytics are a strategic priority – now and in the future,” said Alex Clemente, managing director at Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, citing results that showed 60 per cent of business leaders believe the ability to deliver real-time customer interactions is “extremely important” today, while 79 per cent said it will be within two years.

“The study shows that early adopters are already reaping tremendous benefits on the engagement and revenue front,” continued Clemente. “That said, there are still significant obstacles to overcome – strategic alignment and a willingness to constantly retune analytical methods are critical to those most successful in creating personalised customer experiences at scale.”

Athina Kanioura, chief data scientist at Accenture Applied Intelligence, which co-sponsored the research, explained that customers expect relevance, localisation and tailored offers that fit their needs and preferences.

“Successful brands deliver on customer expectation by building hyper-personalised, real-time customer experiences on three capabilities: a unified customer data platform, prescriptive analytics powered by machine learning, and contextual interactions across digital and physical touchpoints.”

Just over half (51 per cent) of those surveyed said their use of real-time customer analytics has provided them with a significantly better understanding of, and strengthened, the customer journey.

Nearly half (49 per cent) stated significant revenue growth as a result of their efforts, while 44 per cent noted an impact on both growth and revenue generation, and 70 per cent said they have increased spending on real-time customer analytics solutions over the past year.

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