[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2014\/07\/01\/3-steps-to-building-a-platform-for-strong-customer-relationships\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2014\/07\/01\/3-steps-to-building-a-platform-for-strong-customer-relationships\/","headline":"E-Commerce Customer Lifecycle Platform (ECLP): 3 steps to building better customer relationships","name":"E-Commerce Customer Lifecycle Platform (ECLP): 3 steps to building better customer relationships","description":"Viewing various data sources as people instead of purchase orders will humanize your analytics and dramatically improve customer relationships.","datePublished":"2014-07-01","dateModified":"2024-04-12","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/ross-beyeler\/#Person","name":"Ross Beyeler","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/ross-beyeler\/","identifier":88,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/269650492f85acfe963a6f001bb44e0a424066d1a06d762948c9501a8c975c38?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/269650492f85acfe963a6f001bb44e0a424066d1a06d762948c9501a8c975c38?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/LoyaltyPlatform_1200x371.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/LoyaltyPlatform_1200x371.jpg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2014\/07\/01\/3-steps-to-building-a-platform-for-strong-customer-relationships\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/cdp-customer-data-platform-solution\/","name":"CDP: Customer Data Platform","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_data_platform"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/cdp-customer-data-platform-solution\/cdp-customer-data-platform-general\/","name":"CDP: Customer Data Platform","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_data_platform"]},"Customer profiles: Customer Identity + Access Management (CIAM) for B2B and B2C",{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/marketing\/marketing-general\/","name":"Marketing","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marketing","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q39809"]}],"wordCount":609,"keywords":["Customer Engagement","Customer Profile Management","Data","E-commerce"],"articleBody":"Sophisticated e-commerce companies employ automated systems to produce data to improve performance, but balancing the data fire hose while not losing sight of customers requires building an E-Commerce Customer Lifecycle Platform (ECLP).ECLPs aggregate data into a central source \u2013 a customer dashboard \u2013 built around customer stories, to capture a detailed picture of customers\u2019 needs and how to best serve them.Once you’ve established an ECLP:Determine your most profitable marketing channelsIdentify which customer groups purchase mostDetermine what web content produces the highest customer engagementAlthough results will differ for each company, three elements need to be identified to build a ECLP:A customer dashboardIdentifying data sourcesData extraction methodsSelecting a customer dashboard\u00a0The customer dashboard is a database of actual and potential customers. The goal is to consolidate all customer profiles into a single source. First, choose where your customer dashboard will “live.” Although there are many options, consider:Excel:\u00a0A robust data management platform that\u2019s not for the faint-of-heart but is worth considering given its flexibility and low-cost.Custom SQL Database:\u00a0For companies with developer resources, a custom SQL database provides flexibility plus advanced querying capabilities to enhance insights.Shopping cart platform:\u00a0Shopping carts capture customer order data and many allow the addition of custom fields. With the right integration, you can build a rich customer story where your customers are actually purchasing.Marketing automation platform:\u00a0Increasingly, e-commerce companies are expanding into the world of marketing automation to deliver tailored content, which ensures higher customer engagement and provides a rich source of information tied their email addresses.Customer relationship management platform:\u00a0CRMs provide customizable profiling capabilities. An integrated CRM will append additional information to customer profiles.Identifying your data sourcesOnce you’ve chosen a customer dashboard, identify the data source. Consider:Acquisition\u2014driving traffic to your website: This relates to on and offline marketing channels, including search engine optimization, paid online advertising, social media and public relations.Conversion\u2014turning visitors into customers:\u00a0This includes website design and content, as well as\u00a0outside sales channels. Measure conversion funnels for insights into where potential customers abandon the buying process.Fulfillment\u2014delivering products: This data stems from e-commerce platforms. Pull data on operational costs associated with fulfillment \u2013shipping, packaging and warehousing.Retention\u2014enticing customers to return for additional purchases: Support systems and email marketing systems are primary data sources.Measure\u2014each step in this framework.\u00a0Measurement provides data on top of data, including conversion optimization, A\/B testing platforms, and social graphing using email addresses or social media.Pulling it togetherWith data sources identified, aggregate source platforms and select the method for data extraction by your customer dashboard.Here\u2019s three methods for aggregating data:Manual export \/ import:\u00a0Painstaking, but you\u00a0can aggregate data manuall, the best first step in prototyping an ECLP. Ruthlessly prioritize data to ensure the ECLP isn\u2019t bloated.API data syncing:\u00a0Various tools can sync data between platforms via API integrations. A syncing platform is the quickest way to build an ECLP, but you are limited by the APIs supported.Custom API integration:\u00a0The most robust method of building an ECLP is to work with a developer to create custom integrations between data sources and your customer dashboard. This captures exactly the data wanted, but is usually the most costly approach.The goal of building an ECLP is to make sense of the available data to create a customer-centric data profile. Looking at various data sources as people instead of purchase orders will humanize your analytics\u2014and dramatically improve your customer relationships.  Crush revenue + growth targets.Power up your competitive edge.Win customers.It all begins HERE. "},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2014","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2014\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"07","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2014\/\/07\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"01","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2014\/\/07\/\/01\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"E-Commerce Customer Lifecycle Platform (ECLP): 3 steps to building better customer relationships","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2014\/07\/01\/3-steps-to-building-a-platform-for-strong-customer-relationships\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]