Cloud-based master data management vendor Reltio, which also qualifies as a Customer Data Platform, announced a $40 million Series C. Total funding is now $72 million. Reltio sells directly and has partnerships with firms including Dun & Bradstreet, SnapLogic, and QuintilesIMS. In addition to assembling data, Reltio incorporates Apache Spark for predictive analytics.

Retail qualifies as a vertical, although I don’t have a retail product to discuss. But here’s a MarketTrack study on shopper preferences for online vs in-store shopping. Despite all the bad news you’ve read about bricks-and-mortar retailers, shoppers in most categories still prefer to buy in a physical store. But younger shoppers lean more towards online and 80% of respondents said they do online price comparisons. So the prospects for conventional in-store retail do look rather bleak.

Just over half of consumers (54%) like to receive personalized messages because they show the consumers are known to the brand, plus they can be time savers. The rest (46%) find it at best unimportant, at worst creepy. Relevance far outstrips personalization when it comes to driving email opens (54% vs. 19%). Takeaway: treat each customer the way they prefer.