CDP Institute

After more suspense than was strictly necessary, Apple has finally set “next week” as the start date for its new rules requiring that consumers consent to tracking by App Store apps. We’ll see if this truly destroys the Internet as we know it. By coincidence or not, Apple was the target of less positive attention today in Senate anti-trust hearings.

Microsoft, which really should know better, has announced its own bird-themed ad targeting solution. Inexcusably-named “Parakeet” assigns people to cohorts similar to Google FLoC, but runs ad auctions in a proxy server rather than the user’s browser.  Parakeet was first proposed in February but gained attention this week when Microsoft referred to it in a statement dodging the question of whether it would enable FLoC in its Edge browser.

Retailers lag in meeting the customer expectations for personalized online shopping, according to this Redpoint Global-sponsored infographic.  Just 21% have up-to-date CRM/personalization technology in place, although 60% plan to have current technology within two years.  Just 14% have bought a software package with embedded artificial intelligence or machine learning.

Any retailers hoping they can avoid improving their online experience by waiting for customers to resume in-store shopping are taking a big risk.  This Sitecore study of Gen Z consumers found that 64% want to keep buying almost everything online.  They’re a demanding bunch: 83% see shopping as an experience, not a transaction, 71% expect highly personalized treatments, and 38% will switch brands after a second bad experience.

Needless to say, there are plenty of companies eager to sell retailers the technology they need.   Cart.com, just founded in September 2020, is a new option, offering end-to-end ecommerce software, services, and infrastructure.  They just raised $45 million over five months.

Call it karmic balance: companies struggling to identify anonymous customers must also strain to verify that people who do identify themselves are really who they claim.  The reason, of course, is there are more fraud possibilities as online business expands.  One example of the growing identity authentication industry: Mastercard just bought anti-fraud identity specialist Ekata for a cool $850 million.

On the same lines, digital commerce protection platform Signifyd just raised a $205 million Series E.  Signifyd doubled its revenue last year and expects to reach a $200 million run rate by 2022.  The company has an identity graph that can be used to improve customer experience as well as reduce fraud.

This Experian report finds that security is also a high concern for consumers, with 55% saying it’s the most important aspect of their online experience.    Businesses agree, rating fraud detection as their second-highest digital CX priority, well ahead of decisioning software, staff, and fixing legacy technology.  Intriguingly, consumers said they prefer biometrics, PIN codes, and behavioral analytics over passwords.  Interesting breakouts by region and age.

Marketers are spending lots of time looking for ways to track people without third party cookies and device IDs.  Let’s look at methods that don’t require tracking.  We’ll start with adtech vendor Swaarm, whose just-introduced “PEA Chain” offers accurate revenue attribution without Apple’s IDFA device ID.  The trick is that each ad click generates a token that captures all previous traffic sources and campaigns, eliminating the need to stitch the chain together using the IDFA as the connector.

Ladorian delivers messages to point-of-sale devices, using AI to tailor each message based on everything from inventory to weather to shopper behavior patterns (but not individual profiles). They’ve just added inputs from inReality, which uses in-store cameras to classify the mood, age, gender, and behavior of individual shoppers at specific locations (without identifying them).  Is anonymous surveillance an oxymoron?

PriceSpider spans online and offline channels, using QR codes to turn anything with a physical or virtual surface into a potential point of purchase.  Decide for yourself whether that’s a dream come true or nightmare.

Marketers rate personalized experiences below better customer experience, better onboarding, more offering awareness, and even more flexible payment terms in their plans to increase loyalty, according to this Persado survey.    Very interesting, although the real focus of the survey was the use of artificial intelligence in marketing.  In a nutshell: it’s growing, profitable, and increasingly used to create content.  Download for details.