CDP Institute

Consumers’ demand for convenience extended to financial services as well, FICO research found.  While 41% are more likely to open an account using digital channel, 25% will actually abandon the process if they have to use a non-digital channel to complete the process.  Concern about identity theft is so high that 75% will provide their bank with a biometric such as facial scan, fingerprint or voiceprint to secure their account.

This Morning Consult report takes a more nuanced view of consumer motivations, finding that 40% had abandoned a brand due to quality, service, or pricing issues while 25% have dropped a brand due to privacy or social concerns.  Fewer than half (47%) assume companies are trustworthy until they do something wrong while 37% require a customer to earn their trust from the start.  Read on for fascinating differences by industry, country, and profession.

You haven’t been terribly interested in funding announcements recently, Dear Reader. But surely you’re intrigued that marketing automation vendor ActiveCampaign just raised $240 million at a valuation of more than $3 billion. That’s close to 20x its $165 million annual recurring revenue, which is nearly double the $90 million it had one year before. Apparently marketing automation isn’t quite a commodity after all.

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.