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Peak is an artificial intelligence company that provides the platform, applications, and services to help businesses harness the potential of artificial intelligence to increase revenue, increase profit, and increase efficiency.
Peak’s cloud AI platform provides a rich set of capabilities that enables technical and business teams to build, deploy, and manage AI applications at scale across the enterprise.
It also features a library of ready-to-use apps that fit a variety of use cases across all industries, including retail, consumer goods, and manufacturing. These apps allow users to quickly apply AI to meet business goals, while giving them the tools they need to extend their use over time.
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
Prior to Peak I held roles in eCommerce, Marketing and CRM for some of the UK’s leading retailers including Pets at Home, boohoo and Footasylum. I now lead the Customer Intelligence team at Peak, using my experience to help make our offering as valuable as possible to marketing teams working for brands and companies across multiple industries.
What is headless segmentation and why is it a game changer for retailers?
Gone are the days of looking at customers and their behaviors in an isolated view. To win in the modern age, marketing teams operating in all industries must focus on creating a seamless experience for their customers, across every available touch point, from email marketing and on-site recommendations to social ads. social and in-store experience.
The only way to do this effectively is to employ an effective headless customer segmentation strategy. By taking steps to eliminate channel bias and data silos, and looking at meaningful cohorts driven by key, comprehensive data points, you can ensure you’re always serving your customers in the best way possible.
Why is this important? To get a true view of your customers, all data touch points must be considered. For example, if returns data is not factored into your customer profile, the result could be a highly skewed view of which customers are most valuable and who you’d like to acquire more of. There is no point in targeting more customers who return the majority of their purchases!
But what is headless segmentation really?
From an architectural standpoint, the term ‘headless’ refers to API-driven outputs that are decoupled and independent of each other. The main benefit of this approach is that it allows for greater agility; Since the APIs are not interdependent, changes can be made with minimal risk to the overall infrastructure.
In this context, when we apply ‘headless’ to customer segmentation, we mean that the segmentation is not tied to a specific system or channel. Therefore, segmentation can be used across multiple platforms and systems to provide a consistent customer journey.
Who is it for, who will get the most benefit?
In short, everyone! For those who work at a strategic level, chief digital, transformation and customer managers will feel confident that their customers are being served in the best possible way. At the execution level, CRM, e-commerce, and paid performance managers will be secure in the knowledge that they have a true, unified view of their customers, their preferences, and their behaviors. And, most importantly, it means that the customer always feels valued and understood by the brand, and always sees their needs satisfied.
What are some of the success metrics that headless segmentation will seek to impact?
How can you be sure that your segmentation strategy is working? Traditional metrics you would review include engagement metrics like opens, clicks, and conversions. Headless segmentation is very similar and all of these are still important, however given the sheer scale of 1:1 communication these metrics can also influence much larger strategic KPIs such as lifetime value and NPS. .
Are there specific partners that improve or help with the implementation of this system?
The perfect technology stack to set you up for headless segmentation success is made up of three fundamental layers: centralized data, game-changing artificial intelligence (AI), and an effective execution platform. Here are some examples!
- Centralized data, eg Snowflake
A powerful data warehouse, Snowflake allows users to organize data into a structure that is most meaningful to their business. It centralizes data, creating a repository from which all MarTech solutions can be run, both now and in the future.
- AI platform, eg Peak
At Peak, users can quickly deploy multiple AI applications from a single platform, eliminating the need to leverage a complex web of individual solutions. The platform can be used by both technical and non-technical teams, giving decision makers access to a single, predictive view of their customers. Filters and segments are fully customizable, so users can leverage the platform and its apps to meet the objectives that matter most to their business, such as identifying when customers are in the market to buy and the specific items they want. they will probably buy. to buy.
- Execution platform, eg Braze
Braze is a comprehensive customer engagement platform that drives relevant and memorable experiences between consumers and the brands they love. Context underpins every Braze interaction, helping brands foster human connection with consumers through interactive conversations across channels that quickly and continuously deliver value.
How are retailers using their systems to gain a competitive advantage and what do they look like best practices? Can you share a case study with us?
Gone are the days when price was always the most powerful reason for customers to make a purchase. Personalization is now the dominant factor, and marketers who recognize and harness this to their advantage are winning! Investing in the relationship-building aspect, rather than simply the transaction, is key to generating high lifetime value from your customers, which means they will keep coming back to buy from you instead of your competition.
What do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities for retail for the rest of this year and beyond?
I think the biggest challenge here is customer acquisition; In today’s economic climate, the price to acquire new customers is higher than ever. In my opinion, customers are more reluctant to reach out and try new brands for fear that their hard-earned money won’t give them the experience they hoped for.
For me, the biggest opportunity here is making the most of your existing customer base. Moving away from focusing on the immediate revenue that can be generated and instead focusing on building strong, long-term relationships will ultimately result in higher revenue and engagement metrics between your brand and your customers.
How do I find out more?
I am very excited to host a new webinar on Wednesday, December 7 (14:00 GMT), focused on this exciting new concept of headless segmentation.
In this webinar, I’ll talk to you about how AI, when applied the right way, is transforming marketing teams, enabling scale, automation, and ultimately personalization for your clients like never before. Participate and sign up through the following link!
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