Retailers are now sharing customer data with other businesses in ways that should result in a higher return on investment (ROI) for each insight. But when it comes to consumers, are retailers giving their customers a comfortable experience as they collect their data, or are customers having data security concerns?

We are in the age of a digital marketing revolution. Advertisers must manage plenty of legislative and platform privacy changes. People should always be at the heart of digital products and marketing objectives, and they should have control over how their data is utilized. No matter what technology or software they depend on, marketers will need to adapt to a new methodology in order to support these concepts and execute effective campaigns.

World’s most successful companies nowadays are looking for ways to rebuild their systems. For example, Facebook is investing in a multi-year effort to develop a portfolio of technologies that will reduce the amount of personal data they collect while yet allowing them to display to individuals relevant ads and assist marketers in correctly measuring ad effectiveness.

Here are 5 strategies to follow to optimize your retail media network while keeping your customers secure.

• Resist the death of third-party cookies with a first-party data strategy

The impending elimination of third-party digital consumer trackers, such as cookies, has prompted marketers and retailers to develop their own cost-effective methods of reaching out to customers. In doing so, they hope to move away from cookies and toward more dependable, direct-from-consumer, first-party data.

 In announcing its decision to terminate third-party digital identifiers, Google stated on its blog: “If digital advertising doesn't evolve to address the growing concerns people have about their privacy and how their personal identity is being used, we risk the future of the free and open web.” 

• Give customers control of what they share

Consumers are concerned about their lack of control, or not knowing who has access to their data. As some have raised fraud concerns, identity theft was not really something they brought up. Brands and retailers may empower customers by allowing them to choose how their behavioral data is shared, which could lead to greater data sharing and more accurate data.

• Show customers that they will gain 

94% of people are more likely to be loyal to brands that are transparent. All opt-in notifications should offer straightforward explanations to their security policy and how the information gathered will improve the shopper's experience. For example, a short video or an infographic may show how a user's online activity leads to a discounted price on a browsed item.

• Show customers how their data will be secured

Brands and retailers can also insert a button that refers users to details about how they secure and respect consumer data as part of the opt-in process. This should be short and concise; an infographic would be ideal for this purpose, as it would keep the potential customer engaged throughout the opt-in process.

• Respect their space

Be realistic: no one likes having their inbox filled with daily promotional emails from a single source. Consider people’s inbox like their house; so, when they receive too many emails that are not really of benefit to them, they feel like they’ve given permission for someone to invade their inbox with unnecessary stuff. Before hitting the "accept to share" button, retailers and brands should ask customers how often, if ever, they wish to receive notifications. Emails sent on a less frequent basis are more likely to be read than those sent on a daily basis (as shown in the graph below). In fact, 69% of people unsubscribe from brands because of excessive messaging.

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From where can you start? By putting people-first

At Intouch.com, we design creative campaigns that are personalized to your target customers by leveraging the power of data through AI, ML, IoT and more, while taking customers’ privacy seriously, as we are GDPR compliant. 

Also, our solution doesn’t depend entirely on online data nor customers’ data to personalize the shopping experience. For example, it takes into consideration external factors like weather, and events happening nearby to display the right ads, to the right customers, at the right time accordingly. 

Even though we’re a two-sided media network, we still care about and put into consideration the end consumer. Get Intouch and optimize your in-store experience without sacrificing your customers’ privacy.