Thomas Pink has kicked off a major data drive which will see it consolidate on and offline customer profiles to create a more personalised and multichannel shopping experience.

The luxury menswear brand has integrated its CRM database with its website, uniting customers’ in-store and online data profiles for the first time, as part of a 12-month project.

The brand has incorporated a My Account area to its site, from which individuals can view their entire offline and online purchase history along with their personal details. It lets users manage and edit themselves via a single log-in. The long-term aim is to make this available in real time so customers can view their latest in-store purchase immediately.

Information including an individual’s name, address, preferred store, and email preferences will be visible in their online account, which they can then edit. The information will also be centralised across Thomas Pink stores, to help inform store managers and boost customer service.

Data including customers’ sizes will be collected to help ensure the online and offline product experience is tailored to meet individuals requirements.

Thomas Pink head of ecommerce Nadine Sharara (pictured) told new media age the aim is to ensure customers are confident regarding the use of their personal data and how it can benefit their overall shopping experience. “It gives power back to the customer in terms of how they manage their data and relationship with us, and it is a step toward being able to send more targeted communications and deals, moving away from the semi-broadcast communications calendar,” she said.

“It is all part of the plan to show how we are being courteous with customers’ personal data. We want to communicate to them that it is safe to give us data, we will not share it with anyone and will be respectful of it, and ultimately we will get better quality data that improves all our communications with customers,” added Sharara.

The plan is to use the additional data to refine ad and content targeting as part of its overall personalisation strategy, which is a key differentiator for the Thomas Pink brand, according to Sharara. “Personalisation is key because we are developing long-lasting relationships. So in terms of retaining customers it’s a long-term not a short-term gain,” she said.

The retailer aims to harness the data to provide more sophisticated recommendations in the future. “Currently it is generic links to categories we are promoting, but we will supersede that with personal recommendations so when a person accesses their account they will see recommendations that fit with their profile and preferences,” said Sharara.

Once the recommendations are rolled out they will be fed by in-store transactional data, which provides a more valuable volume of data than if informed by online data alone, according to Sharara. “The beauty of using store transactional data is we get 90% more volume as online transactions still account for a fraction of the whole – the transactional data that feeds the algorithms is more vast and better qualified if it is taken in-store.”

Meanwhile Thomas Pink will also introduce an email-centric Welcome Programme, aimed at helping encourage first time purchases and converting first-time buyers into multi-buyers. This will include various steps to tailor messages aimed at driving purchases, and will include incentives.

Thomas Pink loyalty members will also be able to access all their information and track their points via the same My Account area of the site. The brand kicked off its first loyalty programme, In The Pink, six months ago. “They can see how many buttons they have earned in a season and how that is translated into cash rewards. For example top tier customers will be eligible for the In The Pink Experience, which are unique experiences such as dinner at the Ritz, or a golf weekend, and they can keep track of theis via their account,” said Sharara.

The brand will look to optimise the site for mobile in the future, and will trial in-store tablet docking stations, so customers can access their accounts while shopping, to boost the overall multichannel experience.

It will also drive customer ratings and reviews for the site, encouraging people to review products they have recently bought. “This will help boost or user-generated content, which will hopefully drive traffic and search and is also an important part of sales generation, as it’s a key part of our strategy to engage users beyond the bricks and mortar,” she said.