Customer data

{{Short description|Type of Data}}

{{Multiple issues|{{refimprove|date=September 2018}}{{notability|date=September 2018}}}}

Customer data or consumer data refers to all personal, behavioural, and demographic data that is collected by marketing companies and departments from their customer base.{{cite book |last1=Martins |first1=Jo M. |last2=Swanson |first2=David Arthur |last3=Yusuf |first3=Farhat |title=Consumer demographics and behaviour: markets are people |date=2012 |publisher=Springer Verlag |location=Dordrecht New York |isbn=978-9400718555 |page=v}} To some extent, data collection from customers intrudes into customer privacy, the exact limits to the type and amount of data collected need to be regulated.{{cite web | title=It's time to embrace customer data privacy and security | website=IBM RegTech Innovations Blog | date=May 23, 2019 | url=https://www.ibm.com/blogs/insights-on-business/banking/its-time-to-embrace-customer-data-privacy-and-security/ |first1=Lee |last1=Kroll |first2=H. Leigh |last2=Feldman |first3=Alan |last3=Schienberg | access-date=January 24, 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190708221151/https://www.ibm.com/blogs/insights-on-business/banking/its-time-to-embrace-customer-data-privacy-and-security/ |archive-date= Jul 8, 2019 }}{{cite journal | last1=Gupta | first1=Sachin | last2=Schneider | first2=Matthew | title=Protecting Customers' Privacy Requires More than Anonymizing Their Data | journal=Harvard Business Review | date=June 1, 2018 | url=https://hbr.org/2018/06/protecting-customers-privacy-requires-more-than-anonymizing-their-data | access-date=January 24, 2020}} The data collected is processed in customer analytics. The data collection is thus aimed at insights into customer behaviour (buying decisions, etc.) and, eventually, profit maximization by consolidation and expansion of the customer base.{{cite web | last1=Brown | first1=Brad | last2=Kanagasabai | first2=Kumar | last3=Pant | first3=Prashant | last4=Pinto | first4=Gonçalo Serpa | title=Capturing value from your customer data | website=McKinsey & Company | date=2017-03-15 | url=https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-analytics/our-insights/capturing-value-from-your-customer-data | access-date=2018-08-15|quote=In an increasingly customer-centric world, the ability to capture and use customer insights to shape products, solutions, and the buying experience as a whole is critically important. Research tells us that organizations that leverage customer behavioral insights outperform peers by 85 percent in sales growth and more than 25 percent in gross margin.1 Customer data must be seen as strategic. ... Information on what customers purchase, how many times they contact customer service, and how long they linger on a given website can create an insightful narrative about buying habits and preferences.}}

Customer data may be collected from Internet users through online surveys,{{Cite web |last=Dean |first=Kevin |date=2022-09-28 |title=An Open Letter to Marketers and Data Scientists |url=https://analytics-iq.com/an-open-letter-to-marketers-and-data-scientists-struggling-to-keep-up-with-customer-behaviors-from-chief-strategy-officer-kevin-dean/ |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=AnalyticsIQ |language=en-US}} but also through the recording of user activity through measures such as click-through and abandonment rates.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}