With 200,000 catalogues going in the mail every six months, accurate customer address data is vital for Pumpkin Patch. But address data is just part of the sophisticated customer data approach this Kiwi business takes to managing what is now Australasia's leading children's fashion company.
Pumpkin Patch began business in 1990 with a mail order catalogue and opened the first store in 1991. From the outset it recognised building and maintaining customer data would be one of their most valuable assets.
As the number of stores and mailing lists grew the company continued to invest in its customer data management tools.
Store staff are provided with a simple customer database interface where they record every purchase. The system can also 'flag' customers whose mail has been returned so that staff can check for updated address details on the spot. High quality data capture is a key performance indicator for every store.
Behind the scenes, Pumpkin Patch has developed an analysis tool they've called RFM to measure the value of their customers. RFM which stands for Recency, Frequency and Monetary can reveal the segments that are buying, when they are buying, how often they are buying and how much they spend. This enables Pumpkin Patch to tailor marketing to those groups most valuable to them.
RFM results have also been used to identify groups to target for address cleansing work. This has enabled Pumpkin Patch to ensure the contact details for their most valuable customers remain accurate. With cleansed addresses, Pumpkin Patch are adding postcode segmentation to their marketing analysis - a simple $30 postcode map book from New Zealand Post enables them to target the nearest customers to a new store.
The next 'data project' is adding a real time address validation tool. As well as keeping addresses up to date, this tool reduces the number of keystrokes for operators and as anyone with a small child knows, speeding up time at the tills is imperative.
With its continued focus on the importance of high quality data, Pumpkin Patch is confident their 'valuable asset' will continue to yield valuable results.