Today, it’s difficult to manage a customer base and maintain its consistency when data can come from multiple sources.
Customers can communicate via the site’s contact form, by telephone, directly by email and, of course, via a number of social networks.
To make the most of this data, we need to set up a system that brings together all the data from these different flows.
The unique customer repository, or UCR, will centralize all this data for better management, security and exploitation. 
What is a unique customer repository or UCR?
In a nutshell, a single customer repository is a system for centralizing and consolidating all a company’s customer data.
Contact points and data sources are multiplying.
Websites, online stores, e-mail, telephone and social networks are all sources for gathering information about your customers.
Add to this marketing databases and various internal and external tools, and the risk is high that customer information will be scattered and therefore difficult to exploit.
A RCU integrated within the company’s information system will unify and merge all customer data from multiple sources into a single database.
A single customer repository is a technological solution, but it must be defined first and foremost in terms of the functions it is to provide.
It would be pointless to give a “technological” definition, since there are several technical solutions for implementing a UCR.
It generally depends on the company’s existing information system and IT strategy.
Your company is certainly equipped with a CRM, but it’s totally unsuited to managing and processing such vast quantities of data.
Not to mention the fact that a CRM will be unable to manage multiple sources of supply and exploit a large proportion of data, particularly that relating to customer behavior.
Features of a unique customer repository
The essential features of a RCU can be summed up in two main functions: data collection and data processing.
Data collection
The solution implemented to build the unique customer repository must therefore be capable of collecting data from a wide variety of collection points.
Customer traffic and behavior statistics from e-commerce sites are of course collected.
But a customer may also leave other information on sites gathering product reviews or on social networks.
We also need to collect information from the company’s internal tools.
Marketing databases can be used, as well as all tools likely to contain information on the company’s customers or prospects.
Exploiting customer data
Collecting and centralizing large quantities of data is the first step.
But to be exploitable, this data cannot simply be stored as it is.
The RCU must not become a huge catch-all in which data is stored without prior processing.
That would simply be unusable.
All incoming data must therefore undergo a certain amount of processing before it can be fully integrated into the RCU.
A unique customer identifier must be used.
This is often the customer’s email address.
In fact, 95% of customers use a single email address for all their transactions.
The next step is to identify duplicates, resolve any conflicts and consolidate all data into unified customer profiles.
The single customer repository will then become the company’s one and only source of customer information. 
What’s the point of a single customer database?
Given the multiplication and increasing complexity of customer information sources, RCU will provide a concrete answer to the question of how to optimize and exploit this data.
Instead of each company department having a fragmented view of customer information, all players will be able to access the same, much more comprehensive information.
The aggregation of all this data will enable a far more effective marketing strategy to be put in place, taking into account the different information channels.
Messages, offers, promotions and customer communications in general will be much better targeted, and the customer experience will be much more personalized and richer.
A single customer repository will enable us to meet three major challenges:
- Legibility and uniqueness of data.
- Optimizing the customer experience.
- Data governance.
1- Data legibility and uniqueness
By centralizing data, the RCU will enable easier access.
As the data is harmonized, it will be much easier to understand, and its format and integrity will be perfectly controlled.
What’s more, the single customer repository, by being fed in real time, will provide the company with a much clearer vision of its customer base.
2- Optimizing the customer experience
With customer information coming from multiple data sources, it will be possible to offer a much richer customer experience.
Marketing campaigns can be much better targeted, using the most effective communication channels – those preferred by customers.
As a result, they are far more likely to trigger a positive reaction from customers, which in turn can lead to new orders.
3- Data governance
When a company collects personal data, as it does with its customers, it must imperatively comply with the General Data Protection Regulation, or RGPD.
The RGPD imposes a governance framework and a number of obligations on companies.
Data must naturally be secured, a Data Protection Officer (or DPO) must be appointed, a processing register must be kept… Furthermore, as users have a right to be forgotten and a right to rectify data concerning them, it must be possible to easily update, or delete this data.
Centralizing all customer data within a RCU will greatly simplify all these governance operations.
Data extractions, register and processing log maintenance are all actions that can be automated or at least greatly facilitated.
The RCU also guarantees users’ rights in the sense that they can easily perform extractions, rectifications or deletions.
The need for support
The functional and technical implementation of a unique customer repository can be long and complex.
Nevertheless, the investment made quickly pays off, as the RCU optimizes data management and customer relations.
As an experienced developer and e-commerce expert, I can help you design, implement and operate your future unique customer repository.
