Most retailers collect a treasure trove of data without knowing or recognizing it. This data could be used for marketing and advertising targeting, UX and UI improvements, and significantly better clientelling and personalization — all leading to a higher conversion rate and more purchases for the same amount of advertising dollars.
Collected Automatically – Passive Data
Passive data includes all the information you already collect and generate as a business. It’s typically the most underutilized type of data — found across your e-commerce platforms, point-of-sale systems, and daily operations. It’s called passive because it doesn’t require extra effort; it’s simply a byproduct of your day-to-day activity.
POS & Purchase History Data
Point-of-sale systems track your customers’ purchase history and related information — including what they bought, when they bought it, and who bought it.
This data is incredibly valuable for targeting those same customers or creating lookalike audiences based on their profiles. It helps improve advertising accuracy and is historically one of the most effective ways to generate new customers — as long as you have enough details like email, phone number, address, and name.
You can also generate new data points, like time since last purchase. If a customer hasn’t purchased in a long time but has bought multiple times in the past, you might consider reaching out yearly — another opportunity to improve your clientelling.
Pro tip: Segment your purchase history into two groups — your top 10% of clients and the remaining 90%. You can segment based on dollar value or number of products purchased, then create separate lookalike audiences in Facebook for each group.
Website Tracking Data
Every website has code that helps track what people do — whether it’s an event-based tracking tool like Google Analytics or Mixpanel, or a heatmap tool like Microsoft Clarity. Your website generates a treasure trove of insights that generally fall into two categories: who came to your website, and what they did while they were there.
This data is important because it allows you to target and retarget customers and prospects based on what they looked at. It’s also incredibly useful for identifying issues customers might be having — for example, by analyzing mouse movements, you can pinpoint areas of friction in the user experience or discover that customers are looking for something they can’t find, such as missing product details.
Lastly, if a prospect in your CRM returns to your website 30, 60, or 90 days later, that behavior can be used as a signal for your sales team to follow up — improving the clienteling process significantly.
Actively Collected Data
Active data is the information you collect on purpose, through conversations, forms, staff notes, or specific tools. Unlike passive data, this type of data requires a bit of effort to gather but can be incredibly powerful. It’s the kind of data that doesn’t just happen — it’s driven by your team asking the right questions or setting up systems to capture details that matter for marketing, clienteling, and long-term customer relationships.
In-Store / Real Life Data
In-store interactions are the hardest to collect and organize, but they’re rich with opportunity. This includes event attendance lists, event invites, and individual inquiry histories — what customers asked about or discussed in-store but didn’t buy. For jewelry and watch retailers, this can include specific brands or design types they’ve expressed interest in.
The best way to manage this data is with a CRM. Logging these notes properly turns casual conversations into long-term customer insights. More on that later.
Geolocation data can also be collected and using tools like Google Ads or a programmatic ad platform. Sometimes we geotarget specific areas around clients billboards or out-of-home ads or events. We also retarget people online after they’ve physically walked into your or a competitor’s store (yes you can do that if you get ~100 visitors/month to a store)
In some cases, retailers use geolocation data to confirm a conversion — for example, if someone sees your ad and later visits your store, you can potentially tie those events together with the right tools.
And finally, conversations with your sales staff. This is where you uncover some of the most valuable data: does the prospect have kids? A spouse? An anniversary coming up? What kinds of things does their partner like? All of this can be added as notes and used to better serve that customer when they return.
Surveys are a great way to answer some of your business questions,, whether it’s getting a better understanding of a person’s experience in-store or online. Surveys Can give you some new perspectives or ideas before a new website redesign or when trying to identify things you can optimize.
Why a CRM Matters
A CRM is a great way to bring all your different data sources together — whether it’s your online purchase history, offline POS data, website tracking, survey responses, or in-store chat notes. It centralizes everything so your sales staff can easily access it at the right time.
Beyond just organizing data, a CRM helps you collect and track more meaningful insights — like which product a client was previously interested in, what questions or objections came up during the sales process, or why a lead didn’t convert. For hybrid retailers, this also means being able to connect a customer’s online behavior with their in-store actions, building a fuller picture of their journey.
When used properly, a CRM doesn’t just store information — it actively helps you optimize your sales process, improve follow-ups, and spot gaps in your clientelling approach. But to get the most out of it, it’s important to keep enriching your CRM with the right details as they come in.
It’s the first step toward actually using your data to make better decisions — whether in marketing, day-to-day sales, or long-term customer strategy.
Start Using Your Data
Most businesses already have the data they need — it’s just sitting in different places. Whether it’s website activity, purchase history, in-store conversations, or ad engagement, it only becomes valuable when it’s all in one place.
Start by collecting and aggregating your data into a system like a CRM. That’s how you begin to make smarter decisions, improve your clientelling, and target your marketing more accurately — ultimately lowering your cost per conversion and optimizing your entire sales funnel.
The better your data, the better your outcomes. But it all starts with actually using what you already have.
