#customer data platforms

Grocery retailers are under growing pressure to meet shoppers' expectations for convenience, speed, and personalization. Yet most struggle to access the real-time insights required to act on those expectations. Fragmented systems, siloed data, and disconnected tech stacks hinder visibility across channels, resulting in missed opportunities and inconsistent customer experiences.

A digital experience platform for grocery has to do more than support e-commerce. It must centralize engagement, loyalty, and transactional data to inform every interaction. That’s where Mercatus DXPro delivers its core advantage. Purpose-built for food retail, DXPro goes beyond surface-level engagement to provide intelligent, real-time data activation at scale.

At the center of DXPro is its embedded customer data platform. Unlike third-party solutions that require complex integration, this customer data platform for grocery is built directly into the system, removing delays, reducing costs, and giving teams immediate access to actionable customer insights. It connects loyalty, eCommerce, in-store, and POS data, unifying every shopper touchpoint into a complete customer profile.

With DXPro, grocery retailers no longer need to choose between data access and execution speed. This digital experience platform brings together embedded intelligence and personalized engagement, so every campaign, recommendation, and offer is timely, relevant, and designed to convert. It’s the edge grocers need to stay competitive in a fast-moving, digital-first market.

Why Unified Customer Data Drives Grocery Retail Success

Disconnected systems and fragmented data sources are some of the most common pain points in grocery retail.

When customer data is scattered across loyalty platforms, eCommerce tools, POS systems, and marketing software, teams can’t create a complete view of the shopper. This fragmentation blocks real-time engagement, delays decision-making, and weakens the effectiveness of marketing and promotions.

A customer data platform changes that by bringing all sources of data into a single, unified system. With a customer data platform for grocery, grocers can track behavior across online and offline channels, identify trends and buying cycles, and activate insights on the spot. This level of unification transforms how grocery teams engage shoppers, allowing them to move from reactive to proactive in their marketing strategy.

Eliminate Disconnected Systems

Grocery retailers often rely on multiple disconnected tools that don’t speak to one another. This leads to data silos and delays in acting on insights. An embedded CDP solves this by centralizing all shopper data into a single hub.

Simplified Access: All loyalty, eCommerce, POS, and engagement data are available in one system. Teams can find what they need without switching platforms or waiting for batch updates.

Real-Time Visibility: With built-in connectivity, grocers gain access to live customer profiles and purchase behavior. This speeds up marketing and merchandising decisions.

No Custom Integrations: DXPro’s CDP is embedded into the platform, reducing complexity and cost. It eliminates the need for third-party integration projects or ongoing data mapping.

Consolidated data access improves operational efficiency and ensures every department is aligned around a single view of the customer.

Activate Real-Time Customer Intelligence

In grocery retail, timing matters. Customers shop frequently, and intent can change quickly. DXPro’s embedded intelligence provides up-to-the-minute insights for agile action.

Real-Time Triggers: Promotions and offers can be delivered based on live events such as cart abandonment or frequency of purchase. This leads to more timely and relevant outreach.

Smarter Recommendations: The system learns from past purchases, browsing behavior, and product affinity. Personalized recommendations are shown where and when they’re most effective.

Dynamic Offers: Customer-specific offers are created using embedded data. These can be based on loyalty status, average order size, or department-level preferences.

Fast, personalized engagement keeps the grocery experience relevant and increases the chances of conversion with each visit.

Deliver Better Marketing Outcomes

Marketing success in grocery hinges on speed, accuracy, and personalization. A unified digital experience platform for grocery simplifies the path from insight to action, resulting in more impactful campaigns.

Higher Engagement: Shoppers engage more with messages tailored to their buying behavior. DXPro helps teams send fewer but more effective communications.

Increased Loyalty: Targeted incentives and loyalty-based pricing programs drive repeat purchases and long-term customer retention.

Improved ROI: Better data leads to more efficient spending. Marketing teams can measure campaign effectiveness and adjust in real time.

A connected Customer Data Platform gives grocers the power to improve customer lifetime value while lowering cost per acquisition.

Embedded Customer Data Platform: Accelerating Time-to-Value

Embedding customer intelligence directly into a digital experience platform gives grocery retailers a competitive edge.

Unlike bolt-on CDP tools that require lengthy implementations, separate integrations, and added costs, an embedded customer data platform is purpose-built to function inside the platform itself. This unified architecture ensures grocery teams can act on customer insights from day one, without delay.

With the customer data platform for grocery embedded into DXPro, grocers avoid the overhead of maintaining third-party tools. That means there’s no need for external synchronization or middleware to bridge engagement and commerce data. Everything is streamlined, so teams can launch campaigns, measure results, and optimize performance in real time, all from one place.

Faster Implementation and Lower Complexity

Traditional customer data platform (CDP) deployments often involve weeks of IT effort, data normalization, and vendor coordination. An embedded CDP removes this burden and simplifies launch across all departments.

Zero Integration Overhead: Because the CDP is already part of the DXPro platform, retailers skip the technical work of connecting separate systems.

Instant Data Availability: All customer interactions—loyalty activity, product views, cart behavior—are captured and made available for action without manual import/export processes.

No Disruption to Workflow: Merchandisers, marketers, and digital teams can immediately begin building offers, running promotions, and reviewing performance using real-time data.

Embedded systems shorten go-to-market timelines, eliminate tech hurdles, and let retail teams focus on execution instead of configuration.

Built for Grocery-Specific Needs

Generic CDP platforms may require extensive customization to align with grocery logic. DXPro is built for food retail from the ground up, supporting common grocery scenarios out of the box.

Lifecycle Awareness: The system understands high-frequency shopping, perishables, and replenishment cycles common in grocery environments.

Basket-Level Insights: It segments data based on full basket behavior, not just individual product views or page clicks.

Department-Aware Intelligence: Offers and recommendations can be aligned to key departments—produce, bakery, and meat—based on shopper patterns.

The embedded intelligence in DXPro collects data and interprets it in ways that make sense for grocery retail.

Faster Time to Value and Tangible ROI

Because there’s no waiting period to begin using the system, DXPro delivers value faster than conventional digital stacks. The insights generated from day one help improve campaign results, shopper loyalty, and sales performance quickly.

Immediate Insights: Real-time data starts working as soon as the system is live, with no dependency on third-party sync schedules or delays.

Rapid Campaign Launches: Teams can begin delivering personalized messages and offers within days of launch, accelerating time to revenue.

Lower Total Cost of Ownership: By eliminating additional software and integration costs, embedded CDPs reduce both up-front investment and long-term maintenance expenses.

An embedded Customer Data Platform delivers ROI faster by enabling teams to act immediately on data that’s already clean, connected, and contextual.

AisleOne Intelligence: Transforming Data into Actionable Insights

AisleOne Intelligence is the proprietary AI engine powering the predictive capabilities inside the digital experience platform for grocery from Mercatus. As part of the embedded customer data platform, AisleOne makes sense of real-time customer behavior, converting raw data into signals that drive smarter decisions across marketing, engagement, and commerce.

Unlike generic AI tools that treat every retail vertical the same, AisleOne is built specifically for food retail. It recognizes patterns unique to grocery shoppers, such as frequent trips, meal planning behavior, and seasonal product preferences, to deliver insights that are both timely and contextually relevant.

Predictive Insights for Smarter Engagement

AisleOne helps grocers anticipate customer behavior using real-time and historical data. These predictions are used to improve everything from search and recommendations to offer timing and promotional relevance.

Next-Best Action Predictions: The engine identifies when a shopper is likely to repurchase and what products they may be looking for next.

Churn Risk Detection: AisleOne flags customers at risk of lapsing, allowing teams to intervene with relevant, high-impact retention campaigns.

Dynamic Offer Targeting: Offers are personalized based on lifecycle stage, behavior, and preferences, which increases relevance and conversion rates.

These predictive tools help grocers move beyond reactive marketing into proactive engagement, where campaigns meet shoppers at the right moment.

Customer Lifecycle Intelligence

Grocery shopping behavior follows repeatable cycles. AisleOne understands these patterns and uses them to power automated lifecycle messaging and retention strategies.

Purchase Cycle Recognition: The system tracks frequency and product rotation to anticipate replenishment windows.

Lifecycle Stage Identification: AisleOne maps customer progress—from new acquisition to loyal repeat customer—and adapts marketing accordingly.

Behavioral Triggers: Campaigns can be triggered automatically by cart abandonment, store visits, or product views, ensuring timely outreach.

Lifecycle intelligence allows grocers to deliver messages that align with real needs, improving customer experience while increasing retention.

Personalized Experiences at Scale

By using AI to interpret shopper behavior at the individual level, AisleOne supports true personalization across every channel. Whether a customer is browsing online, using the app, or engaging with digital circulars, the experience adapts in real time.

Search Personalization: Search results are ranked based on personal relevance, improving product discovery and reducing friction.

Content Customization: Product suggestions, promotions, and banners are dynamically generated based on customer intent and preferences.

Segmentation-Free Personalization: Instead of relying on static audience segments, AisleOne adapts messaging in real time at the individual level.

This level of personalization increases relevance, basket size, and repeat visits, without manual campaign setup or segment building.

Drive Revenue Growth through Personalized Customer Experiences

Personalization is a growth strategy for modern grocers that delivers a real improvement in customer experience.

With a purpose-built customer data platform for grocery, personalization becomes actionable at scale. Every product suggestion, promotion, and message can reflect individual shopper behavior, helping grocers earn trust, repeat business, and larger baskets. When personalization is powered by embedded intelligence, it drives measurable returns from day one.

Mercatus DXPro connects unified shopper data to real-time personalization across digital touchpoints. With every interaction, the system learns, adapts, and responds, resulting in smarter promotions, better conversions, and stronger loyalty.

This isn’t a siloed tool; it’s part of a fully integrated digital experience platform that aligns commerce, data, and engagement under one system.

Personalization That Grows Basket Size

Customers buy more when they see what they need, before they ask for it. Using behavioral signals and purchase history, DXPro delivers precise, relevant product suggestions at key moments.

Personalized Offers: Promotions are triggered by real-time behavior, such as repeat product views, lapsed purchases, or search history.

Context-Based Recommendations: Product suggestions are dynamically updated during browsing and checkout to reflect shopper preferences.

Timely Reminders: Lifecycle-aware messages prompt customers to reorder frequently purchased items right when they’re most likely to do so.

These techniques improve average order value and reduce cart abandonment, converting interest into action with minimal friction.

Repeat Visits and Retention Growth

DXPro doesn’t just focus on first conversions. It drives repeat visits by personalizing follow-up engagement, loyalty pricing, and customer service.

Loyalty-Based Incentives: Offers and pricing are customized to each shopper’s loyalty status, purchase frequency, and brand interactions.

Post-Purchase Journeys: After a completed order, customers receive content and offers based on what they’ve bought, creating a tailored experience that keeps them coming back.

Re-Engagement Tactics: DXPro uses churn signals and inactivity tracking to trigger win-back campaigns that are proven to improve reactivation rates.

These retention strategies reduce drop-off and increase lifetime value, building a base of consistent, high-value customers.

Long-Term ROI from Intelligent Personalization

Deploying a customer data platform for grocery like DXPro helps grocers build a foundation for continuous learning, faster response times, and sustained digital growth.

Data-Driven Campaign Evolution: Each interaction feeds smarter decisions, allowing marketers to optimize with real results, not guesswork.

Lower Cost-to-Serve: Intelligent recommendations and fulfillment workflows reduce friction, errors, and manual campaign management.

Scalable Loyalty Programs: As engagement grows, the platform supports personalized loyalty strategies that are easy to scale and refine.

Personalization backed by real-time intelligence isn’t just about relevance—it’s about revenue. DXPro connects the two, enabling grocery retail growth for your business..

Conclusion

An embedded customer data platform is for grocers who want to turn real-time shopper data into meaningful engagement and measurable growth.

Unlike bolt-on systems, a built-in CDP like the one in Mercatus DXPro works seamlessly within the digital experience platform, eliminating delays and delivering immediate access to actionable insights. This direct integration empowers retailers to personalize every interaction, improve marketing performance, and build lasting customer relationships.

For grocery retailers ready to compete on speed, accuracy, and personalization, DXPro offers a purpose-built solution. Book a demo today to see how unified data and AI-powered insights can drive retention, sales, and long-term digital success.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is a Customer Data Platform (CDP)?

A customer data platform is a centralized software system that collects, unifies, and organizes customer data from various sources into a single, accessible profile. It enables real-time insight by combining online and offline behavior, transactional data, and engagement history, allowing businesses to create more personalized and effective experiences across channels.

How is a CDP different from a CRM or DMP?

While CRMs track direct customer interactions and DMPs focus on anonymized third-party data for advertising, a customer data platform builds persistent, unified profiles using first-party data. Unlike CRM systems, CDPs automatically integrate data across systems and activate it for personalization and marketing without manual updates or segmentation limitations.

Why should businesses invest in a customer data platform?

Investing in a customer data platform helps businesses eliminate data silos, gain a complete view of their customers, and make informed, real-time decisions. It improves targeting accuracy, boosts customer retention, and increases marketing ROI, especially critical in sectors like grocery, where personalized shopping experiences directly influence basket size and frequency.

What data does a CDP collect and integrate?

A customer data platform integrates structured and unstructured data from engagement platforms, point-of-sale systems, loyalty programs, websites, mobile apps, and email campaigns. It merges behavioral data, transaction history, preferences, and demographics into unified customer profiles accessible across marketing and commerce tools.

How does a customer data platform improve marketing efforts?

CDPs improve marketing by enabling precision targeting, personalized promotions, and lifecycle-based campaigns. With unified data and real-time insights, businesses can trigger timely actions based on behavior, reduce churn risk, and deliver offers that are more likely to convert, resulting in higher engagement and revenue.

Can CDPs ensure compliance with data privacy regulations?

Im Zeitalter von Big Data, künstlicher Intelligenz und digitalem Konsum ist Personalisierung das A und O im modernen Marketing. Kaum ein Unternehmen verzichtet heute darauf, Kundenprofile zu analysieren, Inhalte individuell auszuspielen oder Kampagnen an persönliche Vorlieben anzupassen. Doch wo verläuft die Grenze zwischen nützlicher Relevanz und übergriffigem Tracking? Zwischen smarter User…

The growth of online retailing has led to a landscape filled with purchase situations where a customer needs a little bit more confidence before they are ready to buy. Product ranges are becoming more vast and technical; there are more products on offer, retailers, and ways to buy products and there are even more occasions to buy gifts for people. Whenever faced with one of these situations, Intelligent Guided Selling solutions can be the difference between a shopper purchasing from one retailer or another.

What is Intelligent Guided Selling (IGS)

Intelligent Guided Selling is the process of helping a shopper find the perfect item based on their budget, needs and mindset. Our IGS platform does this in real-time through the use of dynamic questions, acting as a digital shop assistant. Our Chief Customer Officer, Brad Christian, recently wrote a blog explaining exactly what Intelligent Guided Selling is so if you would like to find out more, you can read the blog here. As a result, there are a lot of different performance-based benefits to implementing IGS including improved conversion rates, better customer loyalty and higher average order values. There are also a ton of additional benefits with IGS, with some of the bigger benefits listed below.

Know your customer

One of the biggest differences between retailing success and failure is a brand’s ability to transform basic data analysis into actionable insights. eMarketer found that 88% of ‘winners’ (brands with higher annual sales) in retail believe that data analysis has become a critical element in their overall strategy. Intelligent guided selling solutions do the hard work for brands. By incorporating the customer mindset into our platform, we are able to give our clients insights that are directly related to customer motivation, which can then be fed into their Customer Data Platforms and used to improve their other marketing efforts. If designed properly, IGS can also play a crucial role in gap analysis, highlighting areas where product lines aren’t catering for website visitors or help show trends before they even happen.

The thinking person’s approach

Knowing a customer’s mindset is often the difference between converting them or not. When in-store, shop assistants are able to speak to customers, ask questions, understand their motivations and mindset to be able to give the recommendation that will provide the customer with the confidence to buy. This interaction is difficult to implement online and is commonly missing from most e-commerce sites. Intelligent Guided Selling solutions not only provide a platform for customers to engage with brands but also uses consumer psychology to make customers more likely to convert. One of our Customer Journey Specialists, Lucy Holm, recently wrote a blog explaining the role consumer psychology plays in the purchase cycle and how we make sure that our service uses the way we think about purchasing effectively to maximize our clients’ returns.

Beat competitors on third-party sites

While selling your products on third-party sites does provide a great route to market and provide plenty of promise, it does have some setbacks. Brands often have a lack of control on how their products are positioned and how customers engage with their brand. Not only that but your brand is also being sold alongside your competitors, making it easier for visitors to review options and possibly choose a competitor. IGS gives brands back control and provides a key competitive advantage, ensuring that our client’s brand stands out.

“Without a strong brand behind your product line, there’s little to compel a buyer to choose you over another option. And with so many options in most markets today, branding is more important than ever.” – Shopify, 2017

 #NoFilter

Website visitors want retailers to make it easy for them to find their desired product and relying on product filters simply isn’t enough. Research from Baymard found that sites offering mediocre product list usability through basic filtering have abandonment rates between 67-90%¹ and at the moment only 16% of major e-commerce sites provide a reasonably good filtering experience (cxl.com). The problem with product filters is that they are predominantly designed for customers who know what they are looking for or understand the more technical aspects of a category or product range. They don’t help the majority of shoppers who need more guidance to make their decision. Well designed customer journeys using IGS overcome these issues by ruling out irrelevant products whilst educating customers about technical specifications.

 Maximize Marketing Effectiveness

Retail is the sector that spends the most on digital advertising with over $20 billion spent each year in the US (marketingcharts.com). When making that big an investment in attracting visitors, smart brands want to maximize the chances of converting these visitors to purchasers. That is exactly what Intelligent Guided Selling solutions provide. After implementing our software, clients have seen up to a 500% improvement in conversion rates and 2.8x increase in revenue per customer that engages with our customer journeys.

Unlocking the Power of Customer Data Platforms

In today’s digitally-driven world, businesses face the challenge of connecting with customers in a personalized and meaningful way. The rise of customer data platforms (CDPs) has revolutionized the advertising landscape, empowering businesses to leverage vast amounts of customer data to create targeted and effective marketing campaigns. This essay explores the concept of CDP advertising, its…

The customer data platform (CDP) has become a standard way to collect first party customer data and put it to work. Simon Data, which was founded in 2015, has always had a vision of being more than purely a customer data repository. It also offers applications out of the box to work with that data, while giving customers the opportunity to build custom applications as they see fit. The world has…