December 2022 Platform Updates
As the world celebrated the delights of Christmas and New Year holidays, our team at Retail Rocket has been diligently working on the latest updates to our main platform. We are excited to share these enhancements with you.
Content:
Multilogin and a new authentication system
Once, an employee of one of our foreign clients had their work laptop being stolen. The laptop was logged into the Retail Rocket account at the time of theft. Thankfully, the laptop was quickly recovered and the incident had no negative consequences for the company. However, for many businesses, such accidents can have dire consequences.
The attacker could:
• Download the database with all the data of email subscribers and sell it on the black market,
• Send a message to the subscribers that will discredit the company’s reputation,
• Disable recommendation blocks or negatively influence other core processes.
The worst-case scenario for the business is, of course, the leakage and unsolicited distribution of personal data. The company can receive a significant fine and the employeemight go to jail in the worst case.
Previously, all users used to log into the Retail Rocket platform under one account.
Which problems did it cause?
• It was impossible to identify who performed a particular action in the system,
• It was easy to forget to change the account password of a retired employee who should no longer have access to Retail Rocket,
• It was impossible to set up two-factor authentication as an ultimate measure for preventing attackers from logging into the account.
We have taken an important step toward solving these problems: each user now has their own Retail Rocket ID account. At the moment you can only enter the Retail Rocket administration panel using the ID, but soon you will be able to log into the Sailplay and Smart Placement administration interfaces as well.
To invite an employee into the platform, the owner sends them an invitation by email. The user follows the link in the email and registers the account. The user provides, among other things, their phone number, and the system automatically invites the user to pass a two-factor authentication process using a code from the SMS. If an employee leaves the company, the owner or administrator of the account can block the access.
Other possibilities that multilogin provides:
• Changing the account owner,
• Creating new cabinets
• Switching between cabinets for different sites or regions.
Cross-device recommendations
Smartphones have become an integral part of our lives and have drastically changed consumer behavior. We now compare the characteristics of products within the application, while standing in front of physical store displays, and trust online reviews more than the recommendations of store associates.
The journey to making a purchase can be winding. We may browse a store’s website from our work computer during the day, from home in the evenings, and from our smartphones in our free time. We may purchase online or in-store. Have you ever noticed how frustrating it is when a product has already been purchased, but it is still listed in recommendations and included in targeted emails?
We expect stores to understand that these are not multiple different people, but one customer, and to only offer current recommendations on their website, application, and through mass and targeted mailings
For stores, this may not be an easy task as systems often identify customers in different ways. For example, an offline checkout “knows” a customer by their loyalty card, a call center by their phone number, an online store and application by their email or nickname, and CRM uses an auto-generated ID. But, it is possible nonetheless.
The store can choose any of the most stable customer identifiers (Customer ID) and provide Retail Rocket with each customer’s ID and other identifiers (which we call “Links”). This can be a loyalty card number, email, phone number, or identifier in external systems.
After that, the store can transfer the customer data and their actions, specifying the Link that is convenient for each subsystem. Data about the customer from all their devices and from the offline cash register will be collected into a single profile. Irrelevant targeted emails will be eliminated, recommendations will become more accurate, and the customer will fall into the correct segments in mass mailings and Customer Intelligence.
In our detailed announcement about cross-device recommendations, we clearly outlined the changes that were made with the release of the new Cross Device Visitor subsystem.
Throttling
We have implemented restrictions on the number of requests for each store, ensuring that they will not impede the operations of high-traffic stores. However, in the event of an abnormal spike in requests (such as from errors in the request code) on one store, the rest will be protected.
As we look back on a challenging 2022, we are grateful for your continued support and loyalty as our valued customers. In 2023, we look forward to introducing even more useful features and helping you achieve your goals.
Your Retail Rocket