I came across an old article published in BRW in February 2014, in which columnist Mark Cameron (CEO and head strategist at Working Three) interviewed social media prophet Brian Solis (principal of USA based Altimeter Group, futurist and the author of three books including 'The End of Business as Usual') when he visited Australia. One of the most compelling comments was that 'they need to stop thinking about data as something to be collected and mined. Businesses should treat it instead as a private asset that can be unlocked to provide value for your customers – if they give permission."

Serving customer needs is much more complicated today. There is greater competition than ever before. Today, we also have consumers who know that they can demand more value and they are getting what they demand. Fortunately, we also have technology that is giving businesses – particularly retailers – the tools to meet this demanding environment. Understanding the consumer’s profile gives the business the opportunity to create feature products/services that satisfy the consumer.

However, there are few companies who recognise this and utilise information collected to empower and add value to the customer experience and transaction. Many use it to market, control and push more down the consumer/customer channel rather than using the information to manage the relationship. Thoughts?