Clean Customer Data in Media and e-Commerce

At a Glance

We raced, under a tight deadline, to help set up a data validation system for an Australian media company that needed a more suitable data validation replacement ASAP.

A Big Media Brand With a Varied History

This client was formed after a series of acquisitions. They own and manage several magazine brands across entertainment, home & lifestyle, fashion & beauty, food, parenting, and more.

The Challenge

This client struggled for two main reasons: their industry and company structure, and their personal experience with a previous vendor.

1. Companies going through acquisitions often find it challenging to clean and consolidate multiple customer databases from different brands. As a media organisation, they needed to know that their database was duplicate- and error-free so they could:

• • mail out magazines to the right addresses at the right time
  • send emails to the right subscribers, with working email addresses
  • segment audiences based on geographical location and provide personalised marketing for magazine brands across different niches
  • significantly reduce expenses incurred for returned and re-sent parcels
  • implement targeted cross-selling strategies with accurate address data.

2. When our client first approached us, they revealed that they were already subscribed to another address validation software. Unfortunately, they were unsatisfied for several reasons:

• • Hefty prepayments and a rigid contract, which forced them to plan farther ahead than was reasonable
  • Having to manually update address data in-house
  • Having to shoulder the costs of managing and maintaining the infrastructure for the address validation software
  • Limited options for moving to API-driven, cloud-hosted, and vendor-managed services
  • Poor account management

In short, they were stuck with a service that was draining their time, resources, and their patience.

It was time for a change. Time to break free and find a solution that was as dynamic and forward-thinking as they are.

The Process

In 2013, they found us online and looked through our website. They were about to renew their subscription with the address validation service provider they worked with at the time, but was interested enough to book a meeting with us.

We discussed our products, conducted test runs, and compared our performance with their then-provider. As we conversed, we discovered that they also had issues with their websites.

Unfortunately, they could not decide before their renewal date and chose to renew their subscription.

We stayed in touch the following year and continued to showcase our products. We highlighted our cloud and API capabilities, which would help improve their site and user experience, and the fact that we would host and maintain these services for them.

They also wanted to know if we could do batch cleaning, which we confirmed is one of the services we provide.

The Impact

While they were also discussing partnerships with other services at this time, this client chose Kleber because they appreciated:

• Simple per-API call pricing
• Flexible monthly plans that include generous bonus credit
• Flexible implementation across the business
• Easy and intuitive online account management, with the freedom to change packages month to month and reports on usage.

Making eCommerce Data Validation Easy

Our client frequently handled large volumes of online transactional address–checking requests from their eCommerce platform, which our product managed with ease.

They were also very happy with how DataTools Kleber allowed them to push all these transactions through a single account and API interface.

Adapting DataTools Kleber to Our Client’s Needs

We developed three different ways DataTools Kleber would help their business:

• Real-time address and email verification when customers would proceed to check-out products in their e-commerce store
• On-the-spot address checks while on the phone with customers
• Batch file processing for bulk orders received from third parties

These developments were made within an incredibly tight time frame, as the team needed everything in place before the date of contract renewal with the incumbent vendor. Full development and implementation were completed in less than a month!