Dunnhumby Ltd, a British customer science firm owned by the Tesco retail chain, is expanding its technological capability into big data to analyse customer behaviours and cope with the growing influence of social media.
"We want to get a deep understanding about customers and know how they feel through their perceptions. It's more than just what customers do and buy," said Mark Hinds, managing director for the Tesco market at Dunnhumby.
Moreover, the company will make a big push into personalised communications for multichannel shoppers who do their buying both in store and online.
Matthew McLellan, head of Tesco in Asia, said Asian shoppers spent more time on social media than did their US and European counterparts, yielding a trove of information about buying habits.
The opportunity is in reaching customers wherever and whenever is most appropriate, a task that requires much data analysis, he said.
"We've done it in other parts of the world, and we want to bring it to Asia starting with Thailand," Mr McLellan said.
The company's main business is helping retailers and brands to analyse data in order to improve the customer experience and build loyalty.
By analysing information from Tesco Lotus Clubcard members in Thailand, Dunnhumby has helped Tesco Lotus and its 50 suppliers to understand their customers and achieve sales targets better.
More than 11 million customers visit Tesco Lotus stores weekly, and 55% of them make a purchase in a Tesco Lotus Express outlet.
Mr McLellan said the company was focused on media targeting and personalisation, a growing trend in the business.
Dunnhumby will start with personalised media, then move to in-store media and ultimately the online and mobile digital channels.