Significant numbers of major European banks are adopting techniques used by successful retailers to increase revenues and cross-sell products.

That’s according to a survey of 78 senior marketing executives at leading European banks, commissioned by Accenture and UniCredit and conducted by Efma. Overall, 41 per cent of respondents said that they had implemented or will implement within one year at least one programme similar to retailers’ initiatives. And a significant number of respondents said their banks had “already begun” initiatives similar to those of: Best Buy (56 per cent); Giorgio Armani (47 per cent); Prenatal (38 per cent).

Respondents were asked to evaluate 16 successful customer initiatives by companies outside the banking industry for their applicability and potential to increase revenues and cross-selling. The top-rated initiatives were: Amazon.com’s PoS product recommendations, which present packages frequently “bought together” based on storewide buying patterns and other correlations; Best Buy’s customer segmentation strategy; Apple’s iTunes “Genius” tool, which recommends new content based on individual users’ purchasing histories and entertainment libraries, enabled by analytics capability.

“We expect a shakeout in the banking industry, driven by advanced marketing and analytics capabilities,” says Piercarlo Gera, managing director of Accenture Banking Distribution and Marketing Services. “New service models, with increased focus on digital channels, including social media, are already under development or being implemented to engage with today’s less loyal customers. Those banks that learn quickly and selectively from the successes of top retailers - particularly in areas such as customer analytics and behavioral segmentation, self-service and customer-centricity - have a clear opportunity to outperform their competitors.”

Many of the retail strategies considered to have the highest intrinsic potential for banks are also considered among the hardest to implement, according to the survey. Apple and NH Hotel customer initiatives - rated among the top five for their potential benefits and applicability to banks - were also rated among the top five for having the highest investment and organisational impact.

“The world’s top retailers are laser-focused on getting into the minds of their customers and translating their insights into ways to efficiently deliver what their customers want - and how they want it,” says Patrick Desmares, secretary general, Efma. “It took retailers many years to build these best practices. Not all of them will make sense for European banks but, with an informed selection process and appropriate investment, many of these innovations can help banks win the race to rebuild customer loyalty, growth and profitability.”

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