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With the proliferation of online shopping, businesses are increasingly trying to attract customers with offers that cater to different subgroups. This is a win-win situation for both buyers and sellers.
Because when the offers are successful in giving customers a sense of pampering and privilege, they will likely repeat their purchase, resulting in a revenue boost for the sellers.
Known as a gated offer, it comprises a discount code or a gift voucher. The buyer must redeem the gift from the supplier by following a digital verification process that verifies the consumer’s credentials against authoritative data to corroborate their identity.
In this article, we will learn about the customer verification process for gated offers.
How to get verified to avail of offers?
It’s never easy for a business to classify its target buyers from a vast pool of customer data available online. For example, if an e-commerce company wants to extend special discounts to college students, how will they go about the process?
In other words, what steps should the business follow to zero in on the students eligible for their offers? At the same time, what steps should a student take to avail of the deals?
This is not a unique example, though. It applies to other subgroups, too, including teachers, military personnel, first responders, healthcare professionals, people in a particular age group, and low-income populations.
Such personalized targeting allows a business to acquire new customers, but not without its fair share of risks. Corporate discounts are a case in point here.
There’s always a chance of employees misinforming about their employment status to avail of the corporate discount. Therefore, verify their employment status to lower financial risk and obtain productive digital accounts.
Another way to evaluate your prospective consumer’s eligibility and authenticity is to verify the employer.
What is an identity marketing platform?
So, there are two sides to the discussion. One is identifying eligible customers, and the second is getting verified on a trusted platform to receive deals and discounts offered by companies.
To facilitate this two-way exchange, here comes the role of an identity marketing platform that enables a business to acquire customers in exclusive consumer communities, while simultaneously allowing customers to become verified buyers by following a simple verification process.
Why is identity marketing necessary?
It’s important to understand that the verification of a buyer happens only after they have expressed interest in a specific product. Because although a gated offer is about focusing on a high-value customer group, it’s not about targeting everyone in the group who may not be interested in the product.
How does an identity marketing platform help verify a customer’s eligibility?
When brands promote their products through a gated offer targeting a segment, they give consumers greater control over the buying process, leading to higher conversion rates and increased brand loyalty.
A business creates a customized offer through a community and promotes it through all its social media platforms and channels. When customers redeem the offer, these identity marketing platforms use data sources to authenticate their identity and apply the discount directly to the purchase.
Verification consists of two methods:
Instant verification
This method provides instant results if the user furnishes instantly-verifiable data. The verification process immediately moves to the “success” step.
Document review
If no provision for instant verification is available, the user may be required to upload documents.
What is the verification process?
The identity marketing platforms verify the information provided by customers to ensure people under the required conditions are eligible to obtain special offers. This applies to all categories, including medical professionals, teachers, and the military.
They must sign up for the discount first. The verification process then follows a series of steps. As the user moves through each, the API returns a name for what it expects the user to enter as part of the next step.
How does it work for students?
Students need to upload a document that displays the following:
- First name
- Last name
- School name with a valid date
Documents may include at least one or more of the following:
- Institution’s official letter with the student’s full name and the current academic date.
- Student’s ID with valid dates.
- Current curriculum with dates and the student’s name.
- Other documents issued by the institution that displays the student’s name, including valid date and status.
Conclusion
Identity verification is necessary for online shopping because who doesn’t like a happy customer. It’s a unique, hassle-free way that allows businesses to increase conversion rates for their highest-value customer segments.
Customers love to be treated specially. Therefore, brands leave no stone unturned to woo them with their latest marketing strategies.
Gated offers help boost sales. They are powerful tools for attracting customers.
They determine much of what and where customers shop, how much they spend, and how likely they are to make purchases. So to understand their target customers, companies must employ an identity marketing platform that will apprise them of their determined segments through a detailed verification process.
