London - A new regulation concerning how companies work with citizens personal data across the European Union is set to come into full force on May 25. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is set to replace the previous national data protection regulation and has been designed to give consumers more control over how their personal data is handled. For businesses such as fashion retailers, who work with huge amounts of consumer data to target the right segments, leverage key marketing channels and optimise sales conversions, GDPR poses a particular challenge. If fashion retailers, especially online players, aim to continue successfully ulitising the data they have, they will need to guarantee full compliance with GDPR.

With May 25 only a matter of weeks away, online fashion retailers need to ensure they have everything ready for full compliance, as customers, together with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will have the power to monitor and report the misuse of any personal data. In order to ensure online fashion retailers are ready for the implementation of GDPR, FashionUnited shares four tips from Euromonitor International, leading data and market researcher.

4 tips for Online Fashion Retailers to be GDPR ready

Ensure that all employees are made aware of what constitutes a data breach; are aware of how serious they are, no matter how few people may seem affected initially; how to report them; how to prevent them.

Invest in Customer Relationship Management, both to allow customers a human point of contact for questions and queries regarding their personal data and to maintain personal engagement between the retailer and consumer that could suffer as a result of GDPR.

Be transparent with customers concerning exactly what their rights are, how they can request more information and how can they can have their data removed. As the world saw in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica and Facebook scandal, transparency and honesty are both vital to keep customers loyal and to ensure that they feel safe on the Internet.

Focus on social media marketing and advertising to ensure personalised content that keeps individual consumers engaged and interested in the brand, without their data being compromised or exploited. Data from Euromonitor International's shows that in Europe, over 60 percent of 15 to 29-year-olds use social media every day; shoppers who are already very active on social media will get more excitement from one public mention on Twitter by their favourite brand than from daily 2 am emails, subject line: “It’s not too late…”

Photo: via Pixabay

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