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Merging

What is it

Merging is a critical process in a Customer Context Platform (CXP) that ensures all data points and interactions related to a single object—such as a customer, company, or household, are consolidated into a unified objects. This process is essential for creating a 360-degree view of the customer, enabling businesses to deliver personalized experiences, improve segmentation, and make data-driven decisions

In the CXP, merging objects becomes more complex and powerful when multiple unique identifiers are used. These identifiers, such as email addresses, phone numbers, customer IDs, or custom references, allow the system to match and consolidate data from various sources. When at least one unique identifier matches, the CXP merges the objects to create a unified view of the customer for example.

How It Works

Merging is a process that applies exclusively to objects (e.g., customer profiles, companies, households). For merging to occur, objects must have unique identifiers that allow the system to match and consolidate data. However, if you only send events (e.g., page views, email clicks, purchases) without transforming them into objects, there are no unique identifiers, and thus no merging can take place.

Why Merging Only Happens for Objects


Unique Identifiers Are Required for Merging

Merging relies on unique identifiers to match and consolidate data into a single object.

  1. Objects (e.g., customer profiles) have unique identifiers like email addresses, phone numbers, or customer IDs.

  2. Events, on their own, do not have unique identifiers and cannot be merged unless they are linked to an object.


Events Are Supplemental to Objects

Events provide context and interaction history for objects but are not standalone entities for merging.

For example:

  1. A "purchase" event is linked to a customer profile (object) using a customer ID.

  2. A "page view" event is linked to a customer profile using a cookie ID or session ID.


No Object, No Merging

If you only send events to the CXP without transforming them into objects or linking them to existing objects, the CXP cannot perform merging because there is no persistent entity (object) to merge the data into. Events will remain as standalone records in the system, unlinked to any object.


Merging examples

Example 1: Phone Match

Scenario

Result

  • Initially there are 2 profiles, as the email and phone number are unique.

  • Then when event 3 comes in, it contains the phone number of profile 1 and the email of profile 2, now these profiles will be merged.

Unified Profile

Example 2: Retaining Old Identifiers After Updates

Scenario

Result

  • The profiles are merged because the phone number matches.

  • The old email ([email protected]) is retained in the unified profile, even though it is no longer actively used.

Unified Profile

Tracking Changes

The CXP maintains an activity log of merges, including which profiles were combined, due to which event and the timestamps of the merges. This ensures transparency and allows for troubleshooting if issues arise.

Benefits of Match-on-Any Merging

  1. Comprehensive Customer View
    By merging profiles based on any matching identifier, the CXP ensures that all data points related to a customer are consolidated, even if the data comes from different systems or channels.

  2. Improved Data Accuracy
    Matching on multiple identifiers reduces the risk of duplicate profiles and ensures that customer data is as accurate and complete as possible.

  3. Flexibility
    Businesses can define multiple identifiers that are relevant to their specific use cases, such as customer IDs for loyalty programs, phone numbers for SMS campaigns, or custom references for industry-specific needs.

  4. Enhanced Personalization
    With a unified profile, businesses can deliver more personalized experiences by leveraging all available data points.

  5. Data Privacy Compliance
    A consolidated profile makes it easier to manage customer data in compliance with regulations like GDPR and CCPA, especially when customers request to view or delete their data.


Challenges and Best Practices

  1. Conflicting Data
    When merging profiles, conflicting data (e.g., different names or addresses) may arise.

  2. Unintended merges
    If the source system provides incomplete, inconsistent, or overly generic data, it can lead to problems downstream in the CXP, such as incorrect merges or the creation of "mega-profiles".

  3. Data Quality
    Ensure that incoming data is clean and validated to avoid incorrect merges.

  4. Activity log
    We log merges to ensure transparency and traceability. This is especially useful for troubleshooting.

  5. Scalability
    As the volume of data grows, ensure that your CXP has an efficient data setup and only processes necessary data, make sure your retention policies are set in an efficient manner.