360° Customer Profiling

To Maximise Ecommerce Sales 📈

D2C Caffeine - A Pragma Original Newsletter

A regular dose of D2C-centric resources & tools for Growing Brands, Startups & Entrepreneurs.

To Maximise Ecommerce Sales.

Your brand needs value, and it needs it ASAP!!

Customer acquisition costs are rising. Retention rates are declining. RTOs, SLA breaches, returns etc. are eating into margins. Yet, most D2C brands are still relying on fragmented data and intuition.

This is where 360° Customer Profiling becomes essential. Instead of looking at customers in silos—separating acquisition, conversions, and retention—a full-circle approach connects every touchpoint into one actionable intelligence system.

At Pragma, with insights from 800+ Indian D2C brands, we have identified how brands can optimise every phase of the customer journey—pre-purchase, post-purchase, and post-delivery—using structured, data-driven profiling methods.

Let’s break it down systematically.

The Three Challenges You’ll Always Face

In a digital-first business, customer relationships—whether for a new startup or a well-established company—there are 3 key stages:

  1. Acquisition

  2. Conversion

  3. Engagement (Retention)

And perfecting the 3 comes only with data across customer journey stages…

I. Pre-Purchase – Intelligent Acquisition & Higher Conversions

1. Behavioural Data Profiling – Identifying High-Intent Customers

Most D2C brands still use broad audience targeting for ads, resulting in high CAC (₹200-₹600 per customer) and low conversion rates (2-4%).

Profiling approach here involves:

  • Session Tracking: Identifies which pages customers interact with most before making a purchase.

  • Engagement Scoring: Ranks visitors based on time spent, clicks, and product views.

  • Propensity Modelling: Uses past customer behaviour to predict who is most likely to convert.

Customer Type

Avg. Session Duration

Conversion Rate

Recommended Action

High-Intent Visitors

>90 sec

8-12%

Target with retargeting ads

Low-Intent Visitors

<30 sec

1-3%

Push introductory content

Deal Seekers

Medium

3-5%

Offer conditional discounts

Application: Brands using behavioural data profiling see a 25-30% higher ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).

2. Predictive Demographic & Location-Based Profiling

Customer Profiling Insight:

  • Customers from Tier-1 cities convert at 2X the rate of Tier-2/3 customers but have higher return rates.

  • COD orders from specific PIN codes have an RTO probability of 30-40%.

Implementation Strategies:
✅ Dynamic Pricing Based on Location – Offer lower prices to high-converting regions.
✅ Adaptive Payment Options – Restrict COD for high-RTO zones.

Application: Predictive demographic profiling reduces wasted ad spend by 15-20%.

II. Post-Purchase – Reducing RTOs, SLA Breaches & Optimising Returns

3. Fraud & Risk Profiling – Controlling RTOs at Scale

Reality Check: Every 1 in 5 COD orders in India results in an RTO.

RTO Cause

Industry Avg. %

How Profiling Helps

Fake Addresses

20-25%

Address validation using previous order data

Delivery Refusals

20%

Pre-screen high-risk customers

Multiple Failed Orders

10-15%

Block repeated non-paying customers

Application: Brands using ML-based fraud detection, with meticulously designed parameters/filters reduce RTOs by >35%.

4. SLA Compliance & Customer Service Profiling

Reality Check: Delayed deliveries result in a 45% drop in repeat purchase probability.

A 360° approach to SLA tracking involves:

  • Carrier Performance Data: Tracking which logistics partners are causing delays.

  • Historical Delivery Performance: Profiling PIN codes with frequent SLA breaches.

  • Customer Complaint Analysis: Identifying customers who frequently report issues.

Customer Type

Avg. SLA Breach Impact

Retention Impact

Solution

High CLV Customers

Severe

High churn risk

Priority shipping

First-Time Buyers

Medium

50% lower LTV

Proactive tracking updates

Low-Intent Shoppers

Minimal

Low retention risk

No special action

Application: Brands using delivery & SLA profiling reduce customer churn by 15-20%.

III. Post-Delivery – Retention, Lifetime Value & Repeat Purchase Optimisation

5. Post-Purchase Engagement Profiling – Who Will Buy Again?

Customer retention is 5X cheaper than acquisition. Yet, 80% of Indian D2C brands focus more on new customers than existing ones.

🔍 Key Profiling Metrics for Repeat Buyers:

  • RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) Analysis: Segments customers into High-Value, At-Risk, or Churned.

  • Purchase Frequency Profiling: Identifies whether a product purchase cycle is one-time or repeatable.

  • Net Promoter Score (NPS) Correlation: High NPS customers are 3X more likely to buy again.

Customer Segment

Likelihood of Repeat Purchase

Recommended Strategy

High-Value Customers

50-70%

Exclusive loyalty offers

First-Time Buyers

20-30%

Onboarding & education emails

Low-Engagement Users

5-10%

Re-engagement campaigns

Application: Brands using purchase profiling improve repeat purchase rates by 25-30%.

6. Retargeting with Purchase & Interest-Based Profiling

Instead of retargeting all past customers the same way, 360° profiling enables segmented re-engagement:

  • Product-Based Retargeting: Customers who bought skincare last time? Recommend complementary serums instead of generic promotions.

  • Seasonal Behaviour Profiling: Customers who buy summer apparel? Retarget them at the start of the next season.

Application: Brands using interest-based profiling see 50% higher CTRs on retargeting campaigns.

Why 360° Customer Profiling is a Competitive Advantage

Metric

Without Profiling

With Profiling

Checkout Abandonment

65-75%

25-35%

RTO Rate

40-50%

10-15%

SLA Breaches

10-15%

3-6%

Repeat Purchase Rate

15-20%

45%+

Brands that ignore profiling leave revenue on the table.

With 360° Customer Profiling, you aren’t just collecting data—you’re using it to drive higher conversions, lower operational costs, and increase retention.

That’s the end of our talk on “360° Customer Profiling – To Maximise Ecommerce Sales.”...

See you on the next coffee date!

Pragma D2C Operating System

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