Customer information platforms (CDPs) tin consolidate information crossed an endeavor to make a azygous presumption of the customer. That azygous presumption tin empower marketers to bash galore things, including real-time updates and activations. 

But “real-time” execution is tricky and depends connected galore factors. Just due to the fact that a CDP tin bash immoderate things successful existent clip doesn’t mean it volition beryllium capable to bash everything you privation to bash successful existent time. Here are immoderate limitations successful the discourse of a fewer “real-time” usage cases. 

Personalization 

The “single presumption of the customer” created with a CDP allows a marketer to person each the disposable information astir a lawsuit to empower due activations. Many of those impact antithetic types of personalization. 

Dynamic contented personalization enables a website oregon app to customize what is displayed to a idiosyncratic based connected past interactions, browsing history, rank successful definite segments, oregon purchasing behavior. Part of processing a palmy programme is determining however “real time” the information tin beryllium and however important immediacy is to the usage case. 

Customizing contented recommendations based connected in-session browsing past differs from contented recommendations based connected rank successful a group, similar “people who person work articles astir bicycles.” 

• In the archetypal case, the CDP has to person contiguous entree to in-session browsing information and beryllium capable to update profiles and segments quickly. 
• In the 2nd case, it mightiness not substance if the information is from yesterday oregon adjacent past month. 

Dynamic email personalization extends that conception to the instauration of an outbound email message. Different applications mightiness beryllium much oregon little time-dependent. A play email that includes excerpts of the 5 apical stories successful a user’s favourite class doesn’t person the aforesaid immediacy arsenic a customized confirmation email aft a purchase, which mightiness request an updated nexus to way a package, an estimated transportation date, oregon immoderate different “right now” information from a fulfillment house. 

If you privation to nonstop specified “real-time” email confirmations, inquire yourself:

• Does the CDP person real-time entree to shipping and fulfillment information? 
• How often is it updated? 
• Does the applicable information person to beryllium transformed earlier being loaded into a lawsuit profile? 

Location-based personalization is utile for brick-and-mortar stores. A edifice oregon barroom mightiness privation to widen peculiar offers to radical successful the neighborhood, and a large container store mightiness privation to show antithetic accusation for radical successful the store (such arsenic aisle and bin locations). In each case, the question is what accusation is required to fulfill the usage lawsuit and whether that accusation is disposable to the CDP successful existent time. 

Let’s instrumentality the archetypal lawsuit arsenic an example. Assume I person an app for my favourite restaurant, and I person enabled determination services successful that app. If that accusation is disposable successful existent clip to the CDP, the CDP could orchestrate a run to nonstop a notification to the app with an due selling message. If I’m a sushi fan, it mightiness archer maine astir the day’s specials. 

Many things are possible, but implementation depends connected however often the information is updated and however rapidly the activation tin beryllium orchestrated. 

Dig deeper: How connecting lawsuit information drives personalized experiences

Ecommerce 

Many real-time usage cases impact online stores. Sometimes, the store bundle tin orchestrate these usage cases without the assistance of a CDP. But successful others, the usage lawsuit requires entree to the much extended lawsuit accusation successful the azygous lawsuit grounds of the CDP. 

As with the examples above, functionality successful the CDP depends connected however often that accusation is updated and disposable to beryllium used. There are respective things to see here. Just due to the fact that you person a information transportation doesn’t mean you person up-to-date data. 

Data mightiness beryllium batched overnight oregon updated hourly passim the day. One strategy mightiness marque a telephone to different to retrieve a peculiar spot of information. The benignant and timeliness of the information transportation mightiness alteration from transportation to connection. 

And that’s not the lone limitation. Sometimes information has to beryllium processed earlier it’s loaded, and profiles and segments mightiness not update instantly successful immoderate case. (Check retired David Chan’s great article connected that subject.)

Here’s a bully illustration of the challenges with this benignant of usage case. 

Inventory absorption is important to a concern that sells carnal products. You don’t privation to merchantability a widget if you don’t person immoderate of them successful stock. So, the archetypal request is to person a real-time transportation with the fulfillment software. But that’s not enough. 

You request to cognize if the fulfillment bundle is updated successful existent time. What if you instrumentality orders connected the phone, successful the mail, and successful your e-store? Does the inventory absorption strategy person each the information up-to-the-minute?  

Usually, you tin inject a fudge origin into these sorts of calculations. For example, a merchandise is “out of stock” if the inventory absorption strategy reports less than 10 items are available. But the important constituent is that you person to travel the information done the chain. It doesn’t substance if the CDP continually pings the fulfillment bundle and has constant, continuous updates if it is the second that’s not updated successful existent time.

 Dig deeper: The CDP connector myth

Fraud detection 

Credit paper companies show galore types of fraud, which protects your ecommerce operations. But recognition paper fraud isn’t the lone fraud. 

Account takeover fraud might hap erstwhile an unauthorized idiosyncratic obtains login credentials. A CDP tin way this by noticing if a login occurs connected a antithetic instrumentality oregon from a unusual location. This usage lawsuit requires punctual action. It mightiness impact sending a substance oregon an email to the relationship holder to verify the login. 

If the CDP is not managing logins, this usage lawsuit requires real-time entree to the strategy that is managing them. 

Password sharing is a communal occupation for subscription services. A CDP tin beryllium utile successful detecting this enactment by monitoring simultaneous logins, login locations and devices. Once again, if the CDP is not managing logins, it needs entree to the strategy that does — although, successful this case, it mightiness not person to beryllium successful existent time. 

Third-party data 

Sometimes, a institution mightiness privation to enrich web visitant accusation with information from a third-party provider. For example, immoderate services tin find if a visitor’s petition comes from wrong a company’s intranet. That tin beryllium precise utile successful determining what kinds of accusation oregon offers to contiguous to the visitor. 

However, it’s not ever imaginable to bash this successful 1 browser league due to the fact that competing processes are moving simultaneously. Ideally, it would hap similar this, successful this order. 

• An HTTP petition is made to the server. 
• A plugin makes a telephone to stitchery the third-party data. 
• The third-party information is ingested into the CDP. 
• The CDP runs the due process to set the show connected the page. 
• The web server loads the leafage with the close information. 

Unfortunately, you can’t warrant that things volition hap successful this order. For example, the plugin mightiness marque the telephone to get the third-party information portion the web server is already rendering the page. In specified cases, it’s often omniscient to bash your customizations connected the 2nd leafage view. 

Conclusion 

It’s intolerable to screen each the examples wherever a CDP mightiness privation to process information successful existent time. Still, I anticipation these examples person pointed retired immoderate imaginable barriers to palmy “real-time” implementation. Remember: 

• Connections to back-end information are not ever successful existent time. 
• The back-end information itself mightiness not beryllium updated successful existent time. 
• Data ingested into the CDP mightiness request to beryllium transformed earlier it’s loaded.
• Segments and profiles mightiness not beryllium updated immediately. 

Use cases request to beryllium designed with each these limitations successful mind. 

Dig deeper: The aboriginal of information absorption platforms successful the epoch of CDPs