July 6, 2021

How Health Data Can improve Your App to Drive Customer Engagement

Sportswoman texting

The challenge in developing a successful app is how to target your customers' needs and increase revenue through an enjoyable and meaningful user experience. Unlike in a physical store, during which retailers can provide real time and in person interactions to learn about a customer’s needs, many apps are limited to marketing and transactional data. 

Today, overcoming this challenge and providing personalized experiences require understanding your digital customer and delivering what they want in order to guide them toward a sale.  And the more data you have to do this, the better you can serve your customer.  This includes health data, even if your brand has nothing to do with health and wellness. 

The Sprout Open Health API™ gives app developers a way to access health data collection from activity trackers and mobile devices.  This more personal data layer enables you to better understand your existing customers, more accurately predict who will become new customers and increase customer value.  The Sprout Open Health API provides businesses with access to scientifically tested and market-validated features designed to enhance new and existing applications while enriching your current transaction and marketing data with health, behaviour and lifestyle data.

Actionable Insight

Integrating health data can provide insights into customer motivations that other data can’t. Step counters, for instance, offer insights into why a person may be looking for a new pair of shoes. As a footwear retailer, knowing the number of steps and the pace can provide insight into why a person wants new shoes. A slow but consistent 10,000 steps a day? Chances are they’re looking for walking shoes. A faster pace with increasing distances? They could be training for a marathon. 

This health data, which the user is already collecting on their device, can be integrated into that footwear retailer’s app through the Sprout Open Health API. Here, it can be used to improve the customer experience, increase customer loyalty, and convert app users into return customers. 

Let’s break down how this happens. First, the customer experience. We’ve seen the data that suggests the person is increasing their fitness levels and possibly training for a big run. This could be confirmed through a pop-up asking about their goals, or it could be confirmed by accepting a complimentary entry to a local fun run (a freebie to build a sense of likability with the customer). 

The health data is, at the same time, used to determine content delivery choices. A successful app encourages user engagement by creating an environment that benefits the user. Whether that benefit is in the form of entertainment purposes, educational, promotional, social, or personal fulfillment, it provides a reason for continued use.  Running tips and running-related content would fall into this category, as would diet or post-workout recovery content. These content choices, guided by health data insights, strengthen the purpose of an app by transforming it into a source of relevant information and entertainment. This, in turn, helps develop customer loyalty. 

Finally, the data can be used to provide product offerings. In addition to providing correct product category information (running shoes for runners), health data can also improve timeliness. Post-workout recovery drinks for food retailers, delivered when a customer usually finishes a workout, for instance, are the sort of personalized offerings only available with health data insights. 

For a footwear retailer, let’s use the example of encouraging customer loyalty and repeat purchases. The app knows they’ve bought a pair of running shoes. The app also knows that a pair of running shoes should be replaced every 500 miles or so and that there are 1,400-1,700  steps in the average runner’s mile. With this information, and the data of running steps provided by the activity tracker, the app can suggest a new shoe purchase, with an incentive, when the runner is most likely looking for a new pair. 

Through the addition of health data, you’ve greatly improved the customer experience by providing relevant content and product suggestions in ways that would be very difficult without that information. 

Learn more about how the Sprout Open Health API solution can aid your business  goals by improving your app’s customer experiences.

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