A distinctive framework leveraging the Five Mys, Customer Wallet and Generational Surfing gives businesses fresher and deeper insights into consumer behavior, helping deliver a multilayered view that strengthens the race for the customer.

KPMG International has unveiled a new, distinctive customer engagement framework designed to help businesses understand the increasingly complex and multi-dimensional forces that influence the decision-making and preferences of today’s, and tomorrow’s, ever-evolving consumer.

“Every day, new influences impact consumer behaviour, consumption and motivation, and these forces are upending the conventional predictors of when, why and for what the customer wallet opens,” said Willy Kruh, Global Chair of KPMG’s Consumer and Retail practice, and a partner with KPMG in Canada. “Transactional data, traditional market research and demographic profiles alone are proving inadequate to explain not just what customers are doing, but why.

“It’s time for an industry reset that re-orients us to understand what drives consumer engagement today. This calls for a new, intelligent, multi-dimensional model that uses predictive insights to help companies understand the customer journey and who their customers truly are.”

KPMG’s inaugural report, ”Me, My Life, My Wallet”, is a global analysis of how the seismic influences of socio-political and economic shifts, accelerated mass adoption of new technologies, and mobility are upending fundamental beliefs around what drives consumer behavior. With surprising findings from a survey of 10,000 people across the US, UK, India and China, the report is based on comprehensive, customer-focused research methodology from KPMG’s Global Customer Center of Excellence and the KPMG Innovation Labs, and incorporates human-centered design thinking for business model innovation.

The three-pronged model of how consumers make decisions: the Five Mys, the Customer Wallet and Generational Surfing

Based on what KPMG calls the Five Mys, Customer Wallet and Generational Surfing, the framework goes deeper than just the analysis of data through a single lens. From millennials to baby boomers, it aids in assessing the drivers of consumer decision-making by looking at the multiple factors that influence people’s everyday lives. Together, the three dimensions of the model – behavioral, financial and demographic ─ help deliver a more comprehensive, 360-degree view of a consumer.

Today, customers have more power than ever, and businesses across all sectors are locked in a battle for growth. Differentiating your business whether through your product, service or an intentional customer experience ─or in most cases, a combination of all three ─ requires a deep, intimate understanding of the trade-offs customers are willing to make and the forces impacting their decisions to open and close the wallet.

“The strategies for business growth have evolved over time from a focus on introducing a product on the market to a focus on attracting clients through customized offers and a better understanding of their needs. We currently find ourselves in a new phase of evolution, where the competitive advantage is given by the ability to undertake forward-looking actions. Those who can anticipate the clients’ needs and start acting even before the client becomes aware of that need are differentiated from the rest,” said Richard Perrin, Partner and Head of Advisory for KPMG in Romania.

The Five Mys

The Five Mys focus on five key dimensions, or behavioral drivers: My Motivation, My Attention, My Connection, My Watch and My Wallet. Each of the Five Mys in isolation tells only one aspect of a customer’s story. Together they enable companies to navigate the complexity of consumer decision-making, and build a richer understanding of what affects changing customer preferences and needs.

Willy Kruh commented: “Consider two men born in the same year, both British, both are self-employed and both are extremely wealthy. They both like wine, cars, have been married twice. Should a business treat these two customers the same? Many companies would. One is a prominent member of the British royal family and the other, a famous rock star ─ worlds apart in terms of their tastes and preferences. This example illustrates that a demographic profile alone is not an accurate predictor of the nuances of behavior. Applying the Five Mys together can provide a better understanding of a consumer.”

“The Internet of things helps companies to address their clients’ needs in a forward-looking manner and to respond through a package in which experience and interaction become gradually as important as the product itself. The new technologies are reshaping even the operational flows of commercial companies, not only the approach to clients. Furthermore, they contribute to an increase in the accessibility of products and services at national level, and also to the improvement of life quality as a whole, in particular in emerging economies,” noted Adela Ciucioi, Audit Partner, KPMG in Romania, and Leader of the CEE Shared Service Center, KPMG Audit Delivery Academy (ADA).

The Customer Wallet

The Customer Wallet provides fresh thinking on our changing relationship with money, including the forces that influence when, where, how and why we open and close our wallets. Understanding the mix between income, spending and saving, and how this changes across generations and life events, provides a level of intelligence beyond that offered by traditional models. Grasping the dynamics of the Customer Wallet and influences by the Five Mys, can provide businesses with deeper insights in the race for the evolving customer.

For instance, according to the KPMG Customer Insights findings, 22 percent of millennials identify their parents as a source of income. To support their millennial children, baby boomer parents now are facing new, unexpected expenses which impacts what’s flowing in and out of their wallets.

Generational Surfing

There was a time when understanding a particular generation such as the baby boomers was enough to predict future behavior. With extending life stages and drifting life events, riding the waves between generations isn’t as predictable as it once was. Generational surfing presents a new perspective on how those life event drifts can help businesses anticipate changing needs and preferences.

One example is the growing trend of ‘unretirement’: Almost 20 percent of Americans aged 65 and older remain employed, with three in five retirees citing financial problems as their main reason for working past 65.

Making sense of the signals of change is critical to keeping up with your changing customers. Finding the right ways to mine and analyze these signals will help companies better predict customers’ changing needs and expectations.

„Romania is anchored among global trends and is recording a rapid increase of e-commerce, thus managing to rapidly adopt new technologies in all types of commerce and in the main operational flows: acquisitions, logistics, sales. Such optimisations increase the competitive advantage and we are starting to see local players, which not only register growth at national level, but also extend gradually at regional level. Last but not least, it has become easy for Romanian producers, as a whole, to address directly the global market or at least the European market. In order to facilitate the process, the European Commission has proposed new practical measures within the framework for the modernization of the VAT applicable for cross-border online business-to-consumer transactions. As tax professionals, we are getting involved in the application of such beneficial measures,” said Ramona Jurubiță, Deputy Senior Partner and Head of Tax & Legal for KPMG in Romania.