Sitecore CDP Explained: An Overview

*Updated 9/26/23

What is a Customer Data Platform (CDP)?

A customer data platform (CDP) is a popular martech software system that consolidates a business’s customer details into a single, persistent database of customer information, making it available to other linked applications, systems, and platforms.

CDPs accumulate data from multiple sources to offer a web-based interface that enables sales teams and marketers to classify customers into similar groups or segments. This can not only streamline website operations to suit specific users, but also helps advance sales and marketing strategies, equipping teams with real-time insights into customer relationships. 

Advancing Customer Experiences with Sitecore CDP

Sitecore's CDP is a composable, headless platform designed to accumulate, integrate, and help companion tools intelligently act on omnichannel customer data. The key objective behind Sitecore CDP is to make customer interactions more relevant and personalized, empowering marketers to escalate conversion rates and profit. Sitecore CDP delivers top-tier customer and marketer experiences.

Sitecore’s site analytics help brands understand customer behavior, respond intelligently, and measure impact that is in alignment with business goals. Sitecore CDP gathers actionable insights with every click, search, tap, and buying signal. It can also ensure that delivered content is relevant and tailored to each customer’s buying journey, personalized preferences, and first-party data. In doing so, brands who effectively deploy Sitecore CDP improve customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention.

Sitecore CDP Identity Resolution Process

Accurate, robust, and unified customer profiles are critical to the success of any CDP. Sitecore CDP is capable of ingesting customer data across a wide variety of sources. Those sources can merge data from stream (online), batch (offline), and interactive APIs.

Identity resolution helps all systems reliant on Sitecore CDP. By recognizing existing customers or new users, composable digital solutions can successfully offer personalized experiences. First-party data and other sources set by your business’s identity rules can collect and resolve data relating to guest identity, sessions, and events. Identity rules vary across modern businesses as they align with applicable privacy laws and standards. The identity resolution process and identity rules should be configured by each unique business in consultation with their privacy team.

 

guests, sessions, and events for sitecore cdp

Sitecore CDP and Personalize

The distinction between Sitecore CDP and Personalize is essential to grasp. While both aim to enhance user experiences across digital channels, Sitecore CDP serves as the underlying data repository and management system that enables such tailored experiences. On the other hand, Sitecore Personalize focuses on the content personalization and segmentation that leverages the CDP to display tailored content to users.

Key Use Cases

1. View Unified Customer Profiles: Sitecore CDP provides real-time customer data, transactional history, product preferences, and more.

2. Integrate Seamlessly: The composable, headless Sitecore CDP has been fundamentally built for seamless integration success.

3. Run Batch Segmentation: Business teams can easily create custom segments using any of the attributes available within Sitecore CDP.

4. Harness Analytics Dashboards: Performance metrics within Sitecore CDP can lead informed business decisions.

Key Benefits

With Sitecore CDP, business benefits include:

  1. Eliminating Data Silos
  2. Unlocking AI-Powered Personalization
  3. Ensuring Data Protection and Privacy
  4. Building Omnichannel Customer Experiences
  5. Increasing Operational Efficiency
  6. Improving Customer Lifetime Value
  7. Driving Revenue

FAQs about Sitecore CDP

What is Sitecore CDP?

Sitecore CDP is a headless tool developed by Sitecore that captures, unifies, and activates omnichannel customer data, assisting marketers in enhancing conversion rates and delivering an unparalleled customer experience.

How do Sitecore CDP and Sitecore Personalize work together?

Sitecore CDP aggregates and organizes omnichannel customer data, providing a comprehensive view of user interactions. Sitecore Personalize then uses this rich data to tailor content to individual user preferences and behaviors. In short, Sitecore CDP feeds insights, and Sitecore Personalize crafts personalized experiences based on those insights.

Does Sitecore have a CDP?

Yes, Sitecore has its version of a Customer Data Platform known as Sitecore CDP.

What is the difference between Sitecore personalize and CDP?

While Sitecore Personalize focuses on delivering tailored content experiences to users, Sitecore CDP acts as the foundational data management system that facilitates such personalized experiences.

What are the use cases for Sitecore CDP?

Sitecore CDP can be utilized for viewing unified customer profiles, running batch segmentations, analyzing performance metrics, executing seamless integrations, and exporting data for comprehensive analysis.

Is there a Sitecore CDP Certification for Sitecore Developers?

Yes, there is a Sitecore CDP Certification for Sitecore Developers. This certification validates a developer's expertise in Sitecore's Customer Data Platform. For further details, visit the official Sitecore certification page to learn more about Sitecore CDP training.

Sitecore MVPs and special guests share valuable insights in a podcast from Americaneagle.com Studios, The Sitecore Water Cooler.

Easy Setup of Sitecore CDP for Developers

For Sitecore developers working with Sitecore CDP, the integration process is straightforward.

Before you start coding, you will need to generate an API access token in order to create a point of sale from the Sitecore CP dashboard. It only takes about one minute to complete.

1. Generate API access token and client key. 

 

API access for sitecore
2. Create a point of sale. Think of it as a storefront tag used to group your requests and data. 

Creating a point of sale

You may want to consider Sitecore CDP activation documentation as you maximize the functionality of CDP and Personalize for your business.

Americaneagle.com is a Sitecore Platinum Solution Partner and Hosting Partner. For mid to large enterprise clients seeking a composable, powerful digital experience platform (DXP), Americaneagle.com creates user-focused, digital experiences by integrating strategy, UX, and design that delivers transformative results.

Contact us today to learn how Americaneagle.com is the perfect Sitecore partner.

Next up: Activating Sitecore CDP – A Developer’s Guide 

About the Author

Naim Al

Naim
Al

Naim holds a Bachelor Degree in Information Technology and an MBA in Finance. He started his career in programming in 2001 building desktop financial applications. In 2004 he shifted his focus to develop websites. In 2016 Naim joined Americaneagle.com as a Senior Sitecore Developer.

In 2020 Naim won the 1st place in Sitecore Hackathon 2020 competition with American Eagle XTeam Winner, over 82 teams from more than 23 countries were participating.

When he is not coding, he likes to spend time with his wife and two kids, watching TV, or relax in his backyard.