Building Customer-Centric Data Strategies: Lessons from Zooplus’ Pallavi Modi

When it comes to digital transformation, the grounded and insightful voice of Pallavi Modi, Director of Product: Acquisition & Retention at Zooplus, stands out.

Her background spans global retention leadership at HelloFresh, B2B marketplace products at FlixBus, and even launching an airline for Singapore Airlines in India. Across these roles, she has seen firsthand what it takes to build organizations that put customers at the heart of every decision.

At Zooplus, Europe’s leading online pet platform, Pallavi now drives customer acquisition, retention, and AI-powered product platforms. Speaking at our recent session, she shared a powerful story about turning customer obsession into operational strategy—and why technology alone is never enough.

A Clear Mission: From Tools to Transformation

In mid-2023, Zooplus set out to become a truly customer-centric organization. This meant rebranding, redesigning their digital presence, and most importantly, using technology to better serve customers.

A cornerstone of this transformation was the implementation of a Customer Data Platform (CDP). The 2024 goal: enable marketing automation across 30 markets, reduce time to market, improve efficiency, and create unified customer profiles.

But as Pallavi noted: “Buying software isn’t the same as using it well.” Only 17% of businesses say their CDP drives measurable impact. The real unlock, she argues, is not the tool itself but the culture and processes around it.

Building from the Ground Up: Cross-Team Orchestration

Zooplus didn’t just roll out a CDP and hope for adoption. Instead, they:

• Created a new team dedicated to customer journeys.

• Defined 10 priority use cases to focus efforts.

• Launched initiatives like automated newsletters and trigger-based campaigns.

Along the way, they tackled common challenges:

• Local vs. central control: Automation meant rethinking workflows.

• North Star alignment: Was success about revenue, cost savings, or speed?

• Data silos: How should CDPs and data lakes coexist?

The breakthrough came when they reframed the initiative as customer journey orchestration rather than isolated campaigns. That shift put the focus on lifetime value, not click-throughs—and aligned teams around outcomes instead of tools.

From Use Cases to Unified Experiences

Pallavi warned against thinking in disconnected touchpoints. Take the classic abandoned cart email. If a customer left due to failed payment or unavailable shipping, a 15% discount won’t solve the problem.

Instead, Zooplus focused on context and empathy. Practical changes included:

• Using tools like Qualtrics to integrate customer feedback.

• Auditing workflows across marketing, UX, and CRM.

• Running cross-functional workshops to foster alignment.

As she put it: “Buying SaaS is not equal to using SaaS. The human part is the extreme sport.”

Creating a Cultural Shift

The most profound change at Zooplus wasn’t technical—it was cultural. Teams began speaking the language of the customer. Personas, intent, and behavior became the pillars of journey design.

Instead of chasing campaign metrics, they optimized around customer value and experience quality. Journeys were mapped end-to-end, from discovery through retention, and capabilities were prioritized based on Zooplus’ maturity—not the pursuit of flashy tech for its own sake.

Their guiding principle was simple: don’t build technology for technology’s sake—build it to deliver customer experience.