From POS to Profit: How Retailers Can Market Smarter with Data
Back in 2020, I was talking with one of our retail clients who used a popular POS system. I asked him what he did with all the data it collected.
His answer? “We mostly use it for addresses to send direct mail.”
When I asked how much he spent, he said over $50,000 per year just to get in front of his 20,000+ customers with postcards and mailers.
I thought to myself: There has to be a better way.
When I dug deeper, I learned he had phone numbers, emails, names, and addresses sitting in his POS. And that conversation was part of what inspired us to create Omni Lightning — a way to help retailers unlock the true value of their customer data.
But, this article isn’t a commercial. It’s a look into how the best retailers in the country are using their POS data to personalize marketing, acquire new customers, bring back old ones, and track ROI.
Why POS Data Matters for Smarter Retail Marketing
What is POS data in retail marketing?
It’s the customer information collected every time a purchase is made — name, email, phone number, address, and purchase history.
The best retailers today are using this data to personalize the shopping experience. Just read any publicly traded retailer’s report — you’ll see “personalization” mentioned dozens of times in the marketing section.
Want to turn your retail business into a data-driven powerhouse? Let’s walk through three execution-driven strategies you can start using today. We’ll focus on:
Getting new customers
Bringing back existing ones
Tracking it all
Strategy #1: Use Your POS Data to Find New Customers
How can POS data help you find new customers?
By building lookalike audiences in digital advertising platforms like Meta (Facebook and Instagram).
Think about the town you live in. How many people have actually shopped with you? And how many could shop with you? That’s your total addressable market (TAM).
Let’s say you have 40,000 customers in your POS system, and there are 200,000 potential buyers in your market. You’ve only reached 20% — meaning there are 80% still out there.
The best way to find them? Lookalike audiences powered by your own POS data.
What is a Lookalike Audience?
It’s an audience built by Meta (or any digital ad platform) based on your existing customer list. It “finds” people who share similar characteristics to those already buying from you.
Example:
One retailer uploaded 96,000+ customers into Meta. Their TAM was 2,000,000. That means they’d only captured 5% of their market. Lookalike audiences helped them go after the other 95%. (See below as example)
Meta Lookalike Audience built from POS data
How to Build One:
Export a CSV of your customer list from your POS system.
Include name, phone, email, and address (the more data, the better).
Upload it into Meta’s “Custom Audiences” tool.
Click Create Lookalike Audience. (See above)
💡 Pro Tip: Build lookalikes off segments like:
Your top 20% of customers (highest spenders)
Customers who bought a specific brand
Shoppers in certain product categories
The takeaway: POS data isn’t just for receipts — it’s a tool to find your next best customers.
Strategy #2: Target Your Existing Customers Digitally
Why target existing customers if they already know you?
Because most retailers stop at email or direct mail — and that’s not enough.
That same retailer spending $50,000 on direct mail had phone numbers for nearly every customer. And guess what? Almost everyone’s Facebook or Instagram account is tied to their phone number.
That means you can upload a CSV with names, emails, and phone numbers, and Meta will match them to profiles. You now have an audience of your existing customers to remind them you’re still here.
Three Segments to Always Target:
Aggregate List – All customers in your database
By Brand – Customers who purchased specific brands (recommend top 8)
By Frequency – Customers who haven’t purchased in 12+ months
Facebook custom audience for existing POS customers
If you build these segments, you’ll have 10 targeted audiences to run ads to — ensuring your customers never forget you.
The takeaway: Don’t let your best customers walk away. Remind them digitally — not just by email or direct mail.
Strategy #3: Track Every Ad Back to In-Store Sales
Can retailers track Meta ads to in-store purchases?
Yes. But most don’t — and that means wasted ad dollars. No one likes that.
Here’s the truth: if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.
With Omni Lightning, we integrate your POS system and Meta so you can see which ads drive real in-store sales. It works like this:
Connect POS via API
Pull sales data daily
Match sales with customers who engaged with ads
Distinguish between new customers (first-time buyers) and existing ones
Now you know exactly which ads drive traffic and which don’t.
How POS data connects Meta ads to in-store sales tracking
Manual option: You can do this yourself by exporting daily POS sales data (name, email, phone, purchase amount, date) and uploading it into Meta. It’s just time-consuming and formatting-heavy.
But once you do it, you’ll never wonder again: “Are my ads actually growing my business?”
Bonus: If you get co-op dollars from brands, you can now prove ROI with reports — which often means even more funding for ads.
The takeaway: Stop guessing. Track your ads to the register and know your real ROI.
Conclusion: Turn POS Data Into Profits
Your POS isn’t just a cash register. It’s a marketing engine — if you use the data inside it.
Here’s how retailers are winning with POS-driven marketing:
Finding new customers with lookalike audiences
Bringing back existing and dormant customers
Tracking ad spend all the way to the register
Ready to get more new customers, get your existing ones to return, and track it all?
👉 Book a demo with Omni Digital Group today and see how easy it can be to turn POS data into profit.