Most companies have multiple sources of data. These include transaction systems that track customer purchases, e-mail systems, CRM databases, and numerous other data sets that track individual customer interactions with the business. Oftentimes, these data sit in silos with little interaction or cross-pollination of information between databases. As companies become more inclined to run analytics projects, they often ask how to merge such data sets into a unified whole. The first step to doing so is through the use of a Universal Customer ID (UCID).

If your company tracks individuals, you already have some idea of what a customer ID is: a unique identifier meant to track customers within the software tools you use. In eCommerce settings, the most common type of ID is the e-mail address — every individual is considered unique, and individuals use e-mail addresses for receiving receipts, subscribing to newsletters, and other functions.

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