Ecommerce buzzwords come and go, but personalization keeps growing in popularity. Impersonal online transactions are a thing of the past. Today’s online retailers must deliver an engaging buyer journey that leaves a lasting impression. Take the time to personalize the shopper experience to stand out from the competition.
Why Personalization is More Than Just a Buzzword
Early attempts at Ecommerce Personalization may have led some retailers to consider it a fad, but advancements mean it is here to stay. Consumers no longer view personalization as a nice-to-have. It’s now an expectation.
In fact, 71% of consumers say they expect companies to deliver personalized experiences, and 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen. Over 90% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands that remember them and provide relevant offers and recommendations.
The good news is that personalization offers just as many benefits to retailers as it does to customers. Research shows that personalization drives an average 10-15% revenue lift for a business. Investing in advanced tech pays off even more. Companies that excel in personalization see 40% more revenue from their efforts compared to average personalization attempts.
What Does Ecommerce Personalization Actually Mean?
Ecommerce Personalization can mean different things to different people. At its core, Ecommerce Personalization means delivering dynamic content to users based on data. However, there are many ways to interpret what personalization means.
For example, personalization can involve targeting specific products or messaging to a shopper based on their most recent purchase. Essentially, there are multiple different layers and approaches to personalization. However, with the right solution in place, shoppers enjoy a more personal experience as they make their preferences known.
How Does Personalization Work?
So how does all of this shopper profiling and customization work? It all comes down to beacons.
With a personalization solution like Searchspring, your site collects information about products and pages a shopper is interested in. When the shopper views or adds a product to their cart, the technology learns what they are looking for, and makes predictions about other products they might be interested in purchasing.
The more data is gathered, the more accurate the predictions. The result? A personalized shopper experience.
How to Personalize the Shopper Experience
Now that you have an overview of how personalization works, let’s look at where to add them:
- Personalized Recommendations – Personalized Recommendations are used to show shoppers similar product styles to the items they have recently purchased or viewed. Whether it’s a cross-selling opportunity on a product page, or a last minute recommendation at checkout, making relevant suggestions throughout your site is a powerful way to capture customers’ attention.
- Personalized Search – Personalized Search learns a shoppers preferences over time so it will boost relevant products to the top of search results. When a shopper enters a query in your search bar, the results appear in an order that reflects the products they have already shown a preference for. All search results still appear on the page, but the more relevant ones show up first.
- Geo-Merchandising – Geo-Merchandising uses real-time targeting to adjust products, messaging, and promotions based on the shopper’s location. If, for example, there are customers in different climates, geo-merchandising displays winter items to shoppers in colder areas, and summer items to those in warmer locations.
- Personalized Email Recommendations – We’re not talking about sending the same recommendations to your entire list, highlighting best sellers or trending items, or announcing new products. We are talking about emails in the shoppers inbox that are as personalized as the on-site experience. Create emails that convert with products the shopper actually cares about and are likely to purchase based on real data.
Combine these elements of the shopping journey with pre and post-purchase personalization, and you’re on track to a hyper-relevant, end-to-end experience. Think discount codes on the homepage, social media retargeting, and customized emails to say, “based on your recent order, we think you’d also like…”
Personalized Shopper Experiences = Happier Customers
Personalized shopper experiences means happier, more loyal customers. Plus, ecommerce retailers that offer personalization typically experience higher conversions.
Want to learn more about building your personalization strategy? Hear from our panel of industry experts in the Personalizing the Shopper Experience webinar. Or, get in touch with our team today to find out more about Searchspring’s personalization solutions.
