Personalization is the process of tailoring your online store to the preferences, needs, and behaviors of your customers. It can help you increase online sales of consumer goods by creating a more relevant, engaging, and satisfying shopping experience. In this article, you will learn how to use personalization strategies and tools to boost your online retail sales.
Personalization matters because it can help you stand out from the competition, build customer loyalty, and increase conversions. Customers today expect online retailers to offer them personalized recommendations, offers, and content based on their previous purchases, browsing history, and preferences. According to a study by Epsilon, 80% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand that provides personalized experiences. Personalization can also help you reduce bounce rates, cart abandonment, and returns by showing customers what they want and need.
What ‘convenience’ means for consumers is changing, as they embrace cross-channel shopping and personalisation. Our research shows that the emerging connected consumer expects seamless omnichannel experiences and place increasing value on integrated loyalty schemes, a range of payment options, and personalised offers over the next five years. This means there's increasing pressure on retailers to embrace technology that supports seamless and personalised experiences, which can often challenge merchants with legacy operating models. However, personalisation unlocks benefits for both consumers and merchants, and enables businesses to better engage younger, affluent consumers who are becoming more commercially significant.
Personalizing your online store requires collecting customer data to gain insight into their behavior, preferences, and needs. This can be done by asking customers to create accounts, fill out surveys, or provide feedback. Additionally, you can track customers' browsing history, clicks, views, and purchases on your website. Cookies, pixels, or other tracking technologies can identify customers across devices and channels. Your website can be integrated with third-party platforms such as social media, email marketing, or CRM systems. With tools like Google Analytics, you can analyze customer data to segment your customers and identify patterns and trends.
Once you have collected customer data, you can use it to personalize your online store in several ways. For example, you can create personalized product recommendations based on customers' purchase history, browsing history, or preferences. You can also offer personalized discounts, coupons, or free shipping based on customers' loyalty, cart value, or location. Additionally, sending personalized emails, SMS, or push notifications based on customers' behavior, interests, or lifecycle stage is a great way to engage customers. Moreover, showing personalized content such as banners, pop-ups, or videos based on customers' demographics, location, or device is an effective strategy. Finally, providing personalized customer service such as live chat, chatbots, or FAQs based on customers' queries, issues, or feedback can help ensure customer satisfaction.
For personalizing your online store, you should choose personalization tools that can help you collect, analyze, and use customer data. Personalization engines, such as Dynamic Yield or Optimizely, can assist in creating and delivering personalized experiences across channels. Product recommendation engines, like Yotpo or Recombee, can generate and display personalized product recommendations on your website. Email marketing tools like Mailchimp or Klaviyo can help you send personalized emails to customers based on their behavior and preferences. Additionally, customer service tools like Zendesk or Freshdesk can provide personalized customer service to customers via chat, email, or phone.
Every customer is unique and has different requirements. Product or services can be differentiator only if any personal touch or customised option is provided rather than giving generic offerings. Customer experience needs to be captured and monitored. It enables to understand how the gaps can be filled. Small survey can be conducted with improvising product offerings. With existing information personalised campaigns can be conducted to gain more visibility and genuine feedback from the customer.
To evaluate the effectiveness of your personalization efforts, you need to measure personalization results. Conversion rate, average order value, customer lifetime value, customer retention rate, and customer satisfaction rate are all metrics that can help you measure personalization results. For example, conversion rate measures the percentage of customers who complete a desired action such as buying a product. Additionally, average order value is the average amount of money customers spend per order on your website. Customer lifetime value is the total amount of money customers spend on your website over their entire relationship with you, while customer retention rate is the percentage of customers who return to your website and make repeat purchases. Lastly, customer satisfaction rate is the percentage of customers who express satisfaction with your products, services, or experiences.