Why the food industry should focus on personalization

Imagine if everyday shopping at the supermarket went like this: A customer walks through the door and suddenly, the entire assortment changes. The products they always buy are already waiting at the front, the meat counter has been replaced by meatless alternatives, and the nearest salesperson has suitable recipes at the ready. Sounds like wishful thinking? At physical stores it still is — but it’s the reality in the e-food sector. And even though most people still prefer brick-and-mortar stores to do their groceries, 68% of consumers are planning to run their errands online in the next two years. That shows us that online supermarkets are becoming increasingly popular, and food and beverage stores need to focus on personalization to capitalize on it. In this article, you'll learn how the dream of a customized supermarket can quickly become reality.?

Customize the homepage according to user interests

When customizing the homepage, a difference is made between return/existing customers and new customers. Retailers are already familiar with the interests and preferences of their existing customers and they can use this knowledge when designing the homepage. A user who only puts vegetarian or vegan products in their shopping cart, for example, will pay less attention to offers from the meat counter than to teasers with meat substitutes.?

In general, it helps to make the most recently purchased products visible directly on the homepage. That way users can find and grab the items that they buy regularly at a glance.?

If you want to make shopping even easier for your customers, you can implement? subscription models. Information about past purchases or subscriptions can be collected in customer accounts and used for personalization. Customer accounts also allow you to give personal greetings after login, which makes the user feel appreciated.?

New customers, on the other hand, cannot be addressed with their specific preferences, since you don’t know what they are yet. Nevertheless, you can still address them in a personalized way with the help of tools like geotargeting. In other words, use what you do know about them: show new users offers and recommendations based on their region. You can also draw attention to click & collect options in stores near their location. With every click the user makes, the system continues to learn and adjustments become more accurate in return.?

Offer personal advice, recommendations & tips

Personalization isn’t just about simplifying your customers’ grocery shopping experience — you can also offer them easy inspiration with recipes and cooking tips. Recipes can even be customized to users’ most purchased products to guarantee that the suggestions made are relevant to them. And since eating is always better with company, the recipes can be shared with friends and family via WhatsApp or other social channels. This makes voting on dinner much easier, and more ends up in the shopping cart than originally planned.

Of course, online shops can also suggest specific offers for inspiration. You can use recommendations almost anywhere, not just on the home page. That means placing suitable products wherever your users browse, such as on product detail pages or even in their shopping carts. By the way, the principle of point-of-sale products can also be easily implemented in online supermarkets. You can push small items like sweets, chewing gum or similar products in the shopping cart area, right before your customers complete their purchases. Small bonus items can find their way into the checkout even though your customers hadn’t initially planned on ordering them — an easy little win.

Retain and engage users

Some aspects of personalization are much easier for online supermarkets than their brick-and-mortar counterparts, but they’re also more likely to deal with the problem of purchase abandonment. It's not uncommon for purchases to be made online while shoppers are on the move, resulting in abandonment when they’ve reached their destination. Nearly 48% of shoppers get their groceries online when they don’t have enough time to go to a grocer. But this doesn’t mean that online supermarkets should give up on those abandoned carts — there are a few little tricks they can use to turn them into purchases. For example, they can save the full shopping carts for when users return to the shop, or convince them to complete their purchases with coupons.?

If online stores want to retain their customers long term, newsletters are a good option. They’re the perfect tool to send your customers your latest offers and constant inspiration so that they return to your shop again and again. It’s also important to occasionally ask users for their feedback. User surveys can take place at different points in your shop: during the product search, on recipe pages, or even after a purchase. The results can and should subsequently be used to optimize your online store.

Conclusion

More and more grocers are jumping on the bandwagon and offering online supermarkets and delivery services — after all, consumer demand is growing stronger all the time and cannot be ignored. Food is no longer a niche industry in e-commerce and online supermarkets are increasingly keen to stand out from the competition. Personalization is an essential tool to make that happen. Users buy from online shops that have earned their loyalty by making them feel understood and in good hands. To achieve this, retailers must take their interests into account and show them relevant content.?