ECOMMERCE PERSONALIZATION AND ITS IMMENSE RELEVANCE TODAY!

eCommerce retailers have been rendered confused by the decade of digital growth that took place during the first 3 months of the pandemic–a phenomenon that McKinsey has termed: "The Quickening." 

As stay-at-home orders and social distancing become the new normal, US eCommerce doubled up in three months. 75% of consumers went to try a new eCommerce store for the first time. And, crucially, 60% of them keep using that store post-pandemic.

COVID-19 has provided eCommerce retailers with an exciting opportunity: a chance to get new customers in bulk and also keep them over the long-run, deriving high customer lifetime value. But how can retailers ensure that their online stores are among the ones that customers stick with for a long time to come. 

Retailers need to ensure they are enhancing their customers' lives, giving the right product, at the right price, at the right time, all combined in a super-smooth transaction. The key to providing a worthwhile buying experience is eCommerce personalization. 

eCommerce personalization software is perfectly aligned with the needs of every unique customer, exactly predicting what they want–before they can know it themselves–with a lot of  accuracy. Today's personalization leaders have devised a number of eCommerce personalization strategies to drive 5 to 15 percent increase in revenue. Here’s how they do it.

8 Steps for eCommerce Personalization Success

CEOs already know that the key to constant profitability lies in the eCommerce personalization. The success of tech giants like Amazon and Netflix have made that pretty clear, putting personalization at the center of their marketing strategies. 

Amazon's machine learning technology, Amazon Personalize, provides multiple product recommendations, personalized product re-ranking, and customized direct marketing that’s very effective. It’s taken over 92% of US online shoppers. Meanwhile, Netflix provides each of its users a highly personalized view of available content that adapts to and expands their interests over time. Subscriber numbers have soared as a result.

Research from Epsilon states that "80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when personalized experiences are offered from brands." Still, the vast majority of CEOs have so far failed to tackle eCommerce personalization in a highly structured way. Why? Because it's time-taking! Amassing a highly cast amount of data to take care of customers' needs seems like an impossible task. But it does not have to be like that.

The reality is that eCommerce personalization is comparatively more achievable than people think, provided you (i) initially focus on your most loyal customers–those with spending potential and (ii) use the data that you already have. Yes, you'll want to level up your data gathering and analysis over time, but the most eCommerce businesses already have sufficient high-quality data to begin with.

For the retailers who are keen to set on their eCommerce personalization journeys, McKinsey identifies the eight core elements needed to drive personalized customer experiences:

1. Data management: Quality is way more important than quantity when accumulating the customer data required to create analytics.
2. Customer segmentation and analytics: Identify the different customer segments and pinpoint the many value triggers (the words and pictures that compel a customer to purchase your product.)
3. Playbook: Create a library of content and campaigns that can be matched with different customer segments and be displayed as per specific actions like abandoning a cart or clicking on a specific product.
4. Decisioning engine: Structuring and coordinating campaigns to ensure that customers receive a uniform experience across all the touchpoints that are free from any contradicting messages.
5. Cross-functional team: Break down the organizational silos by forming a team that consists of all relevant functional areas (engineers, merchandisers, marketing, sales, customer support). Develop weekly deployments and then report back on the findings.
6. Talents & capabilities: Secure buy-ins at the highest level. Make sure that the executive team brings a culture of personalization and unique buying experiences too. Hire the right blend of data scientists and marketing-technology experts to convert analytics.
7. Technological empowerment: Maximize the utility of existing technology, eliminate any platforms that hinder personalization effort, and bring in the best ecommerce personalization software.
8. Testing & Learning: Take things one step at a time–you don't have to build a wide, multivariate database right in the beginning. Start small with an iterative approach. Test, learn and repeat.

10 Best eCommerce Personalization Strategies

Before COVID-19 and before eCommerce became the channel of choice for the future-oriented retailer, a customer would normally walk into a store, and a helpful clerk would then assist them in finding what they needed. Customers would then pay a little more for the personal service because they knew that the clerk would solve their "issue" quickly and, above all, they were made to feel special.

The retail landscape has changed entirely over recent years, but consumers' desire for personalization hasn't. Research by Forrester suggests that "77% of consumers have chosen, recommended or paid more for a brand that gives a personalized service or experience." 

The eCommerce personalization software market gives the retailers a wealth of personalized shopping experience solutions and strategies, out of which, ten are detailed below. With these innovative tactics, retailers can give highly customized shopping experiences through eCommerce, that has traditionally been a one-size-fits-all medium.

1. A customized homepage: Greet your visitors with personalized everything–from the images and text to even a unique navigation menu.
2. Customized recommendations: Complementary cross-sells and dynamic up-sells can be customized at individual customer level, leading to an increase in average order values.
3. Recently viewed items: The recently viewed items reduce any friction on the path to purchase. They are convenient for “comparison shoppers” who prefer to go around your site, comparing the prices and even the features of different items before taking a final selection.
4. Geo-specific products: Targeting visitors on the basis of location allows automatic language, currency, and country selection, and also territory-specific shipping options. Varying products and messaging can also be displayed as per the trend–a clothing retailer might push the coats on a cold and windy day, just as an instance.
5. Smarter reviews: Allow the prospects to filter their reviews depending on their personal needs. Sephora's customers can filter out by skin type, eye color, and different other physical characteristics to find the reviews that deliver the highest value. 
6. Customized email marketing: Automated emails can be shot according to the many predetermined behavioral patterns. The classic is the abandoned cart email, which is designed in a way to bring back previous buyers. Others can be allowed to build relationships with the new customers or even encourage the upgrades and upsells.
7. Individual Specific search: Saving the customers’ time and their trouble by displaying the most relevant search results first and then sorting the products by demographics and behavior.
8. Specific discounts: Offering pop-up discounts is a tested way to drive up the conversion rates, but when they are customized, based on in-session behavior, they tend to get even more productive.
9. Reminders for engagement: So-called "continuous shopping" allows the returning visitors to pick up where they left off, so they don't need to search for products and add them to their cart again, making their lives a little bit easier.
10. Customized bestseller lists: Create personalized bestseller lists to develop behavior and push the particular products.