Why Hyper-personalization is on Fire

Consumers have been overfed with the milk-and-water approach to sales, now they want to be treated with an individualized touch. 97% of marketers are sure that online fashion stores should meet the needs of their clients and go for hyper-personalization that promises to increase revenues by 14% and more. Sizolution will explain this phenomenon, describe its benefits, and share tips to win the game.

The Phenomenon Explained

Hyper-personalization brings customer experience to the new level of individualization — it goes beyond traditional customer data collection and provides clients with products, services, and information they truly want in the moment.⁹ With the help of artificial intelligence (AI) brands develop an authentic experience for each customer that bonds the store and the client, shapes loyalty, and, consequently, boosts sales.⁶

The Background

To be financially valid, any brand needs a vivid strategy to follow. However, nearly 45% of marketers lack it — they either keep on experimenting with the hyped tools or get stuck into the outworn approaches.³ For example, simple customer segmentation has proven to be efficient in what people choose, but it has not worked out to predict their future choices correctly. With new generations showing individual customer behavior, more client-oriented strategies have been developed over the past decade.

Data collection and instant analysis enabled brands to create personalized customer offers, but with higher competition coming, there still was much room to develop.¹ It was achieved with the help of artificial intelligence tools that enabled marketers to keep an eye on their clients’ changes — that’s how hyper-personalization was born.

How Fashion is Involved

Fashion is the most fluctuating retail sector influenced by trends, politics, economics, and pandemics, so online stores are the first in the game of hyper-personalization adoption. With COVID-19 and the crisis after, 61% of US customers were disappointed by the service they got while under lockdown pressure, and 91% of them claimed they needed a face-to-face approach. So, fashion stores followed the example of such giants as Amazon, Netflix, and O2 — with the help of AI-based tools Burberry increased repeat purchases by 50%, while Nike increased online sales by 9% partially due to its own AI app that enables customers to find the right model and shoe size.

In a nutshell, hyper-personalization enables fashion marketers to conduct constant data collection and deep analysis, work on detailed segmentation, develop innovative targeting, and develop unique UX.²

Benefits for a Fashion Platform

Setting forward-thinking hyper-personalization as the core of marketing strategy has many technical, brand-representational, and financial benefits for any retail sector. Still, fashion platforms are with the most cake.

Next-level CDP

Hyper-personalization means that marketers can upgrade the buzzy 1st party data collection: CDP is already an efficient instrument for collecting vital user identifiers, such as email, location, age, preferences — all to analyze purchase behavior, brand loyalty, and to form customers’ portraits and impress them with fit ads and landings.⁷ But there is no way to get exact body measurements for a fashion brand if clients are not willing to share them personally.

The problem is solved by building the so-called “zero-party data,” where customers trust a client-oriented brand and give it as many details as needed — 90% of online buyers treat transparent data collection as a significant brand advantage. Direct questions build the connection, improve the quality and accuracy of gathered information, reduce costs on extra marketing instruments, and boost loyalty — 94% of all consumers are more likely to be loyal to a brand when it commits to full transparency. Sizolution makes it real — customers tell their fashion story themselves by sharing their body measurements and tastes.

Red-Hot Data

Time takes its toll not for outdated marketing strategies only but for online buyers as well — fashion forges ahead, people’s preferences change, their sizes fluctuate.¹ Consequently, a clothing store has to conduct real-time analysis and constantly add new customer information to see what things to offer right now and even to foresee clients’ changes of hearts. 58% of people seek relevant recommendations based on their latest decisions, and 65% want to buy from a retailer who knows their purchase history. Sizolution simplifies the process by providing buyers with a realistic experience of an online store.

Unique UX

91% of clients claim they are more likely to buy again from a brand with a captivating UX. Meanwhile, 70% of customers want to enjoy a smooth experience throughout their buying journey, and hyper-personalization enables stores to make it the right way — each potential buyer gets unique content. With all the customers’ data thoroughly collected, emails are finally customized and genuinely efficient.⁴ Clients don’t waste time deleting spam-like subscriptions. They get information that inspires them, educates, and offers what they genuinely want.

Next, their time and money are saved with relevant outfits found in a few minutes — while 39% of customers are ready to leave an online store because they are fed up with the choice overload, hyper-personalization saves them from this. With their tastes identified, they try on fancy clothes that have been selected for them, and the process of buying resembles a fantastic game.

New Look of the Brand

Hyper-personalization develops positive, and client-oriented brand representation: 9 out of 10 customers set companies that treat them personally above their competitors. So, a fashion store experiences increased brand loyalty and trust — grateful customers are inspired to return and spend more money on products.

Next, if you are among the first 9% of hyper-personalization launchers, you will likely represent your brand as an innovative one. According to the innovative theory, the first 2,5% of innovators will become your customers a few days after you join the game, the 13,5% of early adopters follow you in a few weeks. The early majority (34%) and the late majority (34%) boost their interest. As a result, you will not spend much money on aggressive targeting and ads. Your budget will be saved to refine the brand via visuals, ads, press, bloggers, collaborations, and other marketing tricks.

90% of marketers believe in influencer marketing, but 61% find it challenging to attract relevant influencers. However, with a beautifully structured brand representation, promising collaborations will find you themselves — people, especially the young ones, adore innovations and are willing to become a part of it. So, you will not have to beg hyped bloggers for ads and focus on analyzing their offers’ quality.

How to Launch Hyper-personalization

With key benefits of hyper-personalization explained, Sizolution offers you some advice on how to mastermind it by heading over the new data collection method, adapting relevant widgets, and portraying your fashion brand as a transparent one.

Switch to Zero-party Data

The first step is to work on data collection. Google’s decision to block third-party cookies from its Chrome internet browser in 2023 is already making online retailers search for new solutions. Though the widely discussed 1st party data can be efficient for most sectors, fashion stores still need a more individualized and transparent approach — the so-called zero-party data “intentionally and proactively” shared by consumers with a company.

Zero-party data enables marketers to collect preference information, purchase intentions, personal context, and even how clients perceive a brand. Its key benefits are: independence from data collection shifts, accuracy, and client’s trust. To follow this strategy, hyper-personalized tools are vital.

Adapt Relevant Tools

Hyper-personalisation tools enable fashion platforms to gather more personal information about clients, to predict their social behavior, and provide them with an individual experience. For example, you can use Sizolution — the service collects client’s data directly, via selfies and forms with questions. Consequently, the information is correct and timely. Meanwhile, customers get prone to trust the brand that straightly asks them what they want and, following this data, provides them with a friendly choice of clothes to try on — sizes are always fit, the loyalty is boosted, conversion increased and returns decreased. Additionally, Sizolution solves problems with stock control and reduces costs on extra customer support service.

To integrate Sizoulition, you should briefly provide general information about your products and install Sizolution Widget on your online shop. You can get detailed instructions on each of the three steps in our developer documentation.

Stand for Transparency

Contemporary marketing is all about transparency — 53% of consumers emphasize their interest in transparent brands on social media, 86% admit that transparency is more important than ever before.

So, follow Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle Theory and tell people not only what you do but why you do it. Even in terms of hyper-personalization — explain them in textual or video format that you stand for this strategy not only to buy them into the idea of friendliness and increase sales but also to develop an excellent two-way communication both sides are to benefit from.

Additionally, don’t hesitate to tell your customers about how you get their personal information — only 3% of buyers trust marketing and advertising, regarding data collection as a dark intrusion into their privacy. Such huge non-fashion companies as Dell Technologies promise to let consumers entirely access their data in 2030. Still, before such significant steps are made in the fashion segment, you can be among the first to tell your clients why you collect their data, why it is safe, and why they should rely on you.

Conclusion

Hyper-personalization is the most efficient way to start a genuinely two-way communication with clients, discover what they truly want, provide them with the fit choices, and create excellent content. With this approach wisely applied, you will increase revenues even if the competition is wild, the crisis strikes, and buyers’ preferences change quicker sooner than most marketers think. With Sizolution, you always have a trick up your sleeve — integrate it and become the change.

References

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2. Jain, G., (2018). Hyper-personalization — Fashion Sustainability through Digital Clienteling, Research Journal of Textile and Apparel
3. Jain, G., Paul, J., and Shrivastava, A., (2021), Hyper-personalization, Co-creation, Digital Clienteling and Transformation, Journal of Business Research, 124
4. Klaus, P., Maklan, S., (2013). Towards a Better Measure of Customer Experience, International Journal of Market Research, 55, 227–246.
5. Maddodi, S., (2021), Artificial Intelligence and Hyper-personalization for Improving Customer Experience, Dogo Rangsang Research Journal, 10 (5)
6. McKinsey Omnichannel Apparel Survey, (2018), BRP 2019 Customer Engagement Survey, Forbes, Think With Google, Marketing Dive
7. Milovanović, G., Popovic, G., (2019), The Hyper-personalized Supply Chains, International Scientific Journal Industry 4.0
8. Orquin, J., Wedel, M., (2020), Contributions to Attention Based Marketing: Foundations, Insights, and Challenges, Journal of Business Research, 111, 85–90