5 Solutions to Personalize Customer Experience in Your E-store

You create marketing content for your clients and use simple personalization (e.g. based on personal data). However, there are more innovative methods to use if you want to stay a step ahead of the competition.

According to the Personalization Pulse Check report from Accenture Interactive, 91% of consumers prefer to shop at stores that remember their shopping preferences and offer them personalized offers. The solution is to create very advanced personalization, which requires the acquisition of a large amount of customer data. Let’s look at how to personalize customer experience based on various events, such as current location, specific tastes, favorite communication channels, activity time and more.

Solution 1. Personalized recommendations

To increase customer interest, use product recommendations based on customer histories; what they buy, what they have recently viewed and which category of products they visit most often. This way, each customer will see their own version of the product page, with a personalized offer.

There are a few different ways to make recommendations, based on various algorithms:

Suggest products based on online browsing history

Display recommended products selected on the basis of similar browsing paths of other customers. As a result, users will see products they have browsed recently. They can work well in every industry because they remind customers of recently viewed products.

Suggest products based on similar online customer histories

The Machine Learning mechanism on the website will allow you to completely automate the process. As a result, users will see products that other, similar customers also liked or bought.

Suggest products based on a customer’s purchase history

You can offer similar products in terms of style, colors or categories, which is especially effective for fashion, cosmetics, jewelry, etc. However, this will not work in industries such as automotive or home electronics/home appliances. Offering products with a very long shelf life/use and requiring significant investment have a different customer path.

In this case, it is worth offering complementary products, such as car floor mats, dish washer cleaners, phone cases etc.

Display best-selling products (bestsellers)

The psychological mechanism of social proof causes the choices of other people to influence our final choice. It motivates customers to browse and often buy products that are popular. This mechanism can significantly increase the number of conversions. It’s particularly effective in fashion, shoes and home furnishings.

REMEMBER!

Knowledge about the customer’s purchase history allows you to avoid annoying situations when they see promotional offers for a product that they have already bought.

Solution 2. Personalized website

83% of consumers are willing to share their data in order to receive personalized service. Taking this into account, website personalization is not just important, but essential. Elements of personalized websites you can use in your strategy:

Dynamic banners

Content can be changed based on client segments in the form or, for example, special offers for loyal customers, discounts for new clients, etc. You can also adjust them based on the customer behavior-banners presenting products from recently-viewed categories, complementary products etc.

Dynamic forms

Dynamic forms can also help to deliver a personalized experience. If the customer completes specific fields, present them a personalized offer. If they fill in another field, the presented products and offer will be different. For example, in the case of internet providers, if the user has a pre-paid phone, you can offer a subscription. For those living far from a local store, you can offer discounted shipping.

Dynamic content in the basket

You can use dynamic content not only during purchase-making decisions but even in the basket. Use dynamic content in banners on the cart page to encourage customers to complete the transaction and to promote complementary products that match those already selected. This works well in boosting average cart values.

It’s also a good way to mention other promotions for various product categories.

EXAMPLE: Product recommendations in the customer’s shopping cart. The algorithm shows ads for complementary, related products that can increase the value of the basket.

Place dynamic, personalized recommendations driven by artificial intelligence on your site to boost the cross-selling of particular products. Just set the appropriate triggers for their display, like making a purchase, spending too much time on the website without making a purchase etc.

Personalized Content

You can display selected creations matching the tastes of particular users. In this example, for women who love romance films, Netflix displayed a picture that can be associated with a romantic date. For people who prefer comedies, Netflix showed a shot with Robin Williams, who is well known to the audience mainly from comedy roles. Thanks to this, the message matches every user’s preferences.

Solution 3. Personalized emails

Personalizing email content and newsletters allows you to build customer loyalty and engagement. Thanks to the appropriate tags, emails can start with the recipient’s name, which reduces the distance between the brand and the customer.

However, it should be remembered that personalization does not end with markers. It is also the appropriate preparation of the entire campaign in order to best fit the needs and tastes of individual customer segments.

A good example is automated emails. Unlike mass email campaigns, they are sent to specific users in response to their established behavior (or lack thereof) or a defined event (like a user’s birthday). Such messages are better suited to the current context and situation of users.

Example of automation through the use of email include:

• Welcoming new subscribers to newsletters
• Thanking customers for making a purchase
• Sending reminders about abandoned carts
• Discounts on recently viewed products
• Birthday wishes

Solution 4. Personalized price

Both time promotions and permanent discounts depend on the customer’s behavioral history. They also increase interest in your offer and generate more profits. Many of them can be automated, meaning you will be able to save time, and discounts and promotions will appear automatically when it is profitable and only to those clients who are actually willing to convert.

• For customers who are in your store for the first time, you can show a pop-up with a sign-up form. If they don’t fill it in the first time, you can display the pop-up twice, e.g. after adding a product to the shopping basket.
• You can also send special discounts to customers who have viewed products from a certain category several times but have not made
  a purchase.
• You are able to build transaction programs based on frequency, type and value of purchases as well as other events in the system.
  Making a transaction via specific triggers (events that precede conversions), e.g. coupon downloads or newsletter subscriptions, results in adding scoring points. Based on these points, you can grant appropriate discounts to specific groups of clients according to their commitment.
• Divide your base into groups according to the likelihood of conversion in a given time period. Do not send discounts to those who are most active and likely to make a purchase, or to people who do not visit your site and are not interested in it.
  Focus on intermediate groups, with purchasing potential, but requiring activation from your side.

Solution 5. Predict the future

Next Generation Marketing is based on Machine Learning mechanisms that analyze large data sets. Based on their analysis, you are able to identify groups of similar users that show certain patterns of behavior.

If a new user starts to behave according to a given pattern, the effect of their actions is very likely to be similar. All these formations change by themselves and are dynamic.

How to optimize campaign spending based on predictions

Group your database according to the probability of conversion or other activities. This enables you to direct your marketing message to those with
a medium or low chance of converting.

By not directing discounts to those who will convert anyway or to those who are not interested at all, you will save on your advertising budget.

Personalize customer experience with confidence

Personalization lets you convince your audience that you are talking to each of them directly. It can help you boost their loyalty and encourage them to stay with your brand. By using the right tools and putting your customers first, you will enhance their satisfaction and decrease churn. And it is worth remembering that in terms of sales, lower churn might speak more about customer loyalty than increasing revenue.

Originally published at Synerise: 5 Solutions to Personalize Customer Experience in Your E-store on 03.04.2019.