Online Personalization plays an essential role in driving more traffic and customers to websites. Since 2020, this has been one of the most used marketing gimmicks. Over time, online businesses have realized that the ‘one-size-fits-all approach isn’t helpful & users are now inclined towards a personalized approach.
In layman’s terms, Online Personalization is the ‘visit-us again’ game that brands play to hitch their target customers to return to their website again & again. For example, Digital streaming platforms like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime use a suggestion-based approach to capture their user’s attention. And are they valuable & exciting suggestions? The chances are a 100% yes.
Personalization is the most significant trend now, and businesses are depending upon it. It is a good approach of investing in good personalization, efforts in the good consumer-brand relationship while also generating more traffic. Companies that provide practical Personalization experience get efficient ECPR (Engagement, Conversion, Product Discovery & Revenue). Because of the Pandemic, many users shop, watch, and order online, which proves that the Online Business industry is booming, and if businesses don’t incorporate trends into their policies, they might lose the corporate race. Now let’s check a few statistics that prove Personalization is the future; According to Accenture, over 91% of customers are likely to shop online with brands that provide them personalized recommendations, vouchers, and updates. As per Smarter HQ, around 72.6% of customers engage with the brand if they receive personalized texts & more than 82% of shoppers choose brands that provide Personalization. “Organizations that excel personalization will outsell companies that do not by 20%”- Gartner.
Personalization doesn’t mean writing personalized emails or text messages. It provides the customers with a better understanding and visionary experience that correlates to their needs and choices. Offers and Vouchers also play a crucial role in wooing customers to shop again and again. Users want to feel at ease and engage if the experience you are providing ‘helps’ them in any way possible. And when a brand fails to understand the Consumer Behavioral Purchase Pattern, the shoppers may not return.
But, how Personalization in eCommerce really works? Let’s understand a few brands that have taken online Personalization to another level.
Since 2013, Amazon is known for its marketing efforts in the Personalization department. Be it Product Recommendations or Items “Bought together”, it motivates buyers to spend more time and purchase items based on their liking and taste.
Users go for the experience and discovery of new things, which is an excellent personalization factor. Many consumers may buy something more or new depending upon their taste and recommendation provided by the business. It’s better to be their friend indeed than being an Ally.
The best online platform to book properties for stay is the assured Airbnb. With its unique personalized experience, users find it easy, convenient, and safe. This platform shows you your previous searches, individual recommendations & Location-based personalization. Users can efficiently enter their preferred dates, guest lists, amenities, etc., motivating them to continue their search and finally book a property. Tip: Your business could increase conversions by using past-search data patterns & recommend default filters for their new inquiries.
Personalization is when businesses anticipate their customer’s needs and provide a quality experience automatically. As per Hick’s Law, if the recommendations and on-site personalization are too complex, then the users might not purchase anything and may prefer something like Google Maps over Airbnb.
Vidyard is an intelligent software that helps businesses generate leads and help them up to their e-commerce game. Their personalization has impressed a lot of US-centric users as they provide a personalized-video-based approach. The Customer executives will make a video with your name on their whiteboard and use your given information to provide business-centric solutions. It is as if you are talking to them on a Video-call.
As per Statistica, online readers lose interest after 15 seconds if the content provided by the website isn’t helping enough. Thus, Businesses need to follow an omnichannel approach by using mixed media content and personalization. Here the chances can backfire if companies do that for uninterested customers. Thereby, data and analytics with user tracking can help create a profile of interested users.
Before we move to the ‘What-can-we-do’ part, let us understand the current market in Online-Personalization.
Current Situation with On-Site Personalization:
71.5% of shoppers feel devastated when their shopping experience isn’t too personal
75.4% of users abandon their carts if the website doesn’t provide user-friendly shopping
47% of consumers check Amazon if the website they are currently shopping from doesn’t provide a personalized shopping experience
Businesses after implementing Personalization:
88% of marketers are willing to invest in Personalization as it’s the driving force for new customers
72% of businesses provide testimonials, reviews and vouchers in the start to develop trust via Personalization
51% of brands believe Personalization is an excellent investment for more reach and organic growth
How Personalization really helps?
50% of customer acquisition costs were reduced after implementing Personalization
95% of companies saw 3x ROI from their personalized efforts a year after
30% of startups increased their marketing spend efficiency via Personalization
If these Statistics blew your mind, let’s figure out tips to successfully implement Personalization in businesses.
Businesses need to get one thing straight: the customer journey covers the majority of the on-site personalization factor. It’s the road map starting from the awareness to search and to the purchase and reviews etc. In short. It is everything that the customers do while interacting with your website. Here, businesses can study and analyze the interaction points in the customer journey to derive potential vital pointers such as purchase patterns, timings, interaction modes, relevant suggestions & recommendations, etc. This gives businesses an upper hand while dealing with each and every customer effectively.
According to Illumio, ‘Business Leaders can drive significant change by deploying Micro-Segmentation’. Nowadays, the users don’t want to be treated like a profit-bird. They need personalization and care. Businesses all across the globe opted for Market Segmentation which proved to be a revolutionary step. However, Micro-Segmentation is the king! It is the process of segmenting your customers’ more refinery into categories based on personas or buying patterns. Tip: The more signals you use to segment your customers, the better the personalization gets.
For example, Paytronix analyses this big data to help micro-segment its customers. The Restaurant managers aligned with this brand are now efficiently segmenting customers into giving referrals, vouchers, and coupons based on their CBP.
As per Jeff Bezos, “We are in the Golden Age of AI. Recent advancements have already led to inventions that previously lived in the realm of science fiction – & we have only scratched the surface of what’s possible.”
Artificial intelligence, also known as AI, is really beneficial in providing on-site personalization to customers and managing the data from those customers. It goes hand in hand not for the companies but for improving user experience too. It provides real-time personalization, on-site data synchronization, data analysis as well as orchestration of customer engagement. Machine Learning and AI can benefit a company by quickly analyzing big data to provide personalized offers, vouchers, and services to its clients faster and much cheaper. It is also used to create chatbots like Google Assistant etc., that give real-time assistance to customers seeking something on the website.
More the customer interaction, the better! AI Chatbots are so progressive that clients feel it challenging to differentiate between an actual person or Machine-learning based software. It prioritizes clients and gives them the surety of a human touch & adds more value to every communication by syncing user’s data to digital engagement for surfacing insights and content.
The primary purpose of omnichannel personalization is to create a strong customer relationship base anytime they interact with the website. Omnichannel personalization utilizes information from all channels for store cooperation, social existences, calls, portable applications, sites, email, and so on, and it broadens the experience across each touchpoint between the client and brand.
Nowadays, companies are adopting a leverage approach by using specific AI software for their Omnichannel Personalization. Softwares like Enalito bridge together all the vast data and customer interactions while synchronizing it into potential signals and creating solution-based omnichannel approaches that benefit the brands and the companies. The best prerequisite for an omnichannel client experience is the capacity to bind together client information, and that is one of the primary elements of omnichannel personalization stages, omnichannel personalization motors, and CDPs.
Personalization used to be a decent alternative for marketing, yet today it is a necessity for making a positive client experience and enhancing business growth. By providing them with exceptionally functional solutions, utilizing an omnichannel approach, and incorporating artificial intelligence with Micro-segmenting the clients, organizations can make a positive, customized venture for their shoppers. The future of business comes with understanding your customers and creating a unique experience, which is only possible through Personalization. It is the future of E-Commerce that can be a game-changer for a lot of companies.
At Enalito, we drive automated personalized communications for you. Our AI-based intelligent software monitors the behavioral data of every customer and responds to behavioral changes by recommending highly targeted personalized offers ‘when and where’ they are most needed. Want to up your Online Personalization game?
