In a crowded market where customers have brand and product options galore, one of the best ways for online retailers to stand out is ecommerce personalization.
It’s a proven route to customer satisfaction in an industry where success depends on resonating with your customers and, on delivering products and experiences that feel just right every time. Tailoring your customers’ experience especially to their needs and preferences builds long-term connections and provides a healthy boost to your bottom line.
This blog will cover how different personalization tactics can help you deliver an exceptional customer experience that boosts sales and conversion.
Key takeaways
- Personalized, customer-centric experiences are key to building long-term customer loyalty.
- Effective personalization tactics can result in increases to KPIs including AOV and LTV.
- Opportunities for personalization exist along the entire customer journey, beginning with the first visit to your site.
Benefits of ecommerce personalization
Personalized experiences can have positive effects in both the short and long term, adding multiplicative benefits to your brand’s bottom line.
- Higher conversion
- Higher AOV
- Higher LTV & retention
Higher conversion
It’s simple: customers are more likely to buy products that they’re confident meet their needs. Personalized recommendations are more likely to be those products. And not only that, but delivering timely recommendations to customers reduces the legwork they put into browsing, moving them that much closer to an order.
Higher AOV
Personalized recommendations don’t just make customers more likely to purchase in the first place. They also help shoppers find more of what they need—so not only are their odds of buying higher, but their carts are bigger when they do.
Enhanced customer loyalty
The impact doesn’t end at the point of sale. When your brand consistently delivers satisfaction with the right products and experiences, customers are more likely to reward your personalization efforts with repeat purchases. The most successful brands are ones that successfully integrate into their customers’ daily routines—don’t miss out on an opportunity to do so.
Ecommerce personalization examples
No one part of your customer experience exists in a vacuum. Every step of the shopping journey works together—and presents its own opportunities to deliver personalized experiences.
- Targeted discounts
- Product recommendations
- Flexible order options
- Promotions
Personalize every touchpoint in the customer journey
Targeted discounts
Personalization can start at the very beginning of a customer’s journey with your brand—a first-time visitor discount recognizes a new customer, welcomes them to your brand, and incentivizes them to start shopping.
As individual customers shop with you more, you’ll be able to learn more about their preferences and find more opportunities for personalized discounts: promo codes for products you know they love, targeted discount offers if they haven’t ordered from you for a while, and more.
Product recommendations
Ecommerce personalization doesn’t have to be complicated. Simple techniques like bundling products together or suggesting related items on product detail pages can help customers navigate your catalog with ease. That results in what feels like a personalized shopping experience, even if it’s not explicitly based on any customer data.
Once you have more insights at your disposal, you can layer in more targeted approaches. Try emailing suggestions for products that complement a customer’s past purchases, or that are related to their browsing behavior.
Flexible order options
Sometimes ecommerce personalization is less about curating an experience for customers and more about letting them guide their own.
There are tons of reasons a customer might not need a full shipment every month: travel plans, too much product on hand already, or budget changes. If you don’t provide sufficient options for customizing orders, whether by ordering less, skipping a shipment, or pausing a subscription, they’re likely to end their subscription and find a more flexible option.
Promotions
There are lots of advantages to splashy sales: they can generate traffic, hook in new customers, and even clear out old inventory. But when combined with customer data, they also provide another avenue for ecommerce personalization.
When you launch a sale on part of your selection, don’t miss the opportunity to highlight it to customers who might be interested based on their purchase history. Personalized notifications show that you pay attention to what they like to buy—and that you’ll help them find a great deal.
Ecommerce personalization results in more loyal customers & more sales
Personalizing your customers’ experiences can increase their satisfaction and loyalty, boosting key metrics for your business like AOV and LTV. Implement a variety of personalization tactics like targeted product recommendations and flexible order options to maximize their benefits.
