eCommerce PersonalizationHere’s Why a Personalized User Experience is a “Must-Have” for the Modern Market

The Value — and the Necessity — of eCommerce Personalization in Contemporary Commerce

The global eCommerce market topped $5.7 trillion in 2022. That figure is estimated to keep growing over the next few years as eCommerce outpaces most other retail subsets.

The rapid growth of eCommerce is, in no small part, a product of the kind of personalized experience that retailers like you can offer consumers online. Looking for new ways to optimize and deepen eCommerce personalization is going to be the edge that puts you ahead of the competition.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at personalization to explore how it drives performance, decreases churn, and exceeds user expectations. We’ll also explore some real-world examples to draw from, and outline a few pitfalls you need to avoid.

What is Personalized Marketing?

A personalized, or “one-to-one” marketing strategy differs from traditional marketing efforts. You’re not casting a wide net, and trying to target multiple users simultaneously with general content. Instead, the goal is to tailor marketing messages based strictly on the specific recipient’s interests and needs at that moment.

How is this accomplished?

In simple terms, personalized marketing is a business strategy that curates content with the purpose of directly targeting an individual user. The specific content chosen is based on data the company collects from that user over time, including purchasing history, browsing history, demographics, and geolocation.

Unlike traditional marketing, you’re seeking to get to know each customer when you prioritize eCommerce personalization. You want to supply them with customized ads and promos that are relevant to them personally, and direct them quickly to products and experiences based on their preferences.

Key Components of Personalized Online Shopping  

There are a variety of ways that the principle of personalization can be adopted by retailers. For example:

Again, the point of personalized marketing is to provide customers with content they are already interested in. You can avoid overloading their browsers with irrelevant information that does nothing but incentivize buyers to click away.

This approach is really becoming less and less of an option and more a necessity. Companies that have thus far failed to consider the importance of this approach could be in big trouble later on. 

The Necessity of an eCommerce Personalization Platform

So, what do you stand to gain from taking this approach? eCommerce personalization offers a number of benefits, including:

These are just a few benefits. eCommerce personalization can help with anything from streamlining your data insights to reducing your chargeback issuances.

Personalization isn’t just a customer service curio anymore: it’s an expectation. You need to provide customers with the ability to browse products according to personal preferences, and actively customize those preferences to some degree. Otherwise, they will shop somewhere that does.

eCommerce Personalization: By the Numbers

According to data from McKinsey and Company, about three-quarters of consumers have experimented with alternative shopping methods in the last two years. More than 80% have no intention of returning to traditional methods. 

Here’s another point to consider: companies that prioritize personalization tend to generate more revenue.

Additional data shows that companies which have invested in personalization often earn 40% more revenue than their counterparts. Personalization pioneers like Target and Amazon, for example, aim to reach the right person at the right moment. This approach is expected to have generated around $1 trillion in revenue through 2022. 

As the graph above indicates, 71% of consumers expect personalized content when they log-in to a commercial browser or application. Even more become frustrated when they are greeted with generic content.

This data isn’t meant to imply that you must reinvent the wheel to increase personalization on your site. Rather, the point is that it’s important to consider these factors when designing and showcasing content. One recent study from Versapay found that customer experience (CX) is among the top priorities for business leaders. However, many of those same leaders are failing to act accordingly.

You need to ask yourself:

• Is your content reaching customers where they are?
• Does your content make suggestions based on individual preferences?
• Does your content offer promotions based on browser preferences?

• Is your system able to check in with frequent site visitors and regular customers?

If you can’t answer each of these questions in the affirmative, personalization should become your new priority — stat.

5 Real-World Examples of eCommerce Personalization

So, now that we understand why personalization is so important, let’s take a look at several companies that are leading the way in showing how to deploy this strategy. 

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Are There Any Drawbacks of Personalization?

We’ve been singing the praises of personalization for a while now. However, there are a few points of concern that you need to consider once you decide to invest in more personalized content. These include:

All that said, the only serious “con” you’re likely to run into regarding increased personalization is the lack of it.

Most major retailers now offer personalized product recommendations, personalized emails with individualized promotional content, and advanced profiling systems. These let customers define their means of interacting with the business.

When these elements aren’t present, customers may buy things that weren’t exactly what they hoped for, weren’t specifically targeted toward them, or generally weren’t what they were looking for in the first place. Buyer’s remorse is one of the leading causes of chargebacks and friendly fraud, for instance. You can drastically reduce this problem by increasing personalization at the consumer level.

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