The ability to personalise your content towards your target audience, especially in e-commerce, can lead to numerous benefits for your business.
With the rise of online purchasing after the lockdown due to the pandemic, this emphasises the importance of improving your online customer experience, with personalisation being just one of the many tactics to do this.
Here, we look at some of the benefits personalisation offers towards your business:
1. You can stand out from your competition
The internet has allowed people worldwide to access a business, anytime, anywhere, making it increasingly difficult to offer truly unique selling points.
And with increased competition online due to reduced purchasing in physical stores from the effects of the pandemic, a personalised, engaging experience will help you stand out from the crowd.
Retargeting is just one of the many ways you can do this. Here is an example of how it works:
- A user clicks on your site and displays interest in a product or service
- A user clicks off your site but is still tracked through cookies
- You set up ads elsewhere on the internet (e.g. Google AdWords) to recapture their attention
- The consumer clicks back on your site and purchases the product they viewed previously
This displays active engagement towards your target audience, which may encourage further repeat purchasing instead of them going to other sites for their products.
You can also use cross-selling as a way of standing out from your competition, which is the process of selling products complimenting their main purchase, such as earphones with a handset. If the cross sell is appropriate to their purchase, this can address a pain point of your customer as they won’t have to browse the internet to find similar items, improving the experience you offer.
By making continuous improvements to your digital landscape, whether this is through an omnichannel experience, retargeting, and more, this can help you differentiate from your competition, improving your customer experience.
2. Can build grounded, human-like relationships with your customers
The ability to personalise offers and tailor your website around how customers engage with your site shows both relevance and added value. One way you can develop human-like relationships in personalisation is through chatbots.
74% of customers prefer chatbots when seeking answers to simple questions, creating a touchpoint, and boosting your overall customer experience. Further benefits of chatbots for personalisation in e-commerce include:
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Narrowing down customer requests, meaning that when they connect to an agent, they won’t have to input or repeat their order numbers etc…
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Ability to set up touchpoints based on a customer’s previous interaction with the company, so you can provide a more unique, tailored experience
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Allows you to pick up where you left off with the customer, so if they have a query but go offline, they can drop a message in the chatbot when they are back on so you can reply accordingly
We can also see the importance of personalisation with our customers through suggestions, a study finds, with an increased likeliness to click on one based on items they have looked at prior.
Through this method, you can hit the needs of your consumer's experience, resulting in a high probability of purchasing products from you.
Allows you to get closer to your customers
You can get closer to your customers by targeting areas such as their demographic and behavioural traits. This helps present a level of understanding and remembrance to add value to your brand. For instance, a way you can do this is through birthday emails, including offers based on the date and age of the recipient.
Another way you can get closer to your customers is through reward and loyalty schemes. This is an active way of you displaying appreciation towards your audience, which may encourage more spending to get an extra discount on their purchase.
How will this improve your customer experience?
Whether you offer a discount or an exclusive deal, this reengages the potential customer with your site, displaying a reminder that you value their interaction with your company. It also rewards your returning customers and shows you appreciate their business.
Through increasing your personalisation efforts with targeting, this generates a sense of excitement. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach which may be the case when sending out bulk emails, this establishes a level of trust, making them feel appreciated in the process.
It is also important that you can adopt a proactive approach instead of being reactive. Why is this key for your e-commerce strategy? It presents that you care what the customers are looking for, and by using tools such as cross-selling or recommendations based on their past experiences, this improves their customer journey.
4. Gives your customers more control
Like their experience in a physical store, customers enjoy having more control over the items they intend to purchase, and any add-ons associated.
For instance, when someone takes out a phone contract, by placing control at their fingertips online, they can choose:
- The data they require
- What model
- The type of case
And more at their disposal, allowing them to personalise their item how they like.
However, there’s more than just the product to bear in mind with customer control in e-commerce personalisation. Customers also expect transparency during and after their ordering process, including:
Choosing their courier
25% of UK consumers will abandon their cart if they can't choose their courier, potentially damaging your reputation if the item arrives damaged or late.
The ability to choose their courier may be beneficial as they have control on selecting a delivery company who they perceive as more reputable. Additionally, if you can present on your site that you offer a range of deliverability options, this entices more customers to buy from you.
Providing packaging options
A survey from Mintel found 43% of customers expect personalised packaging to meet their requirements, therefore adapting to this growing trend comes with benefits.
Limited edition designs for the customer to choose from creates further engagement and enhances loyalty, adding to the value of your brand. Additionally, we’re becoming increasingly aware of sustainability and environmental issues with consumers seeking businesses that fit with their values.
Providing options such as eco-friendly packaging can reduce the amount of waste you create, simultaneously boosting your reputation and lowering your carbon footprint.
Timeframe and tracking capabilities
Allowing consumers to choose how fast they want their delivery can be a deciding factor for purchasing on your e-commerce site.
You can generate customer empowerment and trust by offering them up-to-date tracking information so they can manage their delivery. This also gives your customers full transparency of their journey with you.
Personalisation leads to a better customer experience
Providing a personalised, unique service can set your business apart from your competition, allowing you to build stronger, closer relationships.
Now that we understand the importance of personalisation towards your e-commerce strategy, how do we maximise our efforts to achieve a perfect, personalised customer experience?
Our guide to perfect personalisation covers:
- The key to successful personalisation
- Some key customer behaviour metrics to keep an eye out for
- Easy ways to try out personalisation in your eCommerce strategy
- And more!
Download your copy below.
