Personalisation in eCommerce

Personalisation in eCommerce allows brands to target customers as individuals instead of treating them as part of a group.

It’s important to note that personalisation isn’t just as simple as adding a first name to an email subject or retargeting an ad. Personalisation is a strategy and data-driven process that relies on various metrics including previous browsing behaviour, purchase history, demographics, and browsing.

Using data wisely

During this Covid-19 recovery period, restaurants and bars have been given guidance to provide table service, enforce queuing and limiting numbers, and obliging customers to pre-book before they visit. This is perhaps the most interesting factor and one where restaurants can leverage a personalisation strategy. Historically, restaurant-goers could arrive and leave in anonymity, however now they are required to give at the very least, their name and email address.

There are many ways this data could be used to improve returning clients. Retargetting past users will not only improve sales but as well as brand loyalty, it also allows the brand to narrow down on audience targeting and ultimately saving money on online advertisement by targeting precisely.

Saving lost sales

Just because a customer doesn’t click the shiny bright ‘purchase’ button on your eCommerce site, doesn’t mean all is lost! The average cart abandonment rate is just under 69.57% in 2020, however, cart abandonment conversion rate is 30%. This means that 30% of the users that abandoned the page before the check out process return to the website and finish their purchase with a simple follow up email.

Optimising the abandoned cart email sequence through personalisation of content with creative subject lines that address the customer directly and grab attention can help save those so-called ‘lost’ sales.

It is also important to understand the reasons why a user could have left the cart (link to blog post about cart abandonment) to be able to target the users with the right content. One of the main reasons why a customer would leave the purchase is shipping costs, if this was the case, targeting the customers with a discount code can increase the cart abandonment conversion rate.

Hyper-personalisation – what does it achieve?

Does hyper-personalisation lead to higher quality leads?  The difficulty here is knowing when to stop. Customers like to feel like they are on the same page as brands, but don’t want to be targeted in an invasive manner.

Who has access to my data? How did they get it? These can be topics of concern for customers who may not realise why or how they are being targeted. It is clear that personalised ads generate better results than a non-personalised campaign, usually improving conversions by 50-65%, however, only 13% of UK users are happy for companies to collect their data online (ofcom.org.uk) although that percentage increases if there are offers or discounts in return of that exchange of that personal data.

With the European Union’s introduction of GDPR coming into effect in 2018, brands have to be particularly careful in how they collect and use information. The main objective was securing data usage, with companies needing to let their users acknowledge how their information is going to be used, including data storage by their own company or by third parties such as Google or Facebook.

The GDPR changed the way data collected online is stored, increasing transparency towards the user on how their information is used. The use of cookies is the method of data collection that users are most aware of – 73% confirm that they are confident managing who has access to their data, showing that it is important for brands to share and educate the customer in order to establish higher engagement.

Personalised Ads

Personalising Ads can add great value to a customers’ user journey and can even help with upselling and cross-selling opportunities.

One of the less used but most effective channels is email marketing. Personalised emails deliver six times higher conversion rates but only 30% of brands have a strategy in place. Personalised ads and strategies are no longer an add on for brands but a technique that has to be included in any marketing strategy as users confirm that 80% of them are more likely to shop from a company that offers personalised experiences.

Onsite Personalisation Technology

Using an AI-powered personalisation platform such as Nosto can help you drive eCommerce sales through delivering real-time, on-site product and content suggestions to your customers. Nosto helps you strategically merchandise your store in order to generate more onsite interactions, create valuable, positive experiences and drive lifetime value (LTV).

If you are looking for some assistance with your personalisation strategy, our team of eCommerce experts can help deliver results. Get in touch by emailing success@5874commerce.com or give us a call on 0121 369 5874.