Ecommerce success is no longer just about engaging customers–it’s about creating tailored experiences that resonate on a personal level. An Epsilon study shows that 80% of consumers are more likely to do business with a company when it offers them personalized experiences, and 90% find personalization appealing. These figures highlight why personalization is not just beneficial but essential in the modern marketing playbook.
A recent CommerceNext webinar, “Leveling Up On-Site Personalization in 2024,” brought together industry experts to dive deep into the evolving landscape of on-site personalization in retail and DTC brands.
Speakers:
- Parvez Patel, VP Omni-Channel eCommerce & Digital Experiences, NAPA Auto Parts
- Carolyn Pollock, CMO, Tailored Brands
- Leslie Emmons Burthey, SVP of Marketing, TeePublic
- Marylin Montoya, VP of Marketing, AB Tasty
- Moderator: Scott Silverman, Co-Founder, CommerceNext
Watch the replay here or read the recap below:
Personalization & AI
The future of personalization lies in understanding and catering to the emotional states and intents of visitors. The main insights from the conversation are:
- Brands are increasingly leveraging AI to segment visitors based on their emotional states, enabling a more nuanced and effective personalization strategy that transcends transactional interactions.
- With 38% of respondents prioritizing brands that reward their loyalty, there emerges a clear opportunity for implementing personalized rewards beyond conventional pricing strategies.
- Gen Z prioritizes high-quality reviews, while other age groups focus on pricing and efficiency, indicating the need for tailored marketing strategies.
The Power of Personalization Across Customer Journeys
Personalization has transcended its status as a mere buzzword to become a strategic necessity with profound implications for customer engagement and conversion rates. Brands are now leveraging cutting-edge tools to craft personalized experiences tailored to individual user behaviors on their websites. However, the majority of website traffic is usually made up of anonymous visitors. Without personalizing their experience, you’re losing out on potential conversions and revenue. Plus, you’re missing a chance to drastically reduce the time and money it takes to turn first-time visitors into paying customers.
Carolyn Pollock, the Chief Marketing Officer at Tailored Brands, advocates for the effective utilization of these tools to engage with anonymous visitors. She stresses the importance of leveraging data-driven insights to offer personalized discounts aligned with the observed behavior of these visitors. She emphasized the importance of leveraging data-driven insights to provide personalized discounts aligned with the observed behavior of these visitors. By predicting their potential value, brands can tailor incentives, such as offering a 15% discount, to strategically encourage conversions. Furthermore, Pollock suggests implementing time-limited offers to instill a sense of urgency, thereby transforming anonymous interactions into valuable conversion opportunities.
Organizational Structure for Effective Personalization
In the evolving landscape of ecommerce, personalization has emerged as a key strategy for brands aiming to enhance customer experiences and drive engagement. However, achieving successful personalization goes beyond just implementing tools, it requires a structured approach and dedicated efforts across the organization.
Therefore, there are other valuable insights here:
- Data Unification: Challenges related to personalization often stem from data fragmentation and inconsistency. Therefore, integrating data sources and ensuring all teams work with the same data set is essential for effective personalization efforts.
- Collaboration and Integration: Successful personalization requires collaboration among different teams, including CRM, digital e-commerce, UX and product teams, to ensure alignment in data usage, decision-making and strategy execution.
- Role of Dedicated Personnel: Having a dedicated team or individual responsible for personalization initiatives is crucial for ensuring focus, efficiency and alignment across various business units.
Moreover, the choice of tools also plays a crucial role in shaping the effectiveness of personalization efforts. A case in point is the recent transition of NAPA Auto Parts from Bloomreach to Google for their search platform. This shift signifies a move towards more automated, self-adjusting systems, highlighting the importance of selecting tools that align with the organization’s objectives and capabilities.
The Importance of Speed and Relevance
One key frustration for online shoppers is slow-loading websites and irrelevant content or recommendations. Brands focusing on optimizing site speed and ensuring that product recommendations are highly relevant and personalized will see better engagement and reduced cart abandonment rates.
Take Marilyn Montoya’s experience as an example. As the VP of Marketing at AB Tasty, she found that understanding customers’ unique preferences and behaviors could dramatically impact conversion rates. For instance, they discovered that featuring product reviews prominently for one customer segment significantly increased their likelihood to purchase. However, another segment valued speed and simplicity more, prompting them to remove reviews to streamline their experience. This adjustment boosted conversions by 2%.
If you’re looking to gain more insights on personalization for ecommerce and marketing, make sure you’re registered to attend the on June 11-13th in NYC. Secure your spot to be a part of the conversation with 2500+ other industry executives on exponential retail growth.
