When it comes to digital commerce, personalisation in marketing really is a spectrum. On one end of the scale, you have the likes of simple product recommendations, which is par for the course for most retailers nowadays, as it’s a great opportunity to upsell and cross sell, meaning increased average order value for retailers and a better user-experience for customers. Well, that all sounds great in theory, but scratch beneath the surface a little and you’ll find that the ‘you might also like’ sections of eshops are often being driven by tags and categories that are related to the products themselves, rather than by the behaviour of the user that’s actually viewing them!
Only 8% of shoppers feel more encouraged to engage with a brand if they address them by their first name. In fact, 31% of consumers say that they wish their shopping experience was far more personalised than it already is. Clearly, as customer expectations grow, so too does their appetite for a relevant, customised shopping experience. So, basic personalisation really isn’t going to cut the mustard if you want users to keep coming back for more.

And if there’s one thing that businesses should be focusing on, it’s exactly that – driving repeat customers to your site. Because loyalty is the single greatest driver of revenue in digital commerce. Leading Digital Marketing agency, Wolfgang Digital recently found the strongest correlation between repeat customers and revenue in their 2019 ecommerce KPI study than ever before. The report found that the websites with the highest volumes of revenue had the highest number of sessions per user over 12 months. They also found that the percentage of revenue from direct traffic correlates with conversion rate by sessions and conversion rate by user. This, in a nutshell, means that the more you can encourage existing customers to keep visiting your site, the more revenue you’re likely to generate.

So, why aren’t more retailers providing a fully personalised experience to their customers when it’s clear to see the power that it has to drive conversions?

According to a survey by RetailWeek, only 14% of UK retailers view personalisation in marketing as essential to their ongoing customer strategies. How can this be?!
Well, there could be a number of reasons. It could be that retailers are primarily pumping their budgets into acquiring new customers all the time, rather than focusing on improving the post-purchase experience. Or, it could be that most retailers simply don’t have the resources or structure within their business to work with big data. They don’t have the bandwidth to implement personalised banners and images, or personalised search recommendations, or even to fully segment their audience. Then, of course there’s GDPR to consider – making sure that users have opted in for a personalised experience on your site and that all of their data is properly treated. Suddenly, it’s becoming more clear as to why so many retailers have shied away from providing a true personalised experience to their customers.

But that’s where AI comes into play. No, not the kind of AI that means replacing the workers in your warehouse with robots. We’re talking about artificial intelligence that works with big data to provide a unique experience for every visitor of your online store. An experience that goes far beyond product recommendations, taking factors into consideration such as the weather conditions at any given time, what device the customer is using while browsing, the precise location that they’re in. These variables play a massive role in boosting customer loyalty and advocacy, as well as really making you stand out in such a competitive space.

The great news is that this kind of technology doesn’t have to require extra resources on the retailers’ side, nor does it have to break the bank. At Kooomo, we pride ourselves on partnering with the disruptors and innovators that share our mission of making digital commerce success a reality for all businesses, no matter how big they are or what they sell. That’s why we’ve teamed up with PureClarity, AI-powered technology that provides a fully automated and ultra-personalized experience at all key conversion points, including search, catalog listing pages, merchandising zones and offsite email retargeting. These features serve a seamless and consistent message across the entire customer journey, which, in turn, result in a 26.6% increase in conversions on average, as well as a 15.6% increase in average order value (AOV).

No two customers are the same, so why should they have to share the same online experience? With the statistics clearly showing that customers want a true personalised shopping experience, and the direct link between repeat customers and increased revenue, we predict that true personalisation will take centre stage as businesses build their digital commerce strategy for 2019. So, now is the time to grab the opportunity of becoming an early adopter of true personalisation with both hands, and wow your customers in the process.

Find out more about how PureClarity’s works here or drop us a line to talk about integrating PureClarity into the Kooomo platform.