Consumer experience is an aspect that can either save or kill an ecommerce business. If the ecommerce website is well-optimized, it will surely thrive in the highly-competitive market. On the flip side, if you do not do it right, your ecommerce website may fall sooner or later.
Website personalization has been prominent on a large scale across the globe. Many online consumers may hardly imagine an ecommerce website that does not have at least some sort of consumer engagement measures. But, let’s be honest with you; the majority of ecommerce businesses have barely scratched the surfaces when it comes to personalization in ecommerce.
Studies have shown that over 74% of online shoppers get frustrated when the ecommerce website they use is not personalized. More than half of the consumer population is willing to share their personal information with a website until it is not misused and it is benefitting them in some way. About 80% of online shoppers tend to purchase more from an ecommerce business offering a personalized experience.
As evidenced by these stats, you might have understood the importance of personalization in your ecommerce business. But, do you know the future of personalization in ecommerce? Do not worry; we are here to help you with that. In this blog, we will be discussing important aspects regarding the future of personalization in ecommerce. Keep reading until the end and you can decide upon whether to include personalization in your ecommerce business or not.
What is Personalization in Ecommerce?
It is a process of delivering personalized experiences on ecommerce stores or websites by effectively showcasing content, offers, and product recommendations based on past activities, browsing behavior, purchase history, demographics, and so on. Personalization is increasingly becoming significant for online sellers to not only keep their consumers engaged, but also to focus on consumer retention in order to boost repeat purchase rates, drive sales, and enhance the conversion rates. Personalization can be in various forms, some of them are personalization of homepage, product page personalization, marketing emails, among many others.
Future of Personalization in Ecommerce
The advancements in the field of technology, analytics, and data have let digital marketers create much personalized human experiences across various channels and stages of purchasing. The consumer journey supports today are way more than the physical entryway of the brand. Although these facts seem to be exciting, only 15% of the sellers believe that their ecommerce business is on par with personalization. Here are a few pointers collected by us from experts that showcase the future of personalization in ecommerce:
The Advance of Subscription Services
If you look around, you would probably notice that consumers today are opting for subscribing services over purchasing products. This shift is the result of personalization. Many great examples are suggesting that personalization through subscription services shall occupy the majority of space in the ecommerce market. Especially post-COVID-19, with the effect of lockdowns and restrictions imposed in the day-to-day activities, the digital subscription services including Amazon Prime, Netflix, and even Spotify, are leading the entertainment sector. On the other hand, subscription services including Birchbox, Best Free Ecommerce Platform Builderfly, etc. are becoming more popular among retail consumers. According to News18, Netflix successfully added 10 million paid subscribers during the lockdowns imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic. This itself proves that whether a service is free or paid if it is offering a compelling experience, consumers will not puzzle over investing their money.
Personalized Pricing and Offers
Online shoppers today have innumerable options to hop on. This gives rise to different shoppers having unique choices for purchasing. Earlier, businesses had to study various price ranges in order to pick the one that offers them the highest profits, even if they had to turn down some of their potential consumers. However, this concept is gradually changing with personalization giving ways to businesses to offer different prices for individual consumers based on their previous records and spending power. With the onset of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), ecommerce businesses will be easily able to draw the coarse details. This will result in more and more consumers getting the products and services they need at the exact prices depending on their previous purchasing records. On the other hand, ecommerce businesses will be able to form attractive and tailored promotions for their consumers.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
AI or Artificial Intelligence and ML or Machine Learning can be leveraged to scale personalization on a higher level by counting on consumers before even acquiring them. Moreover, MI shall also transform the language used by ecommerce websites based on the type of visitors on the sites. In such cases, MI would help users seek answers to their queries in the most relevant way instead of automated standard replies that are used by many of the websites today. Using these technologies, when a consumer wishes to purchase a product that is previously bought by them, the websites shall be able to offer relevant recommendations based on their previous purchase records. Further, they can also provide relevant content to help them complete their purchase.
Automation for Omnichannel Marketing
Personalization and automation are closely associated with each other. With the unceasing growth of omnichannel marketing, automation shall play a significant role in the future. The Harvard Business took a review of over 46 thousand shoppers and found that a whopping 73% of shoppers preferred shopping through multiple channels. Although omnichannel marketing imposes various challenges, it shall open doors to innumerable opportunities for ecommerce businesses to utilize automation effectively in order to provide personalization across all their channels.
Final Thoughts
Personalization of ecommerce services is already in practice. Therefore, if you have not started utilizing its benefits yet, you still have got time. With more advanced innovations and technologies, the horizons are broadening every passing day. Personalization is gradually becoming ubiquitous. Only if you start now will you be able to deliver valuable service to your consumers as well as your business.
