We're experiencing a completely new era as the power and prevalence of online retail and shopping are on the rise – and since the market for online consumers only grows bigger and bigger, it is natural for marketers and developers to come up with the best solutions to optimize this experience for both retailers and customers. But what type of strategy in the world would be one that could benefit both retailers and consumers? Well, you came to the right place, as we're about to cover everything you need to know about online shopping personalization.
Online shopping personalization, or e-Commerce site personalization, refers to the process of dynamically generating customized content that would best fit each consumer, rather than provide a uniform experience. Web personalization tools utilize advanced machine learning algorithms – those are algorithms that are designed to study behavioral patterns of each user by tracking user activity data. The data is then analyzed and used to make powerful predictions by the algorithm. This way, the system knows what would work best for each customer in terms of product suggestions and special offers, customized website layout and more.
And if it didn't sound good enough by now, don't worry about the customers' end – they love personalized content. According to a recent report, over 80 percent of consumers are willing to cooperate and share their data with companies, to get an even better personalized shopping experience. Moreover, 91% of consumers are more likely to come back to a brand that remembers them and treats them personally with customized and relevant content.
So the costumers love personalization, but here's how personalization really helps retailers and marketers: Conversion Rate Optimization, or CRO, for short. CRO is the process of increasing the number of users who take a desired action on a website, out of all the visitors to that website. Desired actions can include filling out a form, making a purchase, clicking a link or signing up for a service. Because web personalization is dedicated to extending the period of time users spend on a website and to increasing user engagement in general, users are more likely to get 'converted', thus increasing conversion rates.
Increased conversion rates are obviously any retailer's wish – it translates to much bigger business revenues, as sales are boosted. Therefore, it is only rational for an e-Commerce business owner to invest resources on developing the best strategy to pursuing CRO. While web personalization is one strategy you could go for, it has been enjoying an all embracing popularity over the last couple of years because of its mutual benefit to both retailers and customers. Unlike other aggressive marketing methods and approaches, personalized content is one that is well appreciated by customers themselves. And while other aggressive marketing routines may push customers away, web personalization only brings them closer and has them coming back for more.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that one does not have to be a developer or a machine learning expert in order to implement personalization – many tools are out in the market and are already at your service.
