4 minute read
Know Me, Guide Me, Wow Me: A Re-introduction to E-Commerce
WRITTEN BY: AMANDA ELAM, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, BLOOMREACH
Much has been written on the promise of personalization—how it can unlock new customer growth, develop ironclad brand loyalty, even respond to customers’ unspoken needs. Yet few businesses have put this type of scaled personalization into practice. Why is that?
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Many find themselves stuck in a state of personalization paralysis, unsure of where to start and unable to move forward. Personalization holds substantial promise for organizations, though. It offers an answer to the question being asked with increased frequency by businesses in this new digital era: how do we improve our customer experience?
When implemented at scale, personalization has the ability to delight consumers and respond to their calls for brands to ‘know me, guide me, wow me.’ A recent McKinsey & Company report explained, “When asked to define personalization, consumers associate it with positive experiences of being made to feel special. They respond positively when brands demonstrate their investment in the relationship, not just the transaction.”
In showcasing that investment in the relationship, personalization helps to nurture customer loyalty, delivering an experience so impactful that customers feel compelled to return to a brand again and again. And as consumers have become inundated with choice in today’s digital commerce landscape, finding ways to nurture that loyalty is more critical than ever for a brand’s long-term success.
MORE THAN GREET-BY-NAME: PERSONALIZATION DEFINED
Personalization has long since surpassed the days of a simple ‘Hi, [FIRSTNAME]’ field, and if your organization’s personalization strategy begins and ends with putting a customer’s name in the subject line of your marketing emails, it’s time to think bigger.
With the data you gather (responsibly) from consumers, you can know, guide, and impress them with contextual and seamless experiences. To the consumer, it will feel as though your brand has catered its commerce experience specifically to them. But you’ll be achieving that customer experience at scale, meaning shoppers will feel you’re speaking directly to them and their journey. Brands that use personalization to deliver that experience are the ones that will win lifetime loyalty.
OVERCOMING PERSONALIZATION PARALYSIS
Personalization may have been the ‘Next Big Thing’ for years, but warnings against setting expectations too high have also existed. Gartner was predicting many organizations would abandon personalization efforts back in 2019.
Historically, the challenge of implementing personalization at scale has lied in a few key areas: incomplete data, eroding consumer trust, and underperforming technology. Fortunately, these are solvable problems.
Data collection might be harder these days, particularly with privacy laws and the coming sunsetting of cookie technology, but companies can build an extremely comprehensive view of customers by relying less on first- and second-party data and turning instead toward zero-party data (where customers intentionally share their data). Consumers today are far more aware of what’s happening to their personal data; by depending more on data their shoppers are willing to share, companies can build better customer experiences and build consumer trust at the same time.
A business can have all of the right data and the right elements of trust, but none of it matters if it doesn’t have the technology stack to deliver results. Cloud solutions that offer flexibility and shorter adoption times ensure organizations can move quickly to implement their personalization strategies. With these solutions in place, ingesting critical data and using it to power your commerce experience, your business can move swiftly toward better business results and, above all, better customer experiences.
THE PATH FORWARD
Importantly, adopting the right tools, technology, and mindset to allow personalization to flourish will go a long way in building consumer trust, proving to customers that you’re listening to what they’re telling you when they interact with your digital channels, and that you’re using those insights to make their next interaction even better. This should go beyond the low-hanging fruit of calling customers by their first name. Personalization has the ability to deliver true joy for your customers—the joy of being understood. Isn’t that the type of digital experience we all deserve?
After years spent with personalization paralysis, brands finally have the technology and resources available to reclaim the promise of personalization at scale. So let’s get started... your customers are waiting.
Be sure to read The Definitive Guide to E-Commerce Personalization for more insights into the power of personalized commerce experiences and how organizations can begin their own personalization journeys.
