How Retail Personalization Helps In Improving Customer Loyalty ?

 

68% of shoppers are unlikely to return to a website or store that doesn’t provide a satisfactory customer experience. – Forrester

Times have changed, and so has consumer behavior. It is not about the availability of products anymore. Everyone enjoys being recognized and valued. Customers prefer to be loyal to brands that recognize them. It's about being a part of an exclusive and engaging brand community. 

Retail personalization in customer service

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Retail Personalization has the potential to have a significant impact on both brands and consumers. Relevant personalized communications can build long-term customer loyalty and drive revenue growth of 10% to 30%. 

Customers no longer want to settle for generic products or experiences, preferring to have everything reflect their personal preferences. But, as your customer base expands by leaps and bounds.

How do you create a one-of-a-kind, personalized customer experience for everyone, every time? Retail personalization is the answer! It is the process of providing each shopper with a personalized journey across all touchpoints and channels, based on historical data and real-time shopper intent, and powered by customer and product intelligence. 

Personalization in retail has the ultimate goal of making customers feel unique, special, and connected to improve their shopping experience.

Personalization & Segmentation:

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While the term "personalization" is thrown around, not every retailer has realized its potential. In most cases, the terms "segmentation" and "personalization" are used interchangeably, although they are two distinct techniques.

Traditional shopper segmentation considers people to be a cohort – a group of people who share similar tastes and interests. It prioritizes categorizing labeling, and boxing people rather than treating them as individuals with distinct style preferences and needs. 

It provides a rather myopic view of categorizing based on limited data points, which are broad and fragmented categories.

When the two terms are used, we see instances such as a shopper being recommended mosquito nets after purchasing one a week prior. For example, imagine waking up to a slew of promotional emails about baking trays after purchasing an oven. 

These examples do not imply that they do not involve "personalization." It implies that they are irrelevant personalization, which is a failure.

For example, among the 100 percent of refrigerator purchasers, trays may be required by a small percentage. However, sending them all a prompt to buy "tray" demonstrates that the brand has lumped everyone in that group into one category rather than mapping their individual needs. 

This is the result of conflating segmentation and retail personalization.

While nearly every retailer today claims to "personalize" their shopper's experience, only a few do it correctly.

• If an email is not personalized, 52% of consumers will look elsewhere.
• Only personalized messaging will be interacted with by 72% of consumers.
• 90% of consumers are willing to share their data with brands in exchange for exclusive discounts on products they are interested in.

What is 1:1 Personalization?

Every eCommerce site has three components: customers, products, and the actions that customers take. Every shopper is a one-of-a-kind individual. 

Every customer is a segment in their own right. Shoppers, products, product attributes, and actions must be individually mapped to create a unique shopper profile for each shopper. 

This can be used across channels to create a one-of-a-kind shopping experience for each customer.

AI-powered retail personalization helps in delivering a unique customer experience for better engagement and higher conversion. It provides a distinct view of the same site to every shopper. 

Successful retailers know that nothing is more important to a retailer than a satisfied customer. Thus, successful retailers go to great lengths to create signature moments that delight customers and foster loyalty.

Sonata's Connected Retail 

 

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Sonata's Connected Retail takes into account these carefully crafted customer journeys and applies a CX lens to all aspects of technology transformation, making the vision pervasive and consistent. 

Furthermore, three decades of CX measurement and management experience ensure that your promise is kept. Every single time.

Netflix's Emmy Award-winning recommendation engine, which drives nearly 75 percent of the viewing activity on the site, is an example of personalization.

Personalization techniques to look out for

• Create personalized homepages
• Provide customized guides
• Show items that have been recently viewed
• Customize product pages depending on location
• Design unique campaigns based on user behavior
• Make email marketing more personal 
• Make more personal recommendations

Retailers challenges in implementing personalization:

• Data administration
• Analytical data.
• Retail organizations must be aligned across functions.
• Technology and tool enablement

Conclusion

With the concept of a connected ecosystem, Sonata Connected Retail connects physical and digital systems. It provides retailers with agility and data-driven insights into every element of their business, ensuring that a tailored and seamless customer experience is the only constant. 

Looking to start your Retail transformation journey? Register for our upcoming webinar to join the Panel of Seasoned Experts on May 11.