Consumers want a seamless omnichannel experience with personalized offers, greetings, and recommendations. In fact, 73% of consumers expect brands to be aware of their specific requirements and expectations, and 56% demand that all offers be tailored to them, according to Salesforce. According to data from business intelligence site Statista, 70% of company executives worldwide are increasing their efforts in personalization.
Even while few retailers have really perfected personalization, and many have only recently created it, we may nevertheless learn from the common mistakes seen in the sector.
1. SET OUT TO DO THIS WITH A SHARED VISION
From personally welcoming loyal customers to customizing search results on a retailer’s website to presenting the next best personalized deal, personalization can mean different things to different people. Customers who receive conflicting messages and offerings that overlap may perceive efforts lacking a cohesive vision. In order for different teams to collaborate toward the same objective, it’s critical that merchants establish agreement on a clear destination before beginning to develop personalization capabilities.
2. MAKE A PARALLEL INVESTMENT IN YOUR LOYALTY PROGRAM
Rich client loyalty data is needed for personalization in order to offer recommendations that are most pertinent. Parallel to or before developing personalization, retailers should concentrate on encouraging loyalty sign-ups through in-store signage (such as QR codes) and promotions (such as extra bonus points for creating a profile or downloading the app). In a recent trial, we discovered that a mix of in-store signage, kiosks, and tailored communication led to 14% more new sign-ups. Retailers can gain a lot from personalization, but only if they have a solid base of customers that they can follow and connect with. Personalized offers and communications can boost engagement.
3. ADVANCED TARGETING OR SEGMENTATION IS NOT ALL THAT PERSONALIZATION IS.
A company must completely abandon the old marketing methods, in which it produces an offer or campaign and then chooses which client group to deliver it to, in order to achieve true one-to-one personalization. Starting with the customer and using a combination of business rules (e.g., which are the priorities and strategic decisions to layer in) and algorithms (e.g., collaborative filtering, propensity modeling) to determine what each should get from a bank of offers, campaigns, and content is a better way to go.
4. WHILE OFF-THE-SHELF TECHNOLOGIES ARE FREQUENTLY REQUIRED, THEY MAY BE INSUFFICIENT
One-to-one customisation cannot be fully achieved by a single solution. Rather, creating a personalized capability necessitates combining and customizing multiple forms of technology: The “brains” of new machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms should be developed in a scalable and adaptable environment and supplied to clients using already available off-the-shelf products.
5. MAINTAINING CURRENT OFFER DRIVES IMPORTANT VALUE
Many retailers believe that increasing the quantity of their content, offers, and campaigns is necessary for personalization. In actuality, they can have a significant financial impact by carefully selecting what they already own. For instance, a South American grocery store recently introduced a personalized digital flyer that increased consumer spending by 2% to 5% just by curating content and offers that already existed rather than creating any brand-new discounts or personalized offers.
6. GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) CAN HELP, NOW
Without requiring a substantial increase in creative resources, generative AI can assist in increasing the quantity of content, offers, and campaigns. We’ve experimented with using generative AI to personalize email welcomes for clients, and the results show twice as many click-through rates. This new technology can greatly speed up creation, but it still needs human oversight and review.
7. SELECT A TEAM THAT IS CROSS-FUNCTIONAL
Coordination between various organizational departments, such as digital, marketing, merchandising, and IT, is necessary for personalization. The most successful businesses establish a small, committed cross-functional team whose only goal is to develop and maintain personalization capabilities while mentoring and pushing the rest of the company to utilize what’s available.
8. ACT PRIOR TO AN EXTERNAL DISRUPTION FORCING YOU TO REACH FORTH
Local governments all over the world are beginning to restrict or outright forbid the distribution of print flyers due to environmental concerns. Retailers may become stranded in other markets due to abrupt increases in printing and distribution costs. Retailers can maintain their competitive edge by developing a customizable digital alternative.
Technology is developing at a rapid pace, which has created exciting new opportunities for personalization. It is imperative to bear these lessons in mind as retailers advance these capabilities and introduce this technology.
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