Ecommerce personalization:
tactics, examples, and adoption guide

Ecommerce personalization: tactics, examples, and adoption guide

March 22, 2023

Ecommerce personalization market stats

Scheme title: Expectations for personalization climb

Data source: salesforce.com — State of the Connected Customer, 2022

76%

of shoppers get frustrated if companies don’t deliver personalized interactions

McKinsey

73%

of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations

Salesforce

$12B

projected recommendation engine market size by 2025

Industry Arc

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11 best ecommerce personalization tactics

Here is a rundown of the most effective methods and technologies to use for delivering personalized experiences across the customer journey.

Dynamic content

Companies can make certain content and layout elements in the store dynamic, like calls-to-actions, shopping cart, pop-ups, information bars, and product recommendations, and tailor them to users’ preferences, behavioral patterns, purchase history, and geolocation.

Product recommendations

Another option for B2C and B2B brands is to use ecommerce-specific machine learning tools to analyze customer data and give recommendations on items similar to what customers have looked at or added to their shopping cart, encouraging them to buy more.

Omnichannel shopping

Ecommerce companies can create continuous shopping experiences across different channels, enabling customers to pick up their interaction with the brand where they have left off and effortlessly continue shopping via their channel of choice.

Data-driven marketing campaigns

By analyzing the vast amounts of customer data collected from various sources, retailers can accurately segment their audiences and craft targeted marketing campaigns that will resonate with each specific customer group.

Dynamic pricing

Retailers can integrate their ecommerce platforms with predictive analytics tools to continuously analyze customer behavior, competitor pricing, and market trends as well as forecast and adjust costs in real time, offering customers the optimal prices.

Personalized emails

Retailers can ensure a personalized experience for customers by sending newsletters or promotions based on their most recent views, purchases, or items in their cart. In addition, email automation tools can send different types of emails to specific audience segments if triggered by a customer’s behavior, such as a completed order or not interacting with the brand for some time.

On-site search improvement

Ecommerce companies can enhance their digital store’s search engine with search query auto-completion and personalized query recommendations based on customers’ location and previous search history. This will help users quickly find necessary items and increase their purchase intent.

Personalized checkout

This personalization tactic helps reduce cart abandonment rate by identifying users’ location, automatically filling in fields on the checkout page from the customer’s previous purchases, and offering a one-click checkout option.

Cross-selling

By using matchmaking algorithms, ecommerce businesses can determine items frequently purchased together and the additional products customers are most likely to buy. Based on this information, companies can set up their digital stores to suggest lists of related or complementary goods during the product search or at the checkout, making customers feel understood and increasing the value of a sale.

Dynamic ads

Dynamic ads can automatically show customers the most relevant recommendations based on their demographics, preferences, or previous online behavior. Brands can target these ads at visitors who abandoned their cart, offering them discounts or encouraging them to complete the purchase.

User-generated content

Utilizing content created by customers can be a winning personalization tactic because people appreciate candid content they can relate to. According to recent research by Stackla, 79% of people say user-generated content highly impacts their purchasing decisions. This is why retailers can post customers’ photos, videos, and reviews to show the products in action and foster a stronger connection with the brand.

B2B vs B2C ecommerce personalization

Both B2C and B2B retailers can use personalization tools and techniques to drive more sales and enhance customer lifetime value. However, the tools and techniques can vary significantly based on a particular business model.

B2C

B2B

Customer personas
Customer personas

The customer base can be segmented into personas that clearly reflect the needs and interests of the particular customer cohort, making it easier to create a relevant personalized offering or a marketing campaign.

Customer bases are typically smaller but customer personas are more complex since they represent the entire company or its departments. Providers need to factor in target companies’ global objectives and combine them with particular departments’ needs when marketing their products.

Product catalogs
Product catalogs

Product catalogs, though extensive, follow simpler structures and contain a relatively small range of typical characteristics.

Product catalogs tend to be more detailed, containing in-depth product explanations aimed at different verticals, departments, and decision-makers.

Personalization targets
Personalization targets

A person interacting with the ecommerce platform is the end-customer, so personalization focuses on their wants and needs.

A person interacting with the platform is rarely the end customer but rather a business representative. Thus, we should primarily consider the business objectives of a targeted company.

Pricing
Pricing

Mostly fixed, though it can be slightly optimized depending on the market trends, the buyer’s location, season, etc.

Usually customizable depending on the size of the purchase, the customer’s long-term goals, and other negotiable parameters.

Real-life examples of ecommerce personalization

Amazon

One of the most illustrative personalization examples is Amazon’s “Frequently bought together” section. The intelligent system analyzes items in the cart and suggests additional products at the checkout when they can be bought immediately, making the customer journey more satisfactory and increasing the per-order value. Other options include offering products in a bundle at a lower price and recommending similar items based on users’ shopping history to help make the best purchase. This personalization strategy allows Amazon to generate significant revenue from the recommendation system.

Amazon

Image title: Similar product recommendations on Amazon

Data source: Amazon

MAC Cosmetics

To provide a first-class shopping experience and drive loyalty among long-term customers, MAC Cosmetics automatically reminds returning buyers to buy products they have previously purchased and may need to replenish. Knowing the average lifetime of a product, the company can predict when the product will be used up and shows a replenishment banner upon each repeat visit. With a 67% click-through banner rate, this tactic helps prevent brand switching and maximize customer lifetime value.

MAC Cosmetics

Image title: MAC’s product replenishment reminder

Data source: coveo.com — MAC Cosmetics Revolutionizes Virtual Retail with Coveo-Qubit

Podbike

Podbike, a German seller of e-bikes, wanted to increase the signup rate and invited those who subscribe to the newsletter to a test drive event in Germany. The offer popped up in a responsive lightbox window on specific website pages and was targeted only at users located in Germany. As a result, the company’s conversion rates increased from 4.46% to 13.3% within one geotargeting campaign.

Podbike

Image title: Podbike’s location-based pop-up offer

Data source: optinmonster.com — How PodBike Gets 18.22% More Email Subscribers with GeoTargeting

Hobbs

To make their online shopping level with the in-store experience, this luxury women’s fashion brand implemented a “Shop the Look” feature. The feature suggests products that go with the item the customer looks at, acting as a friendly salesperson and helping the customer see the complete look. This way, the brand builds trust and makes customers want to return not only for the quality of the products but also for the experience.

Hobbs

Image title: Hobb’s recommendation on the product description page

Data source: coveo.com — 10 Ecommerce Personalization Examples To Boost Profits in 2023 (+4 Benefits)

Campus Protein

Campus Protein wanted to implement the same personalized vitamin recommendation experience from their brick-and-mortar stores into their website. They introduced a site-wide best sellers page updated in real-time, which brought a 50% increase in click-through rates to product pages and the doubling of conversions.

Video title: Success Story on Campus Protein

Data source: youtube.com

ASOS

ASOS, a large marketplace, optimized its on-site search to help customers find what they need among products from 850+ brands. The platform can predict and adjust queries based on the letters a customer is typing and recommend the most relevant products on category and search pages, ranking them by similarity with the customer’s previous actions.

ASOS

Image title: ASOS search recommendations

Data source: ASOS

SeaVees

SeaVees, a California-based footwear seller, publishes customers’ featured photos on their homepage and product description pages to promote products and strengthen customer engagement. The retailer links Instagram photos submitted via a branded hashtag and arranges them into a curated collection of shoppable posts on the store’s homepage, with each post connected to the respective product page.

SeaVees homepage: a branded hashtag section with customers’ photos from Instagram

A product page with the customer’s photo featured on the homepage

SeaVees homepage: a branded hashtag section with customers’ photos from Instagram

SeaVees homepage: a branded hashtag section with customers’ photos from Instagram

A product page with the customer’s photo featured on the homepage

A product page with the customer’s photo featured on the homepage

Data source: SeaVees

How to start with ecommerce personalization

1
Know your users
1
Know your users

Retailers should know their website audience well to kick off personalization. For this, collect data at each step of the customer journey using web analytics, email marketing tools, and pop-ups to segment users into cohorts and create a personalization strategy for each of them. Using this comprehensive data, companies can determine high-value customers and personalize their experiences further.

  • For first-time visitors
  • Pages viewed
  • Time on site
  • Items wishlisted
  • Items added to cart
  • Exit page
  • For returning customers
  • Previous purchases
  • Average order value
  • Time between purchases
  • Customer lifetime value
  • Email or social media interactions
2
Ensure data integrity and accessibility
2
Ensure data integrity and accessibility

Raw customer data accumulated from an ecommerce website and other channels should not remain siloed, or you cannot use it for personalization. Therefore, retailers should adopt appropriate technologies to integrate, structure, and make data available for the personalization algorithms.

3
Map out the buyer’s journey
3
Map out the buyer’s journey

Shopping experience can be personalized at various touchpoints along the buyer’s journey, but they still should complement one another and serve the same purpose. Therefore, online retailers should create customer journey maps to identify areas where personalization can be incorporated most effectively and which tactics should be used for each customer group.

4
Ensure personalization across channels
4
Ensure personalization across channels

While ecommerce companies tend to provide personalized experiences predominantly through their website, they usually have several communication channels, such as social media, live chats, emails, and in-store. The best way is to ensure the same level of personalization for every customer interaction across all of the brand’s channels to create holistic experiences and strengthen customer relationships.

Top ecommerce personalization tools

Today, retailers can choose from numerous ecommerce tools to meet their personalization needs. Here is an overview of popular platforms used to foster customer-tailored online shopping.

Salesforce is an all-in-one cloud-based ecommerce platform for building intelligent shopping experiences and orchestrating sales channels. Salesforce Commerce Cloud offers a plethora of out-of-the-box features for delivering highly-personalized customer service.

Key features
  • AI-powered customer behavior analysis and comprehensive customer profile creation
  • Omnichannel support
  • Optimized storefront localization
  • Advanced toolkit for ecommerce personalization
  • Intelligent product recommendations
  • Cross-selling options
  • Native advertising and A/B testing
  • Customer and segment specific pricing
  • Real-time reports
Pros
  • A 360-degree customer view
  • Seamless shopping experience for digital and in-store buyers
  • Mobile optimization
  • Continuous customer support
  • Predictive intelligence
  • Regular disruption-free updates
  • Smooth integration capabilities
  • A large set of community behavioral data for business optimization
Limitations
  • Steep learning curve for some features
  • Minor user interface inconsistencies
  • Can be expensive for smaller firms

Qubit is an AI-powered digital experience and customer personalization platform for creating advanced techniques to understand, recognize, and influence users.

Key features
  • Intelligent recommendations
  • 1-on-1 customer journey personalization
  • Product badging feature for creating social proof
  • Cross-channel personalization with email and mobile apps
  • A/B testing
  • Personalized website content
  • Weekly actionable tips
  • Custom machine learning engine adaptable to unique audiences
Pros
  • A wide range of shopping experience personalization tools
  • Powerful AI algorithms
  • Reliable customer service
  • Easy-to-use interface
  • Diverse templates
  • Efficient analytics and data visualization
  • Ample integration capabilities
Limitations
  • No real-time metrics
  • Technical assistance is required to leverage the platform’s full potential
  • Few training materials on the most advanced features

Nosto is an AI-powered commerce personalization platform that helps businesses customize their website content, product categories, recommendations, and pop-ups. It can be a perfect fit for fast-growing ecommerce stores aiming to build an omnichannel presence.

Key features
  • Precise product recommendations
  • Personalized product categories
  • Personalized website content
  • Deep customer segmentation and insights
  • A/B testing and optimization
  • Personalized email marketing automation
  • Mobile app and in-store personalization
Pros
  • Diverse personalization features
  • A toolkit with proprietary machine learning algorithms for crafting a compelling shopping experience
  • Omnichannel marketing support for email, mobile apps, and in-store personalization
  • Reliable customer success team that helps companies get started
Limitations
  • Solution setup requires technical support
  • Technical knowledge required to make full use of the platform
  • No language or currency personalization for international businesses

Clerk.io is a cookieless personalization platform that provides customers with relevant product and content recommendations throughout their journey and helps the adopters grow sales. It is suitable for small ecommerce businesses with limited experience and budget.

Key features
  • Behavior-based search engine
  • Personalized product recommendations
  • Automated email marketing with hypertargeting features
  • Advanced audience segmentation
  • Proprietary AI algorithms for personalization and efficient data use
  • Wide integration capabilities
Pros
  • AI-powered advanced A/B testing
  • Intelligent product recommendations
  • On-site search creation capabilities
  • Real-time analytics
  • Email automation and personalization
  • Excellent customer support
  • Free for new businesses
Limitations
  • Complicated UI
  • Limited personalization options
  • Few payment options

This all-in-one website personalization platform delivers data-driven personalization, performance tracking, and actionable insights for ecommerce businesses of all sizes.

Key features
  • Extensive personalization capabilities for multiple channels
  • Effective audience segmentation
  • Site mapping for advanced personalization
  • A/B/n testing
  • Proprietary AI and machine learning tools delivering predictions and data-driven decisions
  • Comprehensive integrations ecosystem
  • No-code setup
Pros
  • Diverse personalization tools and channels
  • Easy to use
  • Solid analytics capabilities
  • Helpful templates
  • Responsive customer service
  • Seamless integration
Limitations
  • Slower campaign builder for complex campaigns
  • Limited personalized content options for creative campaigns
  • Few segmentation features

Bloomreach is an ecommerce experience and data analytics platform that enables brands to show their customers the right product in the right place and at the right time. It offers a suite of tools that helps companies deliver advanced personalization and digital commerce growth.

Key features
  • AI-driven search and merchandising
  • Audience segmentation
  • Marketing automation tools
  • Omnichannel experience orchestration
  • Customer online behavior tracking
  • Predictive modeling based on users’ interactions
  • Internationalization
  • Search tracking and optimization
  • Data enrichment capabilities
Pros
  • A comprehensive view of customers on an individual level
  • Customer and product data optimization by AI
  • User-friendly interface
  • Helpful support
  • Various customer communication trigger tools
Limitations
  • Steep learning curve
  • No automatic dashboards for managing surveys
  • Few out-of-the-box solutions

Benefits of personalization in ecommerce

1 Customer loyalty

Offering customers the experiences, products, and communication they want and like, digital businesses can build better customer trust and loyalty.

2 Increased conversions

Personalization helps customers find exactly what they are looking for, leading them to purchase more products.

3 Customer base growth

By showing personalized recommendations based on browsing habits, retailers can stand out from the crowd and turn more visitors into loyal customers.

4 More repeat purchases

Marketplace personalization helps win customers and encourage them to return to your store more often.

5 Revenue boost

Personalization helps customers spend less time and effort on product browsing, increasing the chance of purchasing.

6 Data-driven marketing campaigns

Companies can collect more granular customer data about shopping habits and preferences to create effective personalized campaigns.

7 Competitive advantage

A personalized shopping experience can become a decisive factor for many customers, driving them to buy from your online store instead of a competitor’s.

8 Better brand engagement

Offering continuous shopping recommendations to customers motivates them to interact with your brand more.

Provide outstanding customer experience with ecommerce personalization

Provide outstanding customer experience with ecommerce personalization

As an emerging must-have industry standard, shopping experience personalization significantly affects customer relationships and conversion rates. By adopting appropriate personalization tactics, B2B and B2C retailers can first understand their customers better and then provide them with the most relevant offers and experiences. Since implementing an effective ecommerce personalization strategy can seem a complicated task, involving many technological intricacies, you can turn to Itransition for assistance. Our experts can implement or develop from scratch a robust ecommerce personalization solution to optimize your marketing efforts, increase conversion rates, improve customer service, and reduce churn.

Customers have high expectations for their favorite brands, and online marketplaces have never been more important. Brands that are able to predict the desires of their online customers, and push relevant and inspirational content to them based on those desires, will see huge success in the coming years. Those who don’t will fall behind.

Michelle Bacharach

Michelle Bacharach

CEO and co-founder, FindMine

Provide outstanding customer experience with ecommerce personalization

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FAQs about personalization in ecommerce

Why is personalization important in ecommerce?

Modern customers expect brands to deeply understand their needs and deliver experiences tailored to them. In return, customers stay more loyal to brands providing personalized experiences.

What is the difference between customization and personalization?

While customization involves product modifications, such as color or size, personalization implies tailoring a customer’s digital experience to their behavior.

What are the challenges of implementing personalization?

Several factors must be taken into consideration when implementing ecommerce personalization:

  • Limited data on new visitors and excessive data on existing customers
  • Data processing must be reliable and quick because real-time data helps deliver the best personalized experiences
  • Calculating statistical significance at scale is mathematically challenging
  • Legacy systems can make data hard to access and transfer

How do I choose an ecommerce personalization platform?

Here are key capabilities to look for in an ecommerce personalization platform:

  • Ability to target first-time visitors
  • Automated segmentation
  • Omnichannel support
  • Layout personalization
  • Optimization agility
  • Holistic data-driven approach
  • Flexibility at scale
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