It’s April, and Jenny is excited for her prom. She wants to wear a purple dress, and she’s about to visit a local dress store, after not finding the right one online.
As she walks in, Andy, the stylist, welcomes her with a warm smile. He knows that Jenny is feeling a little self-conscious, so he takes the time to get to know her and her style preferences. He then shows her a selection of purple dresses that he thinks she’ll love.
Jenny tries on a few dresses, and Andy helps her find the perfect one. She feels confident and beautiful in the dress, and she knows that she’s going to have a great time at the prom.
While this kind of service is limited to luxury shopping, it’s possible to replicate with ecommerce retail.
We all want to feel like Jenny, even if we’re just buying a pair of socks online, right?
What is personalization in e-commerce?
According to Shopify, “Personalization means tailoring experiences or marketing communications to specific customer segments based on the information a business has on its audience.”
Personalization is a powerful tool that can help businesses create a more memorable and engaging shopping experience for their customers. It went beyond a nice to have and became a given. According to McKinsey, 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions. And 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen,It’s about taking the time to understand each customer’s individual needs and preferences and then using that information to provide them with the best possible experience.The good news is that we are in the best era to achieve ecommerce personalization.We have access to more data than ever before, and there are a variety of tools and technologies that can help us use that data to create personalized experiences.
Today, Artificial Intelligence is transforming what personalization means, making mere segmentation efforts become irrelevant.Here are the 10 ecommerce personalization trends that are breaking this 2023:1. Seamless shopping across all channels: Omnichannel personalizationIn 2022, only 24% of businesses reported effective investments in omnichannel personalization. Which means 76% of businesses are sleeping on creating effective omnichannel personalization strategies.Businesses in 2023 and beyond need to create a seamless and personalized experience across all channels, including online, in-store, and on mobile devices. This requires collecting and analyzing customer data from all sources and then using that data to create targeted and relevant experiences.
2. Great deals without compromising data: Secure Personalization
Regardless of the channel, personalization is key to providing a great customer experience, but consumers are increasingly concerned about their data privacy.
48% of consumers want personalizing experiences without compromising their data. The major personalization trends regarding security include allowing them to opt out of personalization at any time.
3. Finding Things Faster & Easier: Predictive Search
Predictive search is a powerful tool that can help ecommerce businesses improve the customer experience and accelerate the buyer journey.
Users can start by typing “shoes” into the search bar, and a list of relevant suggestions for specific brands and styles starts appearing. The more they browse, the more accurate suggestions come.
Retailers can implement AI and Machine Learning predictive search to complete customers’ search bar inquiries based on past searches, common queries, and data-based insights into customers’ wants and needs.
4. Incognito gets personal: Anonymous Personalization.
This fourth trend is tied to data security. Many shoppers prefer to “continue as a guest” but still hope for a personalized experience. New privacy features and the plans to discontinue third-party cookies are changing the customer engagement landscape.
Shopping experiences that don’t require sign-in or input of personal information will thrive in 2024 and beyond.
5. Discovering new obsessions: AI for Recommendations
AI algorithms can now analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns and trends that would be impossible for humans to see.
This allows businesses to create more accurate and personalized product recommendations. Companies that embrace this as a business strategy rather than a marketing tactic achieve better long-term revenue.
6. Keeping the Fans Excited: Interest-based Subscriptions.
Customer loyalty is one of the top concerns retailers face. Every ecommerce company wants to reduce churn and bring a personalized subscription program. The thing is that most of them suck.
42% of subscribers canceled due to a lack of “new or fun items or experiences. Most retailers are all offering all customers recurring purchases based on calendars and not in the customer’s interests. First-party data like asking your customers what they prefer can help retailers improve their subscription methods.
7. Shopping without traces: Cookieless personalization
Cookies are small pieces of data that are stored on a user’s device when they visit a website. They can be used to track users’ browsing behavior and deliver targeted advertising. However, many browsers are now blocking third-party cookies, so retailers need to find new ways to personalize experiences without cookies.
Google will disable third-party cookies starting 2024 to embrace a privacy-first approach.
Retailers need to look for non-cookie based personalization strategies to face 2024.
8. No gossip shopping: Relying on First-party data
In 2023, consumer data privacy is more important than ever. Companies are facing stricter laws and regulations, and consumers are more aware of how their data is being collected and used. This means that businesses can no longer rely on third-party data to personalize their marketing campaigns.
First-party data is data that companies collect directly from their customers, such as website behavior, purchase history, and email subscriptions. This data is more accurate and reliable than third-party data, and it is also more respectful of customer privacy.
Companies that don’t rely on third-party data will succeed in personalization efforts.
9. Hands-free Shopping: Voice Search
Voice-driven search is becoming increasingly popular, requiring ecommerce businesses to optimize for voice queries and provide voice-responsive shopping experiences.
The total worldwide transaction value of ecommerce purchases made through voice assistants is expected to rise from 4.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2021 to 19.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, according to Statista.
While voice search was initially used mainly for conducting searches or requesting virtual assistance, Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant can now help you shop online, and retailers can jump into the wave.
10. Mind-reading shopping experience: Wordless Search
Wordless search is a new way for people to search online for hard-to-describe visual products. It combines Visual AI and an AI-based product search and discovery platform.
The AI recognizes shoppers’ browsing patterns and curates what they see into a uniquely customized product feed. The more a user scrolls and clicks on items they’re interested in, the closer the AI is to surface exactly the type and style of fashion the user is looking for.
Its ability to read and understand the intent behind a person’s activity on a website and mirror what they’re thinking with items sets this tool apart.
Retailers across Europe, like Percentil, Swap.com, and Momox Fashion, have implemented this technology and increased their Average Order Value, Average Revenue per User, and global revenue. They are all using the visual AI search tool Miros.ai.
Check this out to see how it works:
As you saw, this tool shortens the customer journey and allows the shopper to have a fun shopping experience while it helps ecommerce businesses boost their revenue.
Want to try Miros and see how your website improves? Book a demo with the team!
As we navigate 2023, these trends are poised to redefine the ecommerce landscape, allowing businesses to offer personalized, secure, and memorable shopping experiences that make every customer feel the center of attention, just like Jenny in her perfect purple dress.
