When it comes to shopping online, the biggest difficulty most retailers and brands face is trying to inject the personality, efficiency and brilliance of their best offering in-store – their product merchandising and advisor led guidance – which has frequently taken years of time and an abundance of money, into the rather naked and impersonal ‘product listing’ sphere of their digital channels.
That’s why, in Conversity’s latest report ‘Being Human – The Importance of ‘In the Moment’ Real-Time Relevance for Customers Online’, we explore the psychology of shoppers, and explain why retailers and brands must make a concerted shift in focus to recognise it is no longer enough to try and simply humanise their digital presence. Rather the time is now to simply ‘be human’ online; recognising customer needs and the true significance of their mindset ‘in the moment’.
This shift is vital to replicating the brains and personality of an in-store brand experience for your digital channels.
Getting Personal – The Key to Retail and Brand Success
It’s long been acknowledged that personalisation is an absolute must for retailers and brands, with time-poor customers becoming increasingly frustrated and intolerant to generic messaging that doesn’t fit with their individual wants and needs. Yet the scattergun approach to promotions is still all too common. A blanket email ‘Calling all dog lovers‘ when you don’t have a dog? You’re barking up the wrong tree.
Ignoring personalisation online, or failing to provide more than the most generic ‘search and filter’ has the potential to quickly lead to an inundation of results, the consequence of which is often choice paralysis, whereby customers are so overwhelmed they simply divert from their shopping journey’s altogether.
A Shining Example – Netflix
As digital marketing community, ClickZ noted, ‘Relevance is a hallmark of Netflix’s success. The company’s sophisticated algorithm analyses subscribers’ viewing patterns to serve up personalised content, including marketing. Netflix took personal preferences into consideration when they created “preview” ads, which show different trailers based on what people watch.
‘Netflix’s ability to personalise is well-regarded, but also necessary. The recommendation engine keeps subscribers from feeling so overwhelmed with options that they ultimately don’t choose to watch anything. As a result, the company serves relevant content to users, boosting engagement and saving $1 billion per year.’
Typical Customer Pain Points… and Solutions
Problems
- Choice overload – unsure what to buy because of complex product options
- The customer does not feel confident to buy
- Not easy to compare products
- The customer needs help with their product or service choice
Solutions
- Help to navigate complex products and categories
- Personalised and real-time relevant recommendations across all touch points
- Advice they can trust based on their needs in the moment
- Peer groups reviews and 5 star ratings
- A brand they can have a unique relationship with and who understands them
Tech Driving Change
More and more retailers and brands know it’s time for new, clever tech to satisfy the formidable online customer, and this is where intelligent guided selling (IGS) comes to the fore.
IGS helps customers who are not sure what to buy, navigate complex products, categories or services. It’s hardly revolutionary to say that personalising customer experiences typically improves sales and loyalty, but intelligent guided selling helps retailers and brands to achieve the holy grail of both personalisation and relevance – using customer and real-time data to get it right every time.
The result? Frequent double digit increases in NPS scores, great real-time retail insight on shopper behavior and improved levels of customer satisfaction, loyalty and trust.
Find out more and download the latest report ‘Being Human – The Importance of ‘In the Moment’ Real-Time Relevance for Customers Online’ for FREE.
Conversity are Intelligent Guided Selling experts for retailers, brands and telecom companies, with a passion for driving business performance through improved customer experience, so if you want to talk IGS, talk to us.