A new report from Cloud IQ is showing a disconnect between what shoppers want and what ecommerce companies are offering. The Me, Myself and I: The Individualization Imperative report found that 69% of consumers say they expect an individualized experience when shopping online but only 40% of brands offer it to varying degrees.
The benefits of mastering personalized shopping experiences can be huge. The survey showed that personalization can make customers feel more valued which can, in turn, increase trust, encourage repeat purchases, increase order values and prompt more referrals.
While 64% of people surveyed said they see value in giving personal information in exchange for personalized experiences, another 26% were reluctant about businesses using their information for this purpose. In addition, many have unsubscribed from email lists because they either received too many blasts (81%), they were frustrated with offers that expired too quickly (36%) or they just found the emails irrelevant.
Unfortunately, companies don't have many opportunities to get personalization right. Seventy five percent of consumers say they are only willing to give brands one chance. If their trust is broken for whatever reason, they will go elsewhere. Therefore, finding the right way to personalize your ecommerce experience for your customers is vital. Shoppers ranked highly relevant offers as the most important personalization function (77%), followed by being remembered (60%), being understood (59%) and feeling in control (57%).
There are many elements of personalization to incorporate and many focus on the shopping experience. Shoppers expect ecommerce stores to be fast (94%), seamless (92%) and give a sense of control (91%).
But you also need to ensure your checkout meets these expectations as well by being streamlined and localized. This means displaying pages in a customer's native language with their local currency and preferred payment methods available.
For more on how to personalize your checkout for your customers no matter where they are in the world, read our report on how to grow globally.
