Personalisation needs Quality Tech, Intelligence & Trust or its Pointless

Personalisation needs quality tech, intelligence & trust or it's pointless

80% of customers choose brands that give them a personalised experience, but personalisation that doesn’t feel authentic and well-considered won't count and may even lose customers.

In today's world, customers have a wealth of information at their fingertips, enabling them to make better, more informed choices. With so many options and advanced experiences seen elsewhere, customers expect excellence. To gain and retain loyalty, brands must consistently deliver more than they did just a few years ago.

Over the last three months, a staggering 80% of consumers have switched brands. This sudden shift in consumer behaviour can be attributed to the pandemic and macroeconomic factors, and it's likely to persist. For example, while a strategy around sustainability might be a priority for many, most are willing to compromise if it means access to lower prices and better experiences. Brand loyalty isn’t what it used to be.

Winning Trust

Building trust requires delivering experiences to customers that foster strong, long-term relationships based on flawless experience and intelligent interactions underpinned with transparency in some form.

Winning Trust: The recommendation market size is projected to hit $12 billion by 2025. Personalised product recommendations or reviews win trust and are being used by 43% of retailers, according to a report by Econsultancy in 2020. 54% of retailers reported them as their most effective source of sales.

Effective Personalisation

Personalised promotions are the best trigger for immediate purchases. Nike provides a great example of using personalisation in the loyalty scheme we recently wrote about (see it here).

They offer carefully curated content and experiences that enhance the brand and steer customers away from feeling overtly marketed to or ‘used’. The brand offers product recommendations based on customers' fitness goals, interests, and purchase history. It also allows customers to customise their shoes and apparel through its "Nike By You" program. For us, this is the gold standard where great tech meets carefully thought-through personalisation.

Personalisation Challenges

The Death of Cookies: With Google ending support for third-party cookies marketers must rely on first-party data collected directly. This is where AI and ML will be stepping deeper into the frame with headless CMS strategies to build a new source of data.

Data Privacy: Over the last year, there has been a notable increase in the use of privacy-enhancing technology. Companies must recognise that privacy is no longer an optional feature but a crucial necessity by 2023. As cookies become phased out, it becomes even more crucial to implement advanced technology solutions to provide top-notch customer service in the future. But 90% of consumers are willing to share personal information when they know it will be a personalised experience.

The Future

Success for retailers depends on smooth technology that provides personal and honest experiences. Brands need to use new data sources for personalised offerings and avoid prioritising short-term gains.

• Invest in tech that works brilliantly and pulls the data you need
• Utilise the data you farm to form much deeper and less transactional interactions.
• Keep your strategies honest and transparent – trust is the key

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Sources:
Econsultancy in 2020, Epsilon in 2020. Nike personalisation 2022. LTV: https://www.wearespike.co.uk/retail/the-nikeplus-review/
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/personalization-stats,, IndustryARC