As we race through the early months of 2022, the repercussions of the last couple of years in retail are becoming crystal clear: buying behaviour is changing. As many as 75% of US consumers switched to a new store, product or buying method during the pandemic (McKinsey).
Businesses are faced with the challenge of retaining repeat shoppers, who generally spend more whilst costing marketers significantly less, whilst brand loyalty across the board is faltering. Predictably, shoppers are gravitating towards brands who invest in digital experiences which are relevant to them.
In fact, according to Smart Insights, as many as 63% of consumers will stop buying from brands that use poor personalisation tactics. This doesn’t stop at the point of purchase.
Many customers who have snagged festive deals provide you with a huge opportunity to invest in post-purchase personalisation methods to target these shoppers and encourage them back to your online store.
We’ve compiled 4 different tactics you can use right now to personalise the experience for your current buyers to increase your customer retention.
Variable content
There is no doubt that when people arrive on your website, the more relevant the content, the more likely they are to purchase. But there are so many ways you can do this, and just the smallest changes can have a big impact. Using different visuals, text and offers which are designed to be read by specific audiences can really boost the engagement rate of your visitors.
Perhaps you could tailor their experience on your website depending on their demographics such as location and age. Maybe you could offer different landing pages depending on their referral source – email subscribers vs ad clicks for example, both of whom will have a different understanding of your company. You could use different offers depending on whether they are a new or returning customer. This can be powered by either implicit or explicit personalisation, which we discuss in this post.
Reward loyal customers
Who doesn’t love a good loyalty scheme? Well, according to Invesp, a whopping 83% say loyalty programs make them more likely to continue doing business with certain companies, (we’re not surprised!)
So how can you use personalisation to build loyalty schemes? Most brands offer incentives for new customers, but personalised loyalty schemes offer discounts for products that your customers actually like.
Say you purchase a zebra print notepad from a store, wouldn’t it be good if you had other zebra themed stationary to go with it? How about if it was exclusively on offer to you? That’s definitely going to be worth a browse. Rather than offering your customers money off the entire store, they’re saving on something you can assume they actually want.
Another trick we love is to offer regular loyal customers even more incentive to repeat purchase, by providing special tiers of loyalty as they continue to shop – unlocking additional perks as they climb the loyalty ladder.
With the correct technology, this can be completely automatic and personal to each shopper.
Recommended products/services
In the words of the Kinks, “Give the people what they want!”
You can’t go online now without being shown other products that you might like. No-one wants to spend more if they don’t have to, so don’t make your customers hunt for a way to fill their baskets.
Use data collected from visits to segment your audience and create different personas that help you to establish what your customers like, what they’ve bought before and what they may be looking for in the future.
Use an omnichannel structure
What’s worse than spending an hour writing a document, only to forget to press save and lose everything? Spending ages searching a site, selecting your purchases, only to find that when you return to the site, it’s all gone.
Omnichannel structure is not only brilliant for allowing customers to use more than one shopping experience (and let’s be honest, in 2022 if you don’t offer a mobile version to your store you need to start thinking about one!) but it’s also great for personalising the experience wherever your customer touches your brand.
Using headless technology opens infinite possibilities for streamlining your customer experience whether they’re in store or online, meaning that wherever they meet your brand, they can be sure to get the experience that is tailored to them.
Getting started
With any strategy, we would typically recommend that you identify the outcomes you would like your customers to achieve such as “submit a contact form” or “purchase” etc.
These goals will shape the journey your customers take before conversion throughout which you can pinpoint places to personalise their experience.
We also recommend you spend time building out personas, and analysing the characteristics of each one. This will help you decide exactly what kind of messaging you want to use and content you need to create for your new personalisation strategy.
Looking for support?
If you’re ready to dive into personalisation but need a little help getting started, why not get in touch?
Nemetos Tanasuk is a full service digital agency who have over 14 years of expertise helping clients to realise their goals in a way that totally transforms their user experience.
We work as your teammate and partner, not just as an anonymous external agency.
From discovery and design to delivery and optimisation, we collaborate with your digital stakeholders to ensure that you can create beautiful, user-focused digital experiences which help you to hit your goals. As a client, you receive a hands on, honest and ambitious approach to strategy, which empowers your team to get results through cutting-edge innovation and technology.
We’d love to invite you in to visit our office, meet our team and ask your digital questions.
Coffee and Croissants Consultations are a great way to do this, and you can book a slot any Wednesday or Thursday morning to drop in and say hello (with the best pastries Borough has to offer – in our opinion!) Book here
