Battling Content Shock with Personalization

Customers hold a lot of power in today’s e-Commerce industry. With increased access, including mobile devices, they consume information not only faster but in greater quantities. There is the idea of “content shock” which claims we are bombarded by content and it will overwhelm us to the point of us shutting it out. It has been long thought that the sheer volume of news and information available to the public would cause more harm than good. With time, our behaviours have changed. We learned to adapt to the digital age and instead of feeling overwhelmed, we are empowered by all the information available to us and the many diverse ways we can get it. What we’ve learned is to be selective. It’s much harder to grab and hold our attention. We’ve become ruthless in what we choose to give time and attention to.

This has an impact on the e-Commerce industry. With so much competition vying for the customer’s attention, how can we be the one that they choose to give business? What makes them pick us?

Customers are growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of content, offers, or even ads that interest them. Personalization will go a long way to make a customer feel valued by a company. With all the noise and distraction going on, customers want to be heard.

We can start very simply. Welcome them by name. Isn’t that so much nicer than a vague “Welcome”? Give customers the option to log-in. For returning customers, have a personalized greeting with relevant discount or promotions based on their last visit or purchases. At the same time, don’t make customers feel obligated to create an account just to buy something. Perhaps their intent is not to browse but to be in and out quickly with what they want. Guest log-ins can save time and hassle, and who knows? Maybe they’ll come back next time and make a real account.

Consider implementing a customer loyalty program. Is there any incentive for customers to keep coming back? Rewarding them for their loyalty is a great tactic. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and really think about what kind of perks would entice them. Transparent product pushing tactics may leave a bad taste in their mouth and doesn’t prove that they are special. Think about how long it would take for them to redeem points or credits in this program – if it takes too long to even reach a level where it’s worthwhile, customers won’t join. Make it a win-win scenario for all; this means more business for us and worthwhile rewards for customers.

A smart e-Commerce solution will have dynamic content that enables cross-selling and upselling based on browsing and purchase habits. Having an e-Commerce solution that automatically does this is a huge time saver. Automating the process of taking data from the webshop and feeding it to the back-end system will eliminate redundancy and errors. This way, we won’t make the mistake of suggesting the wrong product and risk losing a sale.

Going above and beyond for your customer will yield results, if not immediately then definitely in the long run.

How will you make your customers feel valued? Comment below and let us know.

See how else you can personalize by talking to us. sales@dvp.net