Why personalization matters in retail

An increasingly popular trend in retail that can do great things for your customer loyalty and engagement is personalization. Tailoring your messaging, product offerings, and marketing to each of your buyers is a great way to build genuine relationships with customers and earn their trust. 

But personalization at scale is easier said than done, especially for bigger retailers that have a large customer base. So how do brands meet customer demands for personalization? 

In this article, we've got everything you need to know to offer effective personalization for your buyers. 

What is retail personalization? 

Retail personalization is a strategy retailers use where they aim to provide each shopper with an individualized shopping experience. This is done by collecting customer data and using it to tailor your communication, advertising, and offers based on where the shopper is at in the customer journey. 

Why should retailers personalize the customer experience? 

Personalization in retail is becoming increasingly popular, and for good reason.

Here are just a few reasons why implementing a personalization strategy is a smart move for retail brands:  

• Today's consumers expect personalization: In McKinsey & Company's Next in Personalization study, 71% of consumers surveyed stated they expect personalization from companies and 76% get frustrated when they don't get a personalized customer experience. 
• People spend more when they get personalized experience: According to the Business Impact of Personalization study, shoppers are 40% more likely to spend more than they planned when their retail experience is highly personalized.
• Personalization efforts set you apart from the competition: A study by Twilio Segment found that if retail brands fail to offer a personalized shopping experience, 44% of consumers say they’re likely to take their business elsewhere. 

Three types of personalization in retail 

When it comes to tailoring experiences to shoppers, there are a few ways you can go about it—even if you have a lot of customers. Below we break down three types of personalization: communication, product offers, and advertising. 

Let's dive into each one in more detail.

1. Personalized communication 

The first step to successfully meeting customer expectations for personalization is to tailor your communications to each buyer. To make this easier to scale, you can offer a custom message by each stage of the customer lifetime journey, rather than to every single customer individually. 

For example, shoppers who have only just learned about your brand will need a very different message than those who have already purchased something from you. Depending on the customer segment they're in, you can give them a certain message to maintain a level of personalization and offer relevant communications without having to send out thousands of unique messages. 

It's also important to match the right communication channels with the right people. For example, your younger customer base may be more likely to respond to a text message than a phone call, while your older customer base may prefer an email or even a mailed card or thank-you note. 

2. Personalized product offers

Once you've mastered tailored communications, you're ready to start sending out relevant product offers. This is where having a well-documented purchase history is important. That way you can make a personalized offer on a product that's similar to a previous purchase a buyer has made in the past. 

Let's say you own a music store and have a customer who recently bought a guitar from you. A few weeks after they made that initial purchase, you could reach out with a discount or package deal for guitar strings and picks. Because you gave a relevant offer that's in line with what they bought in the past, they'll be far more likely to respond to it. 

Making personalized recommendations based on customer preferences is also a great way to earn customer trust. This is because you're proving to your buyers that you understand them, their individual preferences, and what products will be best for them. The more you do this, the more likely they are to come shop with you and become a repeat buyer.

3. Personalized advertising 

Finally, there's personalized advertising and marketing campaigns. When different ads are shown based on customer behavior, such as online shoppers visiting your website or abandoning their cart, shoppers will be more likely to engage with the ad.

For example, let's say you're a fashion retailer and a customer goes to your website and looks at leather jackets, but never buys one. The next day, while they're scrolling on Instagram, they see a shoppable post with photos of the same jackets they looked at.

Ads like these that are based on someone's past shopping behaviors is a great way to reengage with a customer and remind them why they were interested in you and your products in the first place.  

How Clientbook helps retailers offer personalized experiences 

If you're ready to see how embracing personalization trends can help you meet your business goals, Clientbook can help. 

Clientbook is an app and web platform built for retailers. With it, retail sales associates can build custom wish lists for each of their clients, track their purchase history, and even text customers with personalized offers. It's a seamless way to implement personalization at your business.

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Conclusion

Whether they're shopping at a physical location or doing online shopping, the vast majority of today's consumers want and expect personalized experiences from the retail organizations they shop with. And you can offer it with a tool like Clientbook. Book a demo today to see why over a thousand retailers use Clientbook every day.