GUEST COMMENT Customers want to feel special

Walking into a shop on the high street can be a very anonymous experience. The shop assistants don’t know who you are, they don’t know what you’re looking for and they can’t instantly suggest options for you to purchase. So, you end up browsing the shop and perhaps missing out on relevant offers and products. What if you could visit the high street and be presented with suggested retailers and offers based on your interests and preferences?

Amazon was the first ecommerce site that understood the value of customer data and is seen as the pioneer of personalisation. Back in 2004, Amazon transformed ecommerce by having the ability to analyse customer data and being able to show individual product suggestions to its customers based on their preferences, search history and previous purchases. Now, the company has 240 million customers worldwide and annual revenues of nearly £46 billion.

Today, capturing data and personalising the experience and marketing activities for online shoppers is and should be the norm and a priority for every retailer. And a recent survey by Monetate interviewing 1,100 digital and e-commerce professionals confirmed that for 94% of businesses personalisation is critical to current and future success.

Personalised marketing campaigns can enhance the customer experience and increase sales by offering bespoke incentives to entice new and loyal customers.

Retailers can target specific customer segments, such as regular shoppers, by offering them incentives to shop more frequently than usual to drive better average transaction frequency. Targeting regular shoppers with incentives to spend more can help drive increased spend per user. This personalised approach enables retailers to increase loyalty with their customers and improve their return on investment. The shopper also benefits by being presented with relevant offers and great deals.

When data capture leads to rewards for customers they are more likely to give away personal information than if they don’t benefit from the transaction. The Monetate research suggests that 61% of consumers prefer offers even if this results in less privacy and according to a study conducted by the Aberdeen Group, 75% of consumers like it when brands personalise messaging and offers.

Customers are increasingly targeted with tailored messages and especially when shopping online they now expect to be presented with offers and products according to their interests. People are put off by irrelevant offers that have nothing to do with them.

Customers need to feel like an individual rather than just another shopper and personalisation helps achieving that goal. Equally, retailers can increase their sales by offering relevant products to their target audience.

The journey towards personalisation still has a long way to go and as long as retailers embrace the ‘customer is king’ mentality when collecting their data consumers will increasingly see the benefits of sharing their information.

Andreas Andreou is commercial director at Quidco.

Twitter: @mrandreou @QuidcoCorp