Imagine you are planning to buy a laptop for your child. You go to popular gadget websites, but struggle to find a product that matches your specifications. For example, you set a price filter to exclude laptops above $300, but most recommended laptops cost more than the range. Since recommendations aren't matching your intent, you ignore them. After a while, you lose the initial motivation and interest, finally you exit. And finally, you don't buy anything! This is a pervasive example of bad personalization. 

eCommerce personalization is essential for the success of an eCommerce enterprise. According to a report by Twilio, businesses are struggling to make the best use of eCommerce content personalization. Though 85% of companies believe they're offering personalized shopping experiences, only 60%  consumers agree.

In this blog, let's understand content personalization in depth and everything you ought to know about content personalization to set your eCommerce store up for success in 2022. 

What is AI-based Content Personalization? 

AI-based content personalization uses customer information to create content that offers the right range of products to the right customer at the right time . It leverages personalized search results ,recommendations , emails, notifications that are flexible to change according to changing customer preferences. AI models use some signals to understand customer intent. They include:

• Location
• Source (email, search, paid, social, referral site, etc.)
• Professional Information (industry, company, revenue, etc.)
• Number of site visits in a day
• Previous purchase history
• Behavior 
• Email clicks
  

For example: With AI, most websites know where a user is located. It automatically translates the website into the most commonly used language of that location, time zone, and local currency. 

Additionally, AI can detect if you are a first-time user on the site, and it provides an extra explanation of the product or service. And if you are a repeat visitor, it might provide images of products according to previous purchase history.

What are the Benefits of Content Personalization for eCommerce Stores? 

Offering a personalized shopping experience throughout the buying cycle requires effort. eCommerce personalization can wow people across all digital touchpoints, ensuring a long-lasting relationship. So is content personalization worth the investment? 

One glance through the benefits listed below will give you the answer:

• Increases conversion rate
• Improves sales and revenue
• Customer retention
• Reduces customer churn rate
• Reduce cart abandonment rate
  

88% of U.S. marketers see measurable improvements due to content personalization — with more than half reporting a lift higher than 10%. The benefits of content personalization are limitless, you just need to prioritize it, and the results will show.

3 Ways AI-based Content Personalization can Empower eCommerce Stores? 

80% of marketers revealed that personalized content is more effective than generic content. 

The urge to make products and services better and more targeted to their ideal customer base makes AI-based Personalization an inevitable technology for eCommerce stores . Let's look at some ways you can empower your eCommerce store with the help of AI-based content personalization.

Acquire and retain customers 

Acquisition process is the initial step of every eCommerce store, and making it more personal will improve the chances of making your process more successful. Acquiring customers as an eCommerce business takes considerable time and effort. 

There are several ways to do it, but one of the best is eCommerce content personalization. With a personalized shopping experience, you can gain many new loyal customers and acquire relevant customers.

You can add the following tips to personalize your acquisition process:

• Adapt to your customer's changing needs.
• Integrate personalized chatbots for better customer experience
• Encourage personalized email marketing
• Consider unique targeting by segmenting customers
  

Customer retention is one of the essential parts of a marketing strategy and one of the toughest to get right. Retaining a customer after a purchase is generally dependent on two things: surpassing all expectations with the first purchase and using website content personalization to create interactions that drive them back to your site later.

Customer retention is a tough nut to crack, but with the below personalization strategies, you can succeed:

• Relevant, personalized offers that are correctly segmented and targeted to each customer 
• Personalized email marketing or retargeting with paid ads.
• Appealing to their needs upon return of the item
• Cross-selling campaigns with complementary items to make the most out of the recent purchase
  

With Argoid's eCommerce personalization tool, you can acquire and retain customers more with personalized product recommendations. Products of all types  are hyper-personalized for each shopper by Argoid which adapts to the user's current intent in real-time and retain potential customers with 1:1 personalized content.

Compete in the saturated marketplace 

When a market is overloaded with similar products and services, standing out from the rest is the only key to keeping your business on the top. 80% of eCommerce consumers are more likely to buy from a company that provides a personalized online shopping experience. So, you can assume how tough it is to sustain when the competition is so high.

Besides bringing out something unique and innovative, you need to go one step ahead by building a solid connection with your customer, which will be your claim to fame. You need to study your market and analyze to understand the competitive landscape and implement AI-based content personalization to determine individual needs and preferences. And the best way is to look for opportunities to personalize. 

There are innovations in eCommerce personalization happening every day, you need to be proactive in being the first to come up with innovation. For example, with the advent of technology, AI-personalized voice-enabled search quickly transformed into a significant e-commerce opportunity. Leverage these insights and create a benchmark in the eCommerce industry.

Scale with a customer-first approach 

"In the industrial age, 'customer first' was the ultimate goal, often a principle or even just a slogan. In the digital age, 'customer first' is the starting point of any business. The operation model has to be built with customers in the driver's seat”- Ming Zeng, chief of staff and strategy advisor, Alibaba 

Customer-first approach aims to reach out to customers before they reach out to you. A Customer-First strategy is an approach where a particular brand predicts a customer's expectations and tries to deliver an optimal customer experience at every touchpoint. It is done with the help of data gathered from customers' buying behavior. It starts with segmenting customers based on customers' behavioral data and creating profiles to leverage personalized recommendations.

Customer-first approach ensures that the personalized online shopping experience goes above, beyond, and exceeds customer expectations. The more personalized content you produce, the better are your chances of building soothing relationships and boosting customer loyalty.

3 eCommerce Brands that Scaled with Content Personalization

The world’s biggest eCommerce brands are far ahead in the personalization game. They stay ahead by acting on data they have collected from billions of transactions across various platforms. We will quickly go through some eCommerce personalization examples of companies who have aced it:

Amazon 

When it comes to eCommerce content personalization, examples you can't afford to miss the eCommerce giant Amazon. When it comes to targeting, predicting, and providing relevant recommendations, Amazon is ahead in the race because of its data accuracy.

Amazon assembles all your data, including full name, search query, time spent on the site, purchase behavior, and more, and it analyzes this data to understand customer intent in depth.

Amazon is always a step ahead and predicts what products customers want to buy. Every time you sign-up to your Amazon store, personalized search results and personalized recommendations are implemented on all pages based on your shopping habits, wishlist, and real-time data on the shopping cart, making the customer journey flawless. Because of the above factors when compared to other eCommerce stores, conversions from Amazon's recommendations are 60% higher.

Forever 21 

Forever 21 is a California-based fashion store that has made personalization a big priority. Personalized search results, personalized offers, and 1:1 personalized product recommendations are the strategies Forever 21 is using to capture customer attention. The search results get more relevant with every single click on their homepage. 

Forever 21 considers customer feedback and makes sure that customer needs meet expectations every time they visit the website. This ensures customers browse for longer and will typically increase the possibility of a purchase.

Sephora 

Sephora appraises the standard when it comes to a personalized online shopping experience. One of the unique features of the app is the personalized in-store companion. With the help of an in-store companion, you can find a store, check if an item is in stock, and book a reservation if needed.

Beauty pioneer Sephora ranked #1 on Sailthru's Retail Personalization Index for the third year in a row.

Sephora is one of the best personalized websites’ that makes it a point to make customer service conversational and personal. 

Sephora, beyond building brand image, the application collects relevant data to personalize experiences. Sephora app uses data from its Beauty Insider program, campaigns, email marketing, etc. to casually send personalized product recommendations and also provide a personalized search option for customers. To build a personal connection with customers and build a brand name, you need to implement 1:1 content personalization with their customers like the Sephora application.

Final Words 

While we are heading into 2022, every brand needs to personalize to stay ahead in the eCommerce race. Customer expectations will continue to rise, and you need to meet them to build customer loyalty. 

eCommerce personalization is difficult to achieve without an effective strategy and advanced technology. But by investing in an AI-driven personalized tool like Argoid, you can position your brand to stand out, delight your shoppers, and retain them. 

Scale eCommerce personalization efforts with Argoid and enjoy the following benefits:

• Boost conversion rate
• Improve content discovery
• Uplift in CTR
• Uplift in Average Order Value
• Convert Every Touchpoint
• Significant decrease in Churn Rate.
  
  

To know more, book your demo now!

FAQs on eCommerce Content Personalization

Why do eCommerce stores need content personalization? ‍

The primary motive of eCommerce personalization is to deliver a unique and the best customer experience. But eCommerce personalization is not limited to customer experience and engagement of shoppers, but also to increase repeat purchases, retain customers and increase conversion.
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How can Argoid help with content personalization? ‍

With an eCommerce content personalization engine like Argoid, you can personalize every users' customer journey right from search results. Offer a seamless customer experience with relevant product recommendations in real-time. With Argoid, you can also re-engage with your customers at the right time with 1:1 personalized messages/ emails across different platforms.

Should I try content personalization in my eCommerce store? 

Yes, definitely. Every customer expects a seamless customer experience in this age, and eCommerce brands that fail to deliver personalized experiences won't keep up in the customer-centric industry. A slight touch of Personalization can go a long way, as it increases user engagement which can increase your sales when done right.