Here’s What to Expect from Marketing Personalization this Spring

There are plenty of buzz-words going around in tech right now, but the term that has the most practical implications for retailers in Spring 2018 is something much simpler than “voice search” or “virtual reality.” It is the ability to respond to data in real-time that’s more important to the marketing success of a company than any other sweeping technology trend being sold to retailers right now. For companies to have a high success rate with their marketing methods, they need the capability to quickly respond to industry trends and shifts in consumer sentiment. This allows businesses to send consumers marketing communications which can be quickly refined based on which social media platforms, preferred advertising channels and promotional messages appeal to that particular customer at a given moment.

Knowing When to Send a Message

The biggest factor in a company’s success with their personalization initiatives, then, is time. Consider this: AdAge reports that 80 percent of consumers are more likely to do business with a company if it offers a personalized experience. It’s true that this refers to analytics compiled from long-term customer relationships that help brands know what marketing message to send to customers; but also – and perhaps more importantly – this refers to the analytics which help companies determine the best day and time to send marketing messages to a specific customer in order to incentivize them to make a purchase.

To better understand why you need to be able to send the right customer the right message at the right time, think about it like this: How much more likely are you to read, consider, or act on advertising messages from your favorite brands on payday, when all of your expendable income is just sitting there in the bank? Well… most customers are no different, which why this is just one example of how timing truly is everything when it comes to sending marketing messages with measurable ROI.

Following Up in the Right Way

Want to know how not to personalize your marketing efforts? Don’t send customers advertisements or promotions for an item they just bought. This happens in retail way more often than it should, and it stems from a company’s failure to fully integrate their back-of-house technologies to provide real-time data sharing across systems. When technologies aren’t fully integrated it results in an inability for a retailer’s POS system to communicate relevant information, such as the price point and SKU of purchased products, to their CRM system.

When there is this type of a disparity in information sharing between systems, there is nothing preventing a company’s software from making common marketing mistakes that can make customers feel undervalued, such as sending an email saying, “We haven’t seen you in a while,” when that customer just made an online purchase that day, or bombarding a customer’s iPhone with product images of an item they just bought.

An Opportunity for Fast-Action

A recent study by Accenture and Forrester found that customers are underwhelmed by the digital experiences being delivered by most brands. In fact, only 7 percent of existing brands are actually exceeding customer expectations. This means that the bar is still very low for omnichannel experiences, and that companies can set themselves apart by giving customers a targeted, synchronized experience along their path-to-purchase.

As the global conversation about technology continues, an increasing number of company leaders are getting distracted by advancements in arenas such as virtual reality and in-store robots. As a result, there is more opportunity than ever for business-owners to differentiate themselves by refining their customer experience and exceeding customer expectations with real-time personalization and targeted omnichannel marketing initiatives. NectarOM makes it easy for businesses to fully integrate their back-of-house processes, so they can accurately and skillfully respond to customer behavior in real time.

Conversational Selling: Take Personalization To the Next Level

Increase customer satisfaction and conversion with conversational marketing

Live chat and messaging apps have become an integral part of any omni-channel customer service strategy.

Customers value the ability to get answers when and where they want and companies are improving customer satisfaction and conversion rate thanks to the capability of providing real-time responses.

One study found that 38% of customers said they have made a purchase due to a good live chat session. Live chat assistance has also been noted for helping to decrease cart abandonment by up to 30%, which in turn lead to an increase in sales.

Image source

The key to getting the most out of live chat or messaging apps is to deliver a personalized experience tailored to each customer with conversational selling.

One-to-one conversations: the most effective way to convert

Remember the good ol’ days, before lead generation forms and email marketing, when people made sales solely by talking to other people!

With the help of advanced marketing technologies, it’s now possible to have one-on-one conversations with a large number of prospects and customers simultaneously and deliver a highly personalized experience in a way that’s most convenient.

This is often called “conversational marketing” – a process of having real-time, one-on-one conversations to capture, qualify, and connect with your best leads anytime and anywhere.

How to optimize conversational marketing

At the heart of conversational selling is a customer-driven approach that focuses on one-on-one interactions.

With the aid of technology, marketers can scale up these personalized interactions such that one employee can manage multiple, concurrent one-to-one conversations.

Here are some characteristics of conversational marketing to leverage:

Real-time interactions and fast responses

Conversational marketing is effective because customers can get the assistance they need right away.

With the combination of chatbot and live agents, you can effectively provide customers with the most relevant information as quickly as possible.

Chatbots can be programmed to respond to specific questions while triaging more complex requests so that a live agent can step in to assist promptly.

Customer-centric engagements

You don’t convert customers only by collecting leads. You make sales when you engage prospects in a dialog to understand what they need and offer a solution.

Conversational selling is effective because it focuses on having a two-way conversation so that you can deliver the most relevant information or solution based on the context of the interactions.

Personalized conversations

These one-to-one conversations are contextual and informed by a customer’s past interactions with your brand.

Even if you’re talking to a lead for the first time, you can add a personal touch by getting insights from their browsing history, the page on which they’re initiating the contact, or their locations based on IP addresses.

Customer insights

You can glean customer insights and collect additional information to enrich existing customer profiles through conversational marketing.

For example, when you ask a customer if he wants to be notified when there’s news about a certain product category, you get information on the kind of items they’re interested in to inform your segmentation and marketing efforts.

The information gathered through these conversations can help you get a more in-depth understanding of your customers so that you can fine-tune your sales and marketing strategies.

The key to seamless customer experience

Conversational marketing helps deliver seamless customer experience and facilitates prospects’ progression down the purchasing path.

A 360-degree customer profile is the key to success for this marketing strategy.

This single customer view allows your team to deliver an outstanding purchasing experience based on all the interactions a customer has had with your brand so you can maximize the use of technologies such as chat and messaging apps to optimize your ROI.

Using Analytics to Choose Inventory for a New Season

Making purchasing decisions for a store or retail business is a complicated proposition. The decision-making becomes especially complex when you are trying to determine which products deserve permanent shelf space on your store floor; and which need to be discounted or sent back to the warehouse to make room for new inventory. It can also be difficult to know the answer to sourcing questions such as when to respond to trends, how much to purchase of a specific item and what price-points to sell at for maximum profitability. As a result, an increasing number of retailers are relying on predictive analytics to make more informed purchasing decisions. In fact, according to Martech Advisor, 57 percent of B2B marketers said predictive analytics was their “primary tool” for 2017.

Consider the following to learn more about how predictive analytics are helping companies to maximize sales and to make the most of their inventory budgets.

Determine Top-Performing Categories

Before a retailer can begin using predictive analytics to make better purchasing decisions, they have to determine the top-performing categories in their existing inventory. These can be found by collecting data on factors such including: sales numbers their POS system, consumer engagement with product images in specific categories and high-traffic areas on the company’s website. From here, a retailer can determine which categories are the most profitable, as well as what categories could be expanded to increase future sales.

Forecast Future Seasonal Inventory

Once a retailer knows where to expand their existing inventory, it is time to measure seasonal sales from past years against current industry trends to forecast seasonal sales. This helps determine how large of an order to place for a specific item, as well as where to take a well-calculated risk with a new trend or category. Targeted purchasing recommendations can be derived from this information, so retailers can order only what they need, when they need it – thus boosting seasonal sales and reducing the risk of end-of-the-season discounting.

Adjust Strategy Where Necessary  

The capabilities of predictive analytics don’t stop once a retailer rolls out their new inventory. Analytics-based software monitors and reports on sales performance, so retailers can keep track of which seasonal inventory categories are the most successful and make modifications to their orders whenever necessary. This means that only the best-selling merchandise gets a place on the show floor. Since NectarOM uses the “Test and Learn” method, we are able to quickly respond to sales activity, so that clients can adapt their purchasing strategy in order to augment ROI.

Keeping Abreast of Trends

It is essential for retailers to utilize predictive analytics when making seasonal purchasing decisions to remain competitive. In fact, Martech Advisor reports that 82 percent of B2B companies used predictive analytics in last year – and of the companies who did not, 67 percent intend to implement predictive analytics in 2018. It is not only important for retailers to have access to the consumer data, but also to have data-based forecasting software which enables them to quickly respond to industry trends and customer behavior. At NectarOM, we provide clients with software with real-time reporting capabilities that clearly outline actionable recommendations – so they can amplify seasonal sales and adjust to changing consumer preferences.

Omnichannel Retail Is the Key To Delivering Outstanding Customer Experience

Increase engagement and conversion with these 5 essential omnichannel retail components

As a “click-and-mortar” retail business, you’re uniquely positioned to take advantage of the omnichannel retail trend, deliver a seamless online/offline experience, and meet the expectations of today’s consumers who prefer to use both traditional and digital channels simultaneously while shopping.

Whether customers are interacting with your brand via an eCommerce website, mobile app, print catalog, call center, or physical store, they want to have the ability of pausing and resuming their shopping experience at any point and across all channels without interruption.

An omnichannel shopping experience is customer-centric. It focuses on shoppers’ holistic interaction with a brand instead of disparate channels within the brand.

Here’s how you can deliver a highly engaging and personalized experience across all channels to create a seamless customer experience:

1. Set up a 360-degree customer profile

A single customer view is the foundation of an effective omnichannel retail strategy.

It allows you to leverage the information you have gathered about a customer from all his interactions with your brand across different channels so that you can deliver the most compelling and relevant experience, such as targeted content or special offers, to drive conversion and increase loyalty.

Image source

2. Store all customer data on a centralized platform

A unified backend system is the key to harnessing the power of the single-customer view.

A robust centralized system allows you to manage and extract insights from your customer data while making sure all employees have access to all pertinent information, such as a customer habits, location, preferences, and purchasing history, so that they can deliver a seamless shopping experience no matter when and where they’re interacting with the customers.

3. Offer different fulfillment options

Shoppers want to order and receive merchandise through the channels of their choice; sometimes they want the products delivered to their doorstep while at other times they need an item right away and prefer to pick it up at the store.

As a brick-and-mortar merchant, you have the unique advantage of meeting the various fulfillment needs of your customers through various options, such as buy online and pick up in-store, ship from store, buy in-store and ship to the doorstep.

4. Integrate mobile technology with in-store experience

Consumers are inseparable from their mobile devices, which provides a great opportunity for delivering a seamless online/offline experience via a mobile app to augment their in-store experience.

For instance, with the geofencing technology, you can drive traffic to your store by using push notifications to deliver special offers to customers who are in the area.

In addition, store associates can use mobile technologies to access customer’s purchase history, preferences, and profile information to deliver a personal and engaging experience.

5. Deliver a unified omnichannel brand experience

An outstanding customer experience is consistent, cohesive, and reliable. This implies that every single touch point needs to meet the highest standard and deliver an on-brand experience.

From brand identity and visual designs to user experience and customer service, you need to ensure that shoppers are interacting with your brand consistently across all channels.

Omnichannel experience: the future of retail

A customer-centric experience is the key to brand engagement and conversion.

The expectation of a seamless omnichannel shopping experience is the new normal and brands are realizing the need to stay ahead by making sure that they meet their customers where they are.

Thankfully, with the help of advanced customer data management technologies, building a solid foundation for your omnichannel retail strategy is easier now than ever.

Request a demo to see how you can harness the power of omnichannel personalization in the retail industry.

Sources

//www.mytotalretail.com/resource/top-10-best-practices-for-omnichannel-retail-success/file/

https://nectarom.com/2017/08/17/single-customer-view-increases-effectiveness-omnichannel-marketing/

https://www.r2integrated.com/r2insights/be-customer-centric-not-brand-centric

//www.ibmbigdatahub.com/blog/using-retail-mobile-apps-enhance-store-shopping-experience

 

Cleanse Your Data: Personalization in the New Year

Welcome to 2018. Personalization rules the world and nearly every business you can nav to on Google Maps has a method of harvesting customer data. Of course, these days it takes more than just downloading some basic CRM (customer relationship management) software onto your POS system to differentiate yourself. Since nearly every company has some method of pulling customer data, analytics alone aren’t effective until that data is cleansed, streamlined and put to work by personalizing your company’s customer experience in measurable ways. Maybe that’s why most of the conversation about data this year is focused more on cleansing your existing customer data than on blindly accumulating info just to stash it away in siloes.

While it may be tempting to take the “more is more” approach when it comes to accumulating customer information, data security is a hot-button issue right now, so it’s important to get your technology up to code. Especially in light of the new GDPR regulations which will require companies doing business within EU countries to revamp their data security measures by May of ’18. In addition to the soon-to-be-implemented GDPR regulations, most companies straight up don’t have time to waste on CRM systems that are lagging due to useless data hoarding.

With this said, here are actionable tips on how you can cleanse your company’s data systems to implement safer and more effective personalization strategies in the new year.

Build a Master Data Strategy

A master data strategy, or MDM, is essential to making sure that the right people in your organization can access the data they need at the right time. Building a MDM also helps ensure that your information is safe from piracy, and the data presented to each individual at your company is whittled down to suit their specific needs. This helps prevent shrinkage, while empowering both you and your employees to make better decisions for your business in a fraction of the time.

CMO by Adobe suggests 5 steps to building an effective MDM: 1) Establish data governance policies (or set of procedures by which to implement your data strategy), 2) identify an owner (someone responsible for the data and how it’s dispensed), 3) define the data (choose universal terms and data conventions to use across your organization) 4) map it out (identify who will be using the data and how), and 5) start small and scale (be patient – it is a process to implement a change of this magnitude).

Assess Relevance with Regular Reviews  

Of course, before you implement a MDM within your organization, you’ll need to determine which data remains pertinent to your company’s needs… and what you can do without. Conducting a regular data review and eliminating unnecessary and/or dated customer information can help to increase your business’s connection speeds, as well as help your employees better locate and utilize relevant information. According to Campaign Live, two-thirds of organizations do not regularly review their data, which means that 75 percent of marketing data within the UK will be rendered obsolete once GDPR restrictions go into effect in May ’18.

It’s essential to conduct reviews regularly for your data to remain relevant, usable, and compliant with all of the evolving privacy laws pertaining to countries where your company does business. Set an internal precedent for, at minimum, an annual data review across all branches of your organization to empower your employees to easily access the information they need.

Use a Single Data Management Platform

So, what do you do with data once it’s cleansed and processed? It’s time to put that data to work to help you gain a better understanding of each customers and tailor your marketing campaigns to suit their specific needs. This sounds more complex than it is, since the right data management platform (DMP) will do most of the work for you. In fact, Nectarom’s DMP creates a centralized channel for all of your data across platforms, while also providing you with a 360-degree profile of each unique customer. In other words, it simplifies your marketing efforts by segmenting customer information and automatically updating customer profiles based on both their recent activity and their phase in the customer lifecycle.

Although it may feel like it sometimes, creating an effective personalization strategy really isn’t rocket science. Put cleansing and streamlining your company’s data at the forefront of your omni-channel efforts for 2018, so that all of the branches of your organization can come together to operate at maximum efficiency!

How to Create an Omni-Channel Personalization Strategy for 2018 and Beyond

It’s a new year of retail technology and advancements in artificial intelligence are shaping customer expectations for personalization. In fact, 10 percent of purchasing decisions will be guided by intelligence agents this year, according to Forrester – making 2018 the first year that AI will have a measurable impact on consumer purchasing decisions. This is only the beginning of significant advancements in the field of personalization, as the fiscal impact of targeted suggestions from intelligent algorithms is only projected to grow.

Leaders Share Personalization Strategies

Personalization was the hot topic at the NRF Big Show this year and well-known retail leaders from such companies as Macy’s, The Children’s Place and the Neiman Marcus Group addressed how their companies plan to use personalization to differentiate themselves from the competition. As Karen Katz, President and CEO of the Neiman Marcus Group, told Forbes, “Great customer experience in 2018 will come from blending technology with a more personalized touch… people that can combine technology-powered personalization with a human will be the winners.”

Speaking the Language of Conversational Interface

Artificial intelligence-powered conversational platforms are becoming the preferred method for customers to interface with retail companies. Gartner predicts that by 2021, over 50 percent of companies will spend more per year on chatbots than they do on mobile app development. AI-powered chatbots and voice activated search platforms such as Amazon and Alexa enable retailers to offer targeted product suggestions and to resolve basic customer service issues. When AI-powered chatbots are used to facilitate a customer’s product search, they can take the customer through every phase of their purchasing process – from their first visit to a brand’s website to choosing the correct payment method for their final purchase. Customer service bots can be used to quickly to customer queries and direct shoppers to the appropriate branch of the company to handle their request.

Learning to Utilize Intelligent Algorithms  

Although most retailers know it’s necessary to implement niche technological developments such as chatbots and personalization platforms in order to compete, Forrester reports that 67 percent of retailers are still not prepared to leverage intelligent agents within their companies. This means that only 33 percent of retailers surveyed by Forrester understand the power of AI to disrupt the retail industry. However, disruption is inevitable. In 2018, it is advisable for retailers with stores of various sizes – across many different verticals – to implement intelligent personalization strategies across every branch of their retail store operations. Even the most advanced AI platforms depend on whittling customer data down to individual profiles to build loyalty strategies with authentic, applicable personalization. Yet the most effective personalization strategies take things yet a step further to suggest relevant marketing methods and formulate plans-of-action based on each customer’s unique search history, as well as their phase in the consumer lifecycle.

Integrating Marketing Touchpoints

The biggest mistake retailers make when implementing a burgeoning personalization strategy for their customer base is failing to update customer information each time a relevant transaction or communication takes place. When organizations fail to connect the dots across platforms, they cannot syndicate recommendations or register customer interactions, which often results in sending out duplicate communications or failing to follow-up with consumers. At NectarOM, we work to bridge the gap between various branches of our clients’ companies to create a unified, cohesive brand presence and customer outreach strategy across platforms. Don’t be one of the 67 percent of retailers that Forrester predicts will fall behind in the New Year – instead, partner with a solution provider with access to an intelligent, AI-fueled  personalization algorithm that produces measurable results.

How To Use Omnichannel Marketing To Attract More Shoppers This Holiday Season

The secret to being in the right place at the right time to maximize sales

Consumers want to shop whenever and wherever it is the most convenient for them, and brands are responding quickly to their needs.

If you want to increase your sales this holiday season, you have to meet your customers where they’re at and deliver an engaging shopping experience at all touchpoints.

To do so, you need a comprehensive strategy to guide your effort. Here are a few ideas to incorporate into your omnichannel marketing plan:

Augment your mobile experience

This year’s Cyber Monday was dominated by mobile sales, accounting for $2 billion of the $6.59 billion in total online sales.

To encourage customers to purchase from their mobile devices, declutter your mobile eCommerce experience and make it easy for shoppers to browse and check out.

You can also add an easy-to-navigate “holiday shopping” section featuring the most popular gift items to streamline the user experience.

Don’t forget your mobile app. Update it with content relevant to the holiday season, add a gift selector, and offer personalized product recommendations based on a customer’s preferences and browsing history.

Beef up your website with interactive content

Finding the right gifts for everybody can be challenging and your customers would appreciate all the help they can get.

Develop an interactive gift selector or a product comparison widget to streamline the shopping experience and help customers make the right choices.

Feature trending items and offer different ways to sort product listing to help visitors find the products they want.

You can also add shoppable images or videos to your website to enhance the user experience, increase engagement, and boost conversion.

omnichannel marketingImage source

Get more sales from your email subscribers

Email marketing is an extremely effective way to send targeted content and personalized offers to people who have already shown interest in your brand.

Segmenting your list and sending personalized content that is most relevant to your subscribers can help increase engagement, click-through rate, and conversion.

Your emails can feature this holiday’s hottest items and offer product recommendations based on the recipients’ profiles, preferences, and purchasing behaviors.

If they have recently visited your website and shown interest in certain items, you can offer them a special discount for the particular products.

You can also send cart abandonment reminders to shoppers who have items in their carts but are yet to complete their orders.

Increase social media reach with ads and retargeting

Paid advertising is a great way to boost your social media presence and show up in front of your ideal customers during the holiday season.

Target your messaging to specific segments based on interests, geographic locations, demographics, occupations, and more, to deliver a personalized experience.

You can also import your email list and show subscribers the special offer you have sent in an email.

In addition, you can use retargeting and Facebook Dynamic Ads to show the most relevant products or content to an audience.

omnichannel marketingImage source

Explore the new frontier of messaging apps

The top four messaging apps now have a larger combined user base than the top four social networks.

As consumers are getting comfortable with messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, brands are using these new platforms to engage with their audience.

You can answer pre-sale questions, assist customers with placing their orders, and offer post-sale support through these touchpoints.

With personalization and chatbot technologies, aided by machine learning and natural language processes, you can now deliver a customized shopping experience at scale using messaging apps.

The key to successful omnichannel marketing

No matter what strategies you’re implementing this holiday season, keep in mind that the ultimate goal of omnichannel marketing is to deliver a customer-centric shopping experience.

When you design your plan based on the preferences and behaviors of your customers, you’ve already won half the battle.

Omnichannel Marketing: Key To Winning the Brick-and-Mortar Game In the Age of eCommerce

How digital marketing technologies augment in-store shopping experience

With eCommerce going strong this holiday season, it isn’t surprising that brick-and-mortar retailers are feeling the pressure to go online.

While you can’t turn back the clock and make online shopping go away, there’s a lot you can do to attract shoppers to your store by incorporating digital technologies into your marketing (if you can’t beat them, join them!)

The line between online and offline shopping is blurring – retailers with physical stores are growing their eCommerce operations, while eCommerce pure plays are adding physical locations. Rent the Runway, Bonobos, Warby Parker, Gilt, Purple Carrot, and Amazon are just a few examples.

To succeed in this brave new world of retail, you need to combine the best of both online and offline commerce to devise a strategy that appeals to today’s savvy consumers.

omnichannel retail

Image source

Successful omnichannel retailers are blending digital and physical experiences seamlessly. They’re generating more sales and profits than those who pursue either one alone or both together, but in a siloed manner.

Here are a few ways to incorporate digital experiences into your retail business so you can drive more traffic to your physical stores and make more sales:

Personalized email marketing

Sending personalized content, product recommendations, and offers based on subscribers’ preferences and purchasing history is a great way to increase sales.

For customers who live in areas where you have physical stores, you can encourage them to pay a visit by sending coupons for in-store purchases customized to their preferences.

In-store pick-up option for eCommerce orders

Last-minute shoppers scrambling to buy gifts may not have the time to wait a few days for their online orders to be shipped. Meanwhile, there are some who simply enjoy the “instant gratification” when they pick up their orders on the same day.

You can offer in-store pick-up option for your eCommerce customers, so they can process their orders online and pick up the items in a physical store. They can avoid the long queues while getting the order when they need it.

Mobile app push notifications

Consumers have their phones with them all the time. By using geo-fencing technologies, you can send personalized offers via a mobile app to shoppers close to or inside a physical store.

You can put a time-limit on the offer to add urgency or send an in-store-only special to encourage customers to stop by your store.

In-store kiosks

Bring the digital shopping experience to your stores with kiosks. Customers can use them to locate specific items, place an online order for a size or color that isn’t in stock, and log in to their accounts to look up their purchase history or manage their orders.

These kiosks can help you bridge the online and offline shopping experience while freeing up salespeople to assist customers on the floor.

Keeping your eyes on the prize

While designing an omnichannel retail strategy, keep this main objective in mind: to sell merchandise to your customers in whichever way they want to buy it.

The key is to deliver a fluid shopping experience between online and offline touchpoints so that customers can make a purchase from you as seamlessly as possible.

Omnichannel Personalization: The Key To Making More Sales This Holiday Season

How to use personalization strategies to increase conversion rate.

The holiday season is the “make or break” time of the year for many retailers.

Whether you’re an online merchant or a brick-and-mortar business, you’ll be facing tough competition this holiday season.

In this era, it’s no longer enough just to offer better pricing or a larger product selection. Shoppers are looking for a customer experience that’s as painless, frictionless, and convenient as possible.

Given that the average American purchases 14 gifts, consumers can use all the help they receive so that they don’t have to spend endless hours on their holiday shopping.

With today’s omnichannel personalization technology, retailers can augment the holiday shopping experience and increase sales by helping customers find the most relevant products and take advantage of the best offers, which in turn will entice them to buy more.

personalizationImage source

Real-time web personalization

When visitors interact with your website, you can promote the most relevant content, products, and offers based on their browsing behavior.

By using real-time web personalization, you can display items that shoppers have spent the most time viewing but haven’t purchased. This way you can increase the chances that they’ll re-engage with the products.

Keep in mind that many shoppers are looking for gifts to find recommendations related to the product they’re currently viewing helpful – even if it doesn’t match their personal profile.

You can also leverage aggregated customer data to map a shopper’s behavior to past customer purchases to display products they’d most likely be interested in.

Last but not least, there’s no better way to offer product recommendations than having shoppers tell you what they’re looking for.

Offer an interactive gift guide on your website to help them narrow down their choices. This will not only allow you to offer the most relevant recommendations but also increase engagement with your audience while educating them about your products along the way.

Personalized coupon offer

By using mobile and geofencing technology, you can send shoppers coupons when they’re near a physical store via text message or push notification on a mobile app.

Mobile coupon usage has been on the rise and 98% of SMS message is opened within the first minute, making this a powerful combination to drive more traffic and sales for brick-and-mortar merchants.

This real-time coupon offer can be a discount for one of the products they’ve viewed repeatedly on your website or it can be a recommendation based on their customer profiles.

personalizationImage source

Personalized email automation

Email marketing is a great way to deliver targeted content and offers to individual subscribers on your email lists.

personalizationImage source

Use personalization strategies such as email retargeting or triggered email campaigns to draw your customers’ attention to products or offers they’ve shown an interest in.

personalizationImage source

In addition, you can customize these emails based on each customer’s browsing behavior, preferences, location, past purchases, or items left in the cart, to increase engagement.

Another way to generate more sales from email marketing is to make good use of receipts. “Predictive receipts” are email receipts that include personalized product recommendations based on the products purchased.

These are emails your shoppers are expecting and will open. Not to mention, since they’ve already purchased from you, they’re more likely to buy again.

Boost your holiday sales with omnichannel personalization

Your personalization strategy should work across multiple channels and reflect shoppers’ interaction with your brand real-time.

Using an omnichannel marketing platform that supports personalization strategies will help you make the most of your customer data so that you can offer the best shopping experience that will not only increase brand loyalty but will also make more sales.