Having become accustomed to highly responsive, personalized digital experiences during the pandemic, shoppers now expect to receive a personalized retail experience in every channel—including the brick-and-mortar stores they're visiting in person once more. Retailers have a clear opportunity to improve customer satisfaction by personalizing the retail customer experience both online and in their stores. When consistently engaged with a personal touch, customers will come away from their experiences knowing they're seen and valued, and they'll be more loyal to the brand.
Customers expect personalized experiences
According to a Gartner® survey about customers' views on personalization, 71% of business-to-consumer customers expect brands to be well-informed about their personal information during a service interaction.1
To customers, personalization isn't a nice optional feature or a side benefit of doing business with a brand but rather an entry-level requirement. According to Salesforce two-thirds of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations.
These trends have implications for in-store shopping and digital commerce. Recent Verizon research found that 73% of all store visits start online, and they don't necessarily result in a brick-and-mortar transaction. In fact, the purchases may ultimately take place on a mobile device. At the same time, in-store shopping itself is becoming increasingly digital: 93% of retailers believe shoppers will increase the use of mobile devices in stores by 2025.
Retailers have a clear opportunity to satisfy and keep their existing customers by personalizing the retail customer experience both online and in their stores. When consistently engaged with a personal touch, customers will come away from their experiences knowing they're seen and valued, and they'll want to buy from those brands again.
Building a retail customer experience strategy
An effective retail customer experience strategy begins with high-quality data. Retailers can use customer data, website analytics, customer feedback, sentiment analysis and market research—as well as the data they collect from digital tools like artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots and social listening platforms—to accomplish these goals.
Once retail businesses have identified the customer data sources they'll use, they can use a unified customer data management platform to securely store and interpret the information they gather. It is imperative that retailers have a comprehensive view of customer interactions and transactions across all customer touchpoints to ensure they have a full view of customers. With this solution retailers can unlock the precise analytics needed to deliver truly personalized customer experiences and recommendations. From there, retailers can use techniques like web personalization and hyper personalization to deliver the right messaging at the right time for maximum impact.
As retailers refine their personalization strategies, they should keep customer views on data use top of mind. Although customers want more personalization in retail, they also say it's a matter of trust. While 42% of customers are positive about receiving personalized ads and product offers, 87% are concerned about how their personal data is used to create personalized experiences. To balance personalization with respect for customer privacy, retailers should be honest and transparent about where they obtain third-party data and when they deploy new technologies like AI in customer interactions.
Personalization in retail delivers benefits beyond the customer experience
Although providing an excellent retail customer experience is a worthy goal, personalization offers retailers benefits in other areas, too. Beyond helping retailers understand their customers, it can also help customers gain a more intimate and detailed understanding of their own interests and preferences. Once this happens, customers may be even more likely to stick with a retailer that offers them precisely what they want. In this way, personalization allows retailers to identify their ideal customers and vice versa, creating the foundation for strong and enduring customer relationships.
Personalization in retail can also help to increase sales and growth rates. Retailers can use personalization techniques for cross-selling, increasing revenue opportunities, boosting order averages and reducing the frequency of returned products in the process. These advantages can prove especially beneficial during peak seasons like the holiday shopping period when customers place an even higher premium on easily finding exactly the right items they are seeking.
Because competitors can't easily replicate something as granular and specific as a personalized customer experiences, brands can use personalization to differentiate themselves from the competition. Businesses that use personalization may be better positioned to spot changing customer preferences and trends before competitors, giving them a head start on creating products and services that can delight existing customers and attract new ones. At a high level, retailers can also use personalization to create a customer-centric culture, putting customers first in the shopping journey.
Build the ultimate retail customer experience
Shoppers want retailers to give them experiences tailored for them that reflect their unique preferences while shopping online and in brick-and-mortar stores. In fact, nearly two-thirds of consumers say a brand could lose their loyalty if their experience is not personalized according to Twilio's 2022 State of Personalization Report. Retail businesses that don't meet customers' expectations for a personalized retail experience may suffer from decreased brand perception, customer loyalty and revenues.
By using personalization in retail to build the ultimate customer experience, retailers can deepen their customer relationships, improve their competitive position and drive revenue growth.
Learn more about how the right customer experiences can benefit your brand and how Verizon can help.
The author of this content is a paid contributor for Verizon.
1 Gartner, Gartner Survey Reveals 86% of B2B Customers Expect Companies to Be Well-Informed About Their Personal Information During Service Interactions, Katie Costello, June 2022.
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