30 Best Ways to Create a Personalized Shopping Experience That Converts

Picture this: you just stepped into a clothing store. Immediately, an employee approaches you and asks if you want to look at shoes or tops. You don’t even have to tell them your size—they already know it. Instead, the employee directs you to the personalized section of the store, which is filled with recommendations tailored just for you. The goal of a customized shopping experience is to make customers feel known and understood—the more relevant and tailored to their preferences, the better. Not only does this boost engagement, but it also increases loyalty and sales. So how can you create a personalized shopping experience that feels seamless and relevant to every customer—boosting engagement, loyalty, and sales without overwhelming your team or tech stack? That’s precisely what this article will help you figure out.

As you’ll see, Ground’s eCommerce personalization platform is a valuable tool to help you achieve your objectives. With our solution, you can create a tailored shopping experience for your customers—without the headaches.

Table of Contents

• What is a Personalized Shopping Experience?

• 30 Best Ways to Create a Personalized Shopping Experience

• 10  Personalization Tips for a Better Customer Experience

• Book a Call for a Free Action Plan | Get an ROI Guarantee or Your Money Back

What is a Personalized Shopping Experience?

Personalized shopping, also known as e-commerce personalization, is a customer-centric approach where businesses tailor their marketing strategies, products, services, and offerings to meet their customers' individual:

• Needs

• Wants

• Pain points

The Power of Personalized Shopping

Personalized shopping extends beyond segmentation to deliver an ultra-customized experience, enhancing loyalty, sales, and relationships. This strategy leverages data-driven insights and technology to provide a customized experience for each customer. When done right, a personalized shopping experience can be more engaging and improve customer satisfaction.  

How Does Personalized Shopping Work?

Personalized customer experience is about customizing products, services, and interactions to match individual needs and preferences. Instead of a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach, it utilizes data to craft unique, relevant experiences tailored to every customer. It can be as simple as offering a “dark theme” on Slack or curating a wishlist of your favorite items on Amazon.

Beyond a Click

Take the classic "Buy it again" button on e-commerce sites. If someone loved a product enough to buy it once, there’s a good chance they’ll want it again. But timing is key. Picture a coffee lover who finishes their beans every two weeks. They’re far more likely to restock if you send them a timely reminder just when they’re about to run out. That’s personalization in action.  

Why Does Personalized Shopping Matter?

Personalized shopping experiences cater to individual preferences, making customers feel more understood by your business. When they find products or services based on past behaviors, they're more likely to have a positive shopping experience. Tailoring your offerings accordingly also helps turn regular customers into loyal ones by fostering better relationships.

Building Customer Relationships Through Personalization

When shoppers feel a more personal connection to your brand, they're more likely to become repeat customers. In addition, even if consumers aren't actively purchasing your products, personalization encourages engagement, leading to more interactions and a better opportunity for you to convert them. 

The Tangible Returns of a Tailored Experience

So what does this all mean? Improved customer satisfaction, increased customer loyalty, and enhanced engagement mean higher conversion rates for online retailers. By tailoring product recommendations and offers to individual preferences, a personalized shopping experience can lead to increased sales.

Types of Personalized Customer Experiences 

Personalized customer experiences drive customer loyalty. Tailored interactions bridge brands and customers, offering unique value to each individual and helping foster a deeper customer connection. Here are the key types of personalized customer experiences, with examples of how companies bring them to life: 

1. Product Recommendations

Product recommendations suggest items based on a customer’s past behavior, preferences, or even demographic details like:

• Age

• Gender 

• Education level

AI-Powered Discovery and Sales

This enhances product discoverability, driving sales and repeat purchases. Take Amazon, for example. The company utilizes AI-driven algorithms to curate sections such as “Customers who bought this item also bought” or “Recommended for you.” These suggestions persuade users to explore and purchase products that people with similar interests have liked. While users love this feature because it helps them discover items they may not have found otherwise, it’s a smart way to increase average order value from a business perspective. 

2. Tailored Marketing

Tailored marketing campaigns dive into customer journeys and interactions to pinpoint key customer touchpoints that can drive conversions while showing a proper understanding of customer needs. This might mean offering complementary items, providing after-sales support, or sending limited-time discounts to curb abandoned carts. A great example is Dollar Shave Club's abandoned cart email marketing campaign. It perfectly showcases personalized marketing by reminding customers when they might need that nudge to complete their purchase.   

3. Customized Service Interactions

Think about walking into a high-end beauty boutique. The moment you step in, a dedicated beauty consultant will examine your skincare routine, past purchases, and lifestyle to curate a personalized regimen. You now have a personal stylist to suggest the best foundation for your skin tone, a more suitable hairstyle, or a serum that complements your current cleanser. That's the Sephora experience; this level of attention to detail results in customized service interactions.

Beyond a Click

Customized service interactions are about treating customers like individuals, not just numbers. They are 1:1 engagements between a brand and a customer, customized to specific individual needs, preferences, and behaviors. It's when a business truly understands its customers and goes the extra mile to help them.

Benefits of Personalized Experience for Customers  

Ken Blanchard hit the bullseye when he said, “Just having satisfied customers isn’t good enough anymore. If you want a booming business, you have to create raving fans.”  That's where personalized customer experiences come in. When you know your customers well and give them what they want, they can become your biggest cheerleader. Here are more reasons why personalized customer experience matters:  

It Drives CustomeLoyalty

According to a McKinsey study, 71% of customers expect brands to recognize them as individuals, and 76% are annoyed when brands fail to do so. So, brands need to understand their customers, including their:

• Needs and preferences

• Use cases

• Budget constraints

• Discount requirements

That's the new normal. When you tailor interactions to each customer, you're not just selling stuff but keeping your loyal customers around for the long haul.  

It Boosts User Retention

Happy customers stick around. It's that simple. When people feel valued and understood, they’re less likely to jump ship. The numbers back it up—a whopping 64% of customers have ditched brands due to poor experiences. That’s a wake-up call with a massive chunk of your customers walking out the door. Find more such CX statistics.   

It Improves the Bottom Line

Superior personalized customer experience justifies premium pricing, helps identify opportunities for upselling and cross-selling, and expands customer lifetime value. Moreover, 90% of customers are ready to open their wallets wider for businesses that deliver personalized experiences.  

It Outperforms Competition

Outperforming the competition involves using personalized touches, such as addressing customers by their names, referencing their purchase history, and providing tailored recommendations. These help create emotional connections that turn casual shoppers into loyal brand advocates. This would be a tough act for your competitors to copy.  

The Tangible Impact of AI-Driven Personalization

You're testing ads, influencers, email, and barely growing your DTC. What if, in 5 minutes and 1 line of code, you could add 20% growth instead? Ground AI is the leading AI revenue driver, helping brands grow impossibly fast with our eCommerce personalization platform. 

Driving Tangible Revenue Growth

Brands using Ground grow, on average, 20% more a year. That’s $200K in extra revenue if you’re making $1M today! With Ground, you can automatically acquire more first-time customers, ensure you're converting as many bounced sales, and increase repeat purchase revenue (more cross-selling, replenishment, and subscriptions). Book a call for a free action plan and get an ROI guarantee or your money back.

Related Reading

• eCommerce Personalization Examples
• Personalized Shopping Experience
• Best eCommerce Tools

30 Best Ways to Create a Personalized Shopping Experience

1. Create Digital Twins of Customers

Digital twins are powerful, but only as good as the data you provide. Start by gathering actionable data across all touchpoints such as purchase history, browsing behavior, and social media interactions, to build detailed profiles that mirror customer preferences and behaviors. With digital twins, you can efficiently map the customer journey and quickly identify areas where customers drop off. 

Optimizing Conversions Through Digital Twin Insights

For instance, if the twin repeatedly stalls at the checkout page, it's a clear signal. Addressing this issue can significantly boost customer satisfaction and sales. Before you invest in a new product, why not take it for a virtual test drive? With digital twins, you can see how customers react, which features they love or hate and how to position your product for maximum impact. 

Real-time A/B Testing and Strategy Refinement

It's like having a focus group that's always available, saving you time and resources. You can also fine-tune your customer engagement strategies and deliver hyper-targeted marketing messages by A/B testing visuals and offers. Want to see if a bold headline or a soft approach converts better? Your twin will tell you in seconds, not weeks.

2. Leverage Social Listening

Data-driven social listening goes a long way to personalizing your outreach, reducing the expectation gaps and improving brand value. Here is how to harness social listening for improved customer experience:

• Adapt to consumer feedback: Monitor conversations on social channels to build real-time feedback loops. If you notice a spike in positive social mentions about a new feature, amplify that in your next marketing campaign or product mailer.

• Identify consumer sentiment: Tackle recurring user pain points by paying attention to customer sentiments. 

Actionable Insights from Social Listening

If you see a lot of complaints on social media about things like poor customer service, chatbots that only speak one language, or a clunky user experience, automate the analysis of those keywords and mentions using a social listening platform. Then, these issues can be brought up in internal meetings to find solutions.  

3. Create Omnichannel Customer Service

Customer expectations constantly evolve, and their preferred communication channels shift as they grow from casual browsers to loyal customers. With attention spans shrinking and social media on the rise, customers now expect businesses to meet them wherever they are, using the proper communication channels at the right moments. 

Channel-Specific Communication Preferences

For example, new customers often prefer email for pre-purchase communication, while post-purchase behavior shifts to social channels for delivery updates. When it comes to support, customers usually prefer chatbots for quick, no-fuss resolutions — the faster and more seamless your updates, the more trust and credibility you build with your customers.

Streamlining Support with Unified Platforms

While you may already have a customer service workflow in place, your audience's constant platform-hopping, from Facebook to Pinterest to Gmail, can be a challenge. Nonetheless, a unified customer service software can be your key to keeping up. Imagine the efficiency and ease of managing all these interactions from a single platform. Consider Uber's case. They had a solid cross-channel presence but lacked a centralized tool to manage customer interactions efficiently. By adopting Sprinklr Service, Uber was able to deliver proactive customer service at scale while maintaining a personal touch. 

Uber's Efficiency Gains

This solution saved Uber's agents over 4,000 hours since its launch, reduced first response time by 33% and increased the number of cases handled within their SLA by 8% and the average case handle time dropped by nearly a minute and a half. Imagine the relief of achieving such significant time and efficiency savings in customer service operations.  

4. Use Generative AI Tools

CX leaders are already betting on AI to drive experience-led customer retention. AI has the potential to unlock up to a trillion dollars in new value annually, with a significant portion of that growth projected to stem from improvements in customer experience. Here’s how you can leverage AI and AR/VR tools to elevate customer experiences: 

Automated customer workflows

AI-powered omnichannel routing can transform how you manage incoming calls and chats by analyzing:

• Sentiment

• Language

• Intent

This leads to more innovative ticket routing, fewer escalations, and better overall service. By incorporating skill-based routing, you can ensure that tickets are directed to the right agents based on their expertise and the issue’s priority.

Leverage AR/VR Tools

AR/VR technology elevates live shopping experiences to the next level with virtual fitting rooms and try-on capabilities for clothes and accessories. This strategy:

• Boosts customer engagement

• Reduces return rates

• Enhances the shopping experience

Take Home Depot, for example. Customers using AR had conversion rates 2 to 3 times higher than those who didn't. Similarly, ASOS's "See My Fit" trial is a prime example of how AR can attract new customers and increase retention.

Segment customers

AI can analyze purchase history and browsing behavior to build detailed customer profiles, allowing you to deliver highly personalized recommendations. AI also enhances loyalty programs by analyzing engagement data and tailoring rewards, just like Starbucks does with its custom reward offerings based on individual habits.  

5. Offer Personalized Product Recommendations

When Thinx introduced “period undies,” a sustainable alternative to tampons, the brand understood that customers would have questions. Thinx tackled the problem by combining education and product recommendations. In the process, it shattered its conversion expectations.

Thinx's "Know Your Flow" Success

“Know Your Flow” is Thinx’s quiz-style tool that collects customer information and outputs personalized recommendations. At launch, the conversion rate for quiz takers was five times higher than for those who did not start the quiz. The tool had an over 90% completion rate. (With some tweaks to the tool, it’s now 99%.).

Mobile Conversion Triumphs

On mobile, the results are even more impressive. “There we see seven times or eight times what our typical mobile conversion rate would be,” says Brendan Hastings, vice president of engineering and digital product for Thinx. Based on the data collected, the tool also continues to evolve and inform changes to the website.   

6. Create Customized Experiences and Products

As with bras, swimwear fit can be tricky. KaiKini founder Taryn Rodighiero recognized this challenge when she launched her custom swim brand. While a quiz would help her customers select the best size, she took the personalized experience one step further.

Tailored Fit and Personal Connection

Adding custom-made swimwear to her lineup meant she could tailor each piece to a customer’s unique specifications. On the product page, customers can build suits by entering their measurements and preferences (say, more or less coverage). Taryn also offers a virtual concierge service where she personally walks customers through the process. 

Proactive Fit Assurance

“We make sure they are going to get a suit that fits right before we make it instead of after,” she says. KaiKini’s concierge service allows Taryn to build personal connections while gathering direct feedback. “I love face-to-face meetings,” she says. “Every time I speak to [my customers], I come away learning something new.”  

7. Upgrade to Smart, Relevant Reviews

Beauty brands contend with high return rates, as customers often buy the wrong product or color. But many beauty brands have found ways to personalize the experience for each customer. Beauty behemoth Sephora has used “smart reviews” to solve many of these challenges. 

Peer-to-Peer Product Validation

Buyers can filter reviews to show only those from buyers with similar physical traits or beauty challenges. Users can communicate via an on-site Conversations forum. Thinx reviews similarly contain helpful information about each reviewer—height, period management habits, size purchased—letting buyers hone in the feedback that is most relevant to them. These helpful reviews not only build trust with a brand or product, they can also inspire a new customer to add a product to their shopping cart.  

8. Offer Tailored Product Education

Hair care line Chāmpo is based on the “Doshas,” an Ayurvedic diagnostic system that determines hair type and the suitable products for each. Education is therefore an essential part of Chāmpo’s customer journey. Chāmpo’s hair quiz guides visitors through questions that determine one’s Dosha. 

Personalized Solutions and Continuous Improvement

The results then deliver only the information and products that are specific to that customer’s profile. Not only does the quiz benefit the customer, but it also helps Chāmpo stay in tune with their needs. “We continuously gather data, seek out feedback, and act upon it to keep our brand evolving,” says founder Kuldeep Knox.  

9. Mirror the In-Store Experience Online  

The home décor and furniture industry has seen a wave of brands ditching the showroom in favor of a DTC approach. Many of these companies have replaced the in-store experience with augmented reality (AR) tools. Brooklyn Bicycle Co. has taken another approach. Its NYC showroom is “transformational, not transactional,” says founder Ryan Zagata. The brand has invested in the space in a way that distances it from typical bike shops, where the experience can be intimidating. 

• The coffee is hot.

• The staff are conversational.

• The bikes are meant for test rides. 

As Brooklyn Bicycle Co. grew its online DTC business, Ryan and his team wanted a way to bring their successful in-store experience to customers everywhere. When Ryan introduced a simple quiz to the website, they saw a significant increase in online conversion rates. “It’s a low commitment way to get people into our funnel,” says Ryan. “And those who go through the bike finder app are much more likely to buy.” 

Interactive Content Drives Conversions

This is no anomaly. One report finds that interactive content converts at twice the rate of passive content. Ryan says 21% of Brooklyn Bicycle Co. quiz takers enter their email addresses to become valuable subscribers. The brand has another chance to convert those leads by following up with an invitation to visit in person or book a concierge appointment. 

Concierge Service: Bridging Online and Offline

The complimentary concierge service is designed to answer questions and understand customer needs, replicating the friendly showroom experience. These touchpoints provide the team with valuable insights into their potential customers. It’s useful data that informs how they’ll invest their efforts. 

Strategic Partnerships for Seamless Customer Experience

Another way the brand is bridging IRL and online is through partnerships. Brooklyn Bicycle Co. partners with hundreds of physical bike shops across North America, where the products are shipped and assembled for online customers. “If something were to go wrong with the bike,” says Ryan, “you have a local place that you have a relationship with that can address any issues.”  

10. Close the Personalization Loop with Returns

Return rates continue to soar as more shoppers move to online shopping. Even with extra measures taken to match the right product with the right buyer, returns still occur. Having a simple returns process is thus an essential part of the personalized experience. One study found a painless returns experience drives loyalty. 

The Power of Positive Return Experiences

Ninety-five percent of respondents said they would shop at an online retailer again after having a positive return experience. Some Shopify apps, such as Loop, tailor each return experience with intelligent rules. Yoga brand Alo utilizes Loop to direct customers through a branded portal that seamlessly integrates with its website design.  

11. Incorporate Virtual Try-On Features

Suppose you’re an online retailer that deals with products customers like to experiment with before purchasing. You can offer website visitors a personalized experience through a virtual try-on feature. For instance, say you sell eyeglasses. In that case, your customers would like a way to see how they’d look wearing different pairs before making their purchase. That’s precisely how Zenni Optical handles it. Customers can start by capturing a small video and then try on as many frames as they like before deciding on one.   

12. Targeted Promotional Content

Personalized promotional banners can significantly increase user engagement by aligning with their interests. Build detailed customer profiles based on their past searches and behavior. Design dynamic banners that reflect these profiles, such as showing exclusive offers on office furniture if a user searches for “home office setup.” Track the performance of these banners to assess their impact and refine them to meet user interests better and drive conversions.   

13. Intelligent Filtering Options

Innovative search filter suggestions streamline the shopping process by helping users quickly narrow down their choices. Implement filters that dynamically adjust based on the user’s search query. For example, when a user searches for “winter jackets,” offer filters like “water-resistant,” “insulated,” and “under $150.” Regularly update these filters based on user behavior and trends to ensure they are practical and relevant.  

14. Enhanced Search Bar Suggestions

Autosuggest and autocomplete features refine the search process, making it easier for users to find what they need. Integrate autosuggest functionality into your search bar that displays relevant suggestions as users type. For instance, if a user starts typing “garden tools,” provide suggestions like:

• Pruning shears

• Lawn mowers

• Watering cans

Utilize historical search data to suggest popular or related terms and continuously update the suggestions based on emerging trends.   

15. AI-Personalized Search Results

Incorporating AI into your personalized online shopping results can enhance the user experience by tailoring search outcomes. Develop AI algorithms that analyze user behavior, including:

• Past searches 

• Clicked products

This helps prioritize relevant search results. For example, if a user searches for “fall dresses,” the AI can highlight results featuring dresses similar to those they have previously searched for or clicked on.   

16. Users Also Viewed” Recommendations

Displaying “Users Also Viewed” product recommendations can significantly enhance the personalized shopping experience by suggesting items that other users with similar interests have explored. This technique leverages collective browsing behavior to offer relevant product suggestions. 

Enhancing Discovery Through Collaborative Filtering

For example, suppose a user is looking at a particular smartphone. In that case, the system can recommend other smartphones or related accessories that were viewed by users who also considered the same product. Implementing this feature involves analyzing browsing patterns and purchase histories to identify items frequently viewed together. Continuously update these recommendations based on new user data to ensure they remain relevant and practical.   

17. Voice Search  

Voice search is becoming an integral part of personalized online shopping experiences, offering users a hands-free, efficient way to find products. Integrate voice search into your store to let users search using natural language. For example, a user can say, “Find me eco-friendly cleaning products,” and the system can interpret the request and display relevant results. Enhance this feature by using AI to understand context and preferences, ensuring that the search results are tailored to the user’s previous interactions and interests. Regularly optimize the voice search functionality to improve accuracy and user satisfaction.   

18. Similar Product Recommendations

Recommending products with similar characteristics to what the user is currently viewing expands their options and enhances their shopping experience. Implement eCommerce search algorithms that analyze product attributes and user preferences to suggest similar items. For instance, if a user views a specific sofa, recommend other sofas from the same brand or with similar designs or colors. Keep these suggestions updated with new arrivals and user behavior to ensure they remain relevant.  

19. Retaining Search Query History

Remembering and populating past search queries can streamline the shopping experience by making it easier for users to refine or revisit previous searches. Implement a system that saves and recalls search queries, displaying them when users return. For example, if a user previously searched for “wireless earbuds,” show this query in the search bar when they return, facilitating quicker searches and improving user experience.   

20. Recognizing Synonyms in Searches

Understanding and processing synonyms enhances search accuracy, ensuring users find what they are looking for. Develop natural language processing (NLP) systems that recognize and handle variations of search terms. For example, a search for “laptops” should also include results for:

• Computers

• Macbook 

Regularly update the synonym database to accommodate new terms and variations that users might use.  

21. Implement Tiered Shipping

Shipping times and costs are often a complicated aspect of online shopping. The Wunderman Thompson report reveals that faster delivery is the top aspect of online shopping that consumers would like to change. And 41% of shoppers want cheaper shipping. It may not be cost-effective to offer express or free shipping to all buyers. Nevertheless, you could implement tiered shipping that comes with premium options for repeat customers.   

22. Integrate Personalized Chatbots

With AI to power up your chatbots, you’re no longer bound by workforce limitations. Instead, you can have a personal account manager for every website visitor looking for help with a purchase. Personalized chatbots enable you to offer Instant customer support, answering simple questions about sizes on product pages. For example, you can preconfigure a chatbot to convert stated sizes into other sizing systems (such as from U.S. to UK dress sizes) to assist customers in making informed purchasing decisions.

Product recommendations

Customers can interact with chatbots in real-time to find the exact product they’re looking for. Are they searching for chocolates to give to their significant others? Or are they in need of glasses cleaner? You can set up personalized chatbots to guide shoppers on their purchasing journey.

Provide post-sale support

You can use chatbots to handle order-related queries, shipping information, and returns. For instance, customers can receive a quick status update from the chatbot instead of needing to visit the delivery portal. For example, check out 1-800-Flowers.com’s chatbot. Instead of navigating through individual category pages one by one, shoppers can simply converse with the chatbot to select the products they want to add to their cart and finalize their purchase.   

23. Send Free Samples

Social media influencers often receive free products from brands that want them to promote their offerings. In a similar sense, you can send free samples to your frequent shoppers to benefit from word-of-mouth marketing and personalize their ecommerce experience. A great example of this in practice is Amazon Vine. Via this program, Amazon sends its most insightful reviewers free samples so they can share their thoughts on the products with other customers.   

24. Reconnect with Cart Abandoners

Cart abandonment is natural. Just like people go window shopping in malls, people abandon their carts on ecommerce platforms. 

The Challenge of Cart Abandonment

Baymard Institute found that in 70% of online shopping sessions, consumers add items to their shopping cart only to leave without checking out. That said, while you can’t have dedicated staff members to encourage virtual window shoppers to purchase after they navigate away, you can re-engage with cart abandoners after they leave your online shop. 

Re-engaging Cart Abandoners

You can approach cart abandoners via:

• Follow-up emails: Send timely abandoned cart emails to remind customers of the items they left in their cart and offer incentives, such as discounts or free shipping, to encourage them to complete their purchases.

• Abandoned cart popups: Display popups to remind customers of their carts before they exit your website.

• Retargeting ads: Utilize paid ads to showcase products that customers left in their shopping carts, keeping them top of mind.   

25. Enable User Profile Creation

Without a user profile, you can only offer surface-level ecommerce personalization. Allow new customers to create accounts on your online shop, enabling them to:

• View their past purchases

• Track their orders

• Open customer tickets

Amazon's Seamless Customer Account Experience

As you might expect, Amazon leads the way. Amazon allows customers to create their account profiles with ease, providing them with access to order management, shipment tracking, and purchase history. Not to mention, they can save multiple payment and shipping details for easier checkout in the future.   

26. Create Curated Gift Guides

While creating curated gift guides might not be a standard part of your ecommerce personalization strategy, you can make it a part of your overall marketing efforts to come across a helpful friend. For instance, if you run a cosmetic store, you can create guides for men who need a helping hand while shopping for their significant others. You can personalize the ecommerce experience of your customers by sharing detailed gift guides for:

• Father’s Day

• Mother’s Day

• Valentine’s Day

For example, check out this email from The Landmark Project, which suggests gifts for mothers and even offers a 20% off coupon with free shipping.   

27. Offer Personalized Subscription Boxes

If your ecommerce site sells consumables, such as skincare, grooming products, or pet food, you can opt for subscription boxes to get a consistent revenue stream while fulfilling customers’ needs. 

The BarkBox Model

You can tailor them to a customer’s specific needs. For example, consider BarkBox. BarkBox allows customers to enter their dog's breed, allergy specifications, and other details to receive tailor-made subscription boxes every month, which contain:

• Toys

• Treats

• Other fun items   

28. Celebrate Special Events

As an ecommerce brand, you can establish a personal connection with customers by celebrating special events with them. Typically, this means sending a personalized message to shoppers and recommending relevant products they can purchase to commemorate the event. Here are a few special events you can celebrate with your customers:

• Mother’s Day and Father’s Day: You can send a personalized email encouraging customers to buy gifts for their parents and incentivize them by offering discounts.

• Birthday: If the customer shares their birthday with you, you can make their day special by wishing them a happy birthday and including amazing discounts on their favorite products.

• Valentine’s Day: Since customers are shopping for their significant others, you can use an email campaign between Feb. 1 and Feb. 14 to remind them of the upcoming romantic holiday and recommend personalized products they can buy for their partners. 

29. Geotargeted Promotions

Geotargeted promotions tailor offers to a customer’s location. Managed Markets lets you do this at scale. It detects a visitor’s IP address and customizes content on your storefront to localize the experience, such as:

• Using their home currency

• Translating content into their native language

• Incorporating duties or taxes into product prices to prevent surprises at checkout

An omnichannel retailer with a physical presence can also use location data to personalize online-to-offline (O2O) marketing campaigns. For example, you could segment people within a 15-mile radius of your store, then run a Klaviyo email campaign to display inventory levels of products they’ve previously viewed on your online store. Offer an incentive, such as 10% off their first in-store purchase, as extra motivation to drive email subscribers to their closest retail store.   

30. Dynamic Website Content

Dynamic website content changes the appearance of your homepage or product pages based on a visitor’s past interactions. For example, customers who participate in your loyalty program see a carousel that explains the value of their points (and what they can be redeemed for). 

Dynamic Personalization in Action

Customers who previously redeemed a free shipping offer see an announcement bar that shares the minimum threshold to qualify for the same offer again. Customers who’ve bought a particular product see a product carousel of complementary items that people often buy in conjunction.

Related Reading

• How to Improve eCommerce Customer Experience
• Ai Tools for Ecommerce
• B2B eCommerce Personalization

10 Personalization Tips for a Better Customer Experience

1. Create a Customer Journey Map to Personalization

Before you can create highly personalized experiences for your customers, you need to know how to define and measure success. First, create a customer journey map to help you visualize the process. A customer journey map outlines the various stages an individual goes through with your business, from being a prospect to a loyal brand advocate.

Personalizing the Customer Journey

When creating a journey map for personalization, you can identify how to tailor each touchpoint to meet customer needs at each stage. For instance, if a customer is at the ‘Interested’ stage, share content that highlights product features. On the other hand, for ‘Paying Customers,’ you can share content that helps them use your product or service better. 

2. Collect Data with a Purpose

Data collection is a critical part of delivering a personalized shopping experience. Nevertheless, you shouldn’t just collect data for the sake of it. Instead, focus on collecting data that helps you improve your customers’ experience. For instance:

• What makes them choose us over our competitors?

• On which web pages are they spending most of their time?

• What customer service channels do they prefer?

• Which media should we use to keep customers well-informed and notified?

Answering these questions will help you personalize your customers’ experiences in no time.

3. Offer Personalized Customer Service

Customer service is one area where even the smallest of businesses can shine and carve a name for themselves. When customers reach out to your company for assistance and receive personalized service, they take note. It conveys the right message that whenever they need help, your business is ready to resolve their issues on priority. How to offer personalized customer service? 

Greet Customers by Their First Name

Yes. You might have heard this tip from thousands of others, but it works. If a customer walks into your store, greet them with a smile, and pay attention to what they have to say. Nothing beats giving your undivided attention to a customer.

Provide Multiple Customer Service Channels

Customers prefer different channels to contact a business, but this doesn’t mean you invest in every communication channel. Identify the channels that the majority of your customers use and stay accessible to them. 

Share Personalized Self-help Content

You can create a dedicated self-service knowledge base and share links to self-help articles and FAQs tailored to a customer's specific needs and problems.  

Leverage a Help Desk Software

The best help desk software will help you record all customer interactions emerging on various channels. This means that when a customer comes to you with an issue, your agents have all the necessary context to address their concerns.

4. Personalize Your Loyalty Program

Loyalty programs are an effective way to reward your customers for staying loyal to your brand, even in the face of competition from multiple brands in the market. When we discuss loyalty programs, the first thing that comes to mind is the generic 15% or 20% discount messages we receive for being a loyal customer. But is that enough? Not! Customers want to be rewarded for their loyalty with something meaningful—something tailor-made for them.

Crafting a Customer-Centric Loyalty Program

How to personalize your loyalty program? Generate original ideas that keep your business and audience in mind. Ask customers what rewards they value for participating. Offer customers multiple ways to earn, share, and spend reward points. Create personalized dashboards for customers that allow them to track their progress.

5. Run Killer Marketing Campaigns

In the history of capitalism, businesses that have dared to stand out from the crowd have consistently experienced a significant rise in customer attention and profits. For instance, who could forget the famous ‘Share a Coke’ campaign that took customer personalization to a whole different level? In 2014, the Coca-Cola company replaced its iconic brand name with popular American names on Coke bottles. But why was this campaign so successful? Customers could buy a product and share it with their close ones, creating an emotional bond with the brand. 

The Viral Power of Personalization

Over 500,000 pictures of such Coke bottles were shared on social media, leading to successful marketing at almost zero cost. A personalized marketing campaign is an effective way to:

• Attract existing customers 

• Capture the valuable attention of potential customers.

When people who have never bought from you witness your efforts to make customers feel special, they are automatically attracted to your brand. 

6. Keep Emails Interesting & Personalized

Do your emails always end up in the spam folder? Do customers never take any action even after receiving them? Well, if the answer has been a ‘yes’ in any of the above scenarios, a lack of user experience personalization can be the reason. 

The Impact of Personalized Email Content

According to a study by Experian, personalized emails have 29% higher open rates and a whopping 41% higher click-through rates. Offer customized content in the form of newsletters, links to self-help articles, training videos, and more. Always remember that more emails do not mean more results.

Streamlining Email Campaigns for Customer Engagement

Collaborate with your marketing team to develop a schedule for regularly sharing personalized emails. Now, running heavy email-marketing campaigns means that you will get the attention of your customers in some way or another. In that case, you can use email management software to keep track of all email conversations and share faster replies using canned responses. 

7. Keep Recommendations Relevant

Modern customers can sense when a business recommends its products or services solely to meet its sales targets. Irrelevant suggestions can not only hamper a customer’s experience but also erode their faith in your brand. According to a study conducted by SmarterHQ, 70% of millennials reported being frustrated with brands sending them emails that are irrelevant. Many businesses make the mistake of recommending products to customers that they believe are “hot-selling” or those that provide the highest return. 

The Imperative of Personalized Recommendations

Generic or repetitive recommendations frustrate customers and lower click-through rates. Just like Amazon, you must also personalize every customer’s homepage so that whenever they log in to their account, they can see products that match their interests and likes. The same applies to emails; keep the recommendations concise and highly personalized. 

8. Get Behind the “Search”

An effective search means that a customer can precisely find what they have been looking for in the least number of steps. Regardless of whether a customer performs a search on your help center page, website, or mobile application, the search results must be personalized. You can leverage a customer’s search history for enhanced personalization.

Enhancing Recommendations Through Search History

You can not only improve future search results but also recommend products or services to customers based on their previous searches. For instance, if a customer has repeatedly searched for a white denim in a particular size, you can recommend the same through the ‘Products You May Like’ section. Accurate product descriptions, product specifications, high-definition images, genuine reviews, and other relevant content must accompany every search result on your website or app. 

9. Make Use of AI for Real-Time Personalization

We have all heard how technology lacks a human touch and probably cannot match the personalization capabilities of a human being. Well, you can throw that idea like yesterday’s newspaper, as AI is here to do the unthinkable. For example, Under Armour is more than a sportswear brand— it wants all its customers to be active and fit.

AI for Hyper-Personalized Health and Engagement

For this very reason, its app utilizes Artificial Intelligence (AI) to collect personal information on an individual’s overall health, physical activity, diet, and more, to provide personalized recommendations for workouts and a healthy lifestyle. Another notable example is the extensive use of AI to develop intelligent chatbots. Unlike previous ones, these chatbots utilize real-time customer data, enabling them to add a personal touch to every chat interaction. 

10. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Customers

In addition to generating profits, one of the primary focus points of successful businesses is to serve customers more effectively. Remember, whatever position you have achieved in the market, it’s only because of your loyal customer base. To delight customers, identify gaps, and directly ask them about how you can improve the customer satisfaction or experience. 

Gathering Feedback Through Targeted Surveys

Customers can offer valuable insights and highlight specific areas of your site, app, or campaigns that need improvement. To capture quality input quickly, share surveys during key moments in the customer journey. For instance, ask customers which channels (social media, email, and customer portal) your business can use to recommend products they need. 

Related Reading

• Klaviyo Alternatives
• AI in Ecommerce Examples​
• eCommerce Customer Journey

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