Personalization ideas to improve the shopper journey

Today, most brands are choosing to use personalization to add value for their customers. Most marketers (and customers) are already familiar with basic personalization techniques, including using the customer’s name in an email. But there are many more options to add value and to improve the shopper journey.

What is the shopper journey?

The shopper journey refers to the steps a shopper usually goes through during a purchase. It typically starts with a need. Authors state there are 5 steps in this process:

• Awareness

The moment a consumer becomes aware of a brand or a new product. It is the start of the journey.

• Consideration

After a consumer realizes about their need (ie. we’re out of snacks) the shopper actively considers the options.

• Purchase

This is when the actual purchase happens. There are two things that happen here: Point of Purchase and Point of Sale, but for marketers to get a deeper understanding of the customer, we focus on the point of purchase (when a consumer decides whether or not they will buy a product.)

• Experience

Once the shopper gets the products, comes the stage where they taste and/or use the product.

• Advocacy

The last stage in the journey is after the shopper has purchased and used a product. Here, what normally happens is they share their experience whether it is good or bad

Ideas of personalization

Now that you know more about the shopper journey, we can see some ideas to improve the overall experience.

•  Product recommendations:

Here, you add an upsell or cross-sell that suggests similar products, or even complementary products based on the customer’s order.

• Navigation adjustment:

If a customer frequently visits your site, you can help make the purchase process easier for them by adjusting the navigation based on previous purchases and site visits.

• Chatbots: 

Online stores often use virtual assistants or chatbots to provide support to customers and answer their questions.

• Personalized emails and SMS marketing: 

You can engage customers by using personalized emails with special messages depending on the situation. Some of the most popular situations to use emails for are abandoned carts, follow up messages, birthday messages, and more.

Now that you know more about the shopper journey, along with ideas to improve it, you can include them. 

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