Web Personalisation is: -
“Creating experiences on Web
sites or through interactive media that are unique to
individuals or segments of consumers.”
Forrester
The bottom
line for owners of online shopping sites is for
personalisation and recommendation tools that are linked to
their websites to increase sales through enhancing the
experience for their customers.
In
2008 Jupiter Research found that:-
“Nearly half of all online shoppers (48%) plan to spend less
this year, but a majority of those reluctant to make certain
purchases (61%) can be positively influenced by online
shopping resources like personalized recommendations.”
In a recent Aberdeen study, titled "The 21st Century Retailer:
Managing Customers, Merchandise and Data”:
“70 percent of all retailers planned to implement real-time
analytics in the 12-month to 24-month time frame.”
E-commerce
personalization and recommendation tools are able to drive key
metrics such as: -
Revenue
Conversion
Average
transaction value
Time
on site
Margin
For all retailers surveyed in the Aberdeen Group “Clicks to
Customers” benchmark study, three indicators of performance
surfaced above the rest as metrics that retailers use to
evaluate success:
Increased year over year comparable sales (49 percent)
Increased average order value (43 percent)
Increased customer conversion rates (43 percent).
In order
to increase online conversions, personalisation solutions
generally fall into five categories:
Versioning - displays different versions of pages based on
segmented customers
Cross-selling - displays recommendations on a page(s)
Filtering - displays specific information based on customer's
directive
Custom - displays options specifically aligned with an ecommerce
provider's differentiated offering
User-generated - displays such as "top rated" or "most
recommended" products based on community feedback and actions
eCommerce Personalization Tools: How They Work
However, this is a developing area and personalisation and
recommendation tools are becoming more sophisticated and
involve: -
Build relationship maps of product inventory and attributes
Capturing consumer intent and combining it with the “wisdom of
the crowds.
On
page load, running multiple recommendation types in real time to
recommend the perfect products.
Measuring the performance of the recommendations, thus creating
a real time-feedback loop that constantly optimizes them on a
per placement and per page basis.
Awareness and Perceptions of E-commerce
Recommendations
Who should be involved in the Decision Making Process?
The Director for E-Commerce plus: -
Questions to ask when considering a solution for your needs
How much data is gathered and from where?
Sparse
data sets will yield poor recommendations, which not only
creates a poor customer experience but also does little to drive
sales
How sophisticated is the reporting?
It
is critical to understand how personalization tools interact
with conversion and the level of detail that can be provided to
understand what tools are working and what are not in terms of
increasing sales.
How quickly can the algorithm be changed/adjusted if necessary?
What types of clients does the vendor already have?
Additional
Resources
"Why Personalisation for SMBs now?" 17 October 2009
"E-commerce
- is the next wave about to break?"
by
Jamie Murray Wells, founder and Executive
Chairman of Glasses Direct 26 May 2009 (look at the comments in
particular)
"The New Rules of Engagement: Make it
Relevant" - video seminar Forrester Research
3 March 2009 New York, USA
"Online
Retail: Driving Relevant Experiences"
JupiterResearch study,
“Which Personalization Tools Work For
eCommerce — And Why” by Sucharita Mulpuru
for eBusiness, Channel & Product Management Professionals,
Forrester Research
“Personalization Hat Trick: Revenue,
Loyalty and Conversions”
By John Lovett, E-Commerce Times
“Personalization: Telling E-Tail
Customers What They Really Want”
By Rachelle Crum,
E-Commerce Times
"The 21st Century Retailer: Managing Customers, Merchandise and
Data." January 2007
Working with one of our partners, pjb Associates can
help you with appropriate Personalisation and Recommendation
Tools for your specific needs.
For more
information please select Contact Us button above or contact Peter Bates by email
pjb@pjb.co.uk
or
telephone +44 1353 667973.
