Personalized products are not an entirely new thing in the market. These days, their presence has become even more prevalent more than ever that more and more companies like Tesla are getting into the customization trend.
In a report by Configurator Database Project, mass-customization has become widespread with the website listing about 1,360 companies in 17 industries that allow clients to customize their products.
According to a report, big businesses have their own marketing strategies on how to make their products more “unique” for their customers. Tesla allows clients to customize their cars, while Nike By You allow their discerning clientele to design their own shoe. Companies are taking advantage of the fact that people want to stand out in a crowd and hate uniformity. The trend seems to be working.
Online sellers are continuously making the customer experience more personalized. Online customization has only recently become a trend and has already taken off to lure in newer clientele.
Because of the rise in newer technologies and competition, online sellers have shifted their sights to be more customer-centric. Gone are the days when the clientele is just ripe for the picking. Online sellers know that it is necessary to have some form of edge above the competition.
Online sellers who are already veterans in the field know that customers will not buy everything that companies sell. Rather, it is the company that should heed the needs of the customer prior to the production stage.
These days, customers are no longer afraid of shopping on the internet and have become more specific about what they want. The advancement in technologies such as 3-D printers and high-speed data transmission allows the influx of mass customization.
Companies have seen that they can benefit from personalizing their customer’s online experience. The Ives Infographic found out via a survey that 53% of online sellers believe that retailers who personalize their customer shopping experience make their time spent shopping feel more valued. It’s something that customers expect, for their shopping experience to be made easier. It makes them feel special, and when you make your customers feel special, you can be guaranteed to get their loyalty.
Here are some e-commerce personalization strategies that have proven to be effective, and you can adapt as well:
1. Creating Personalized Homepages
Think of your homepage as your storefront that welcomes your customers before they could enter. Online stores can easily learn about their customers after just one visit with the use of cookies.
When you collect cookies, you can remember your customers’ likes and interests so that during their next visits to your site, they can be given recommendations and deals relevant to their browsing history.
2. Show Recently Viewed Items
Customers would often casually browse online stores without the intention of buying things from there at that very moment. However, customers can check their “recently viewed” items the next time they visit the site. Online stores can entice the customers to continue browsing where they left off and even recommend products similar to the ones on their recently viewed lists.
3. Special Product Campaigns
Every customer is unique, and they appreciate online stores that celebrate their uniqueness. Personalize your on-site messages and offer incentives for first-time customers. Doing so will entice them to visit your site more.
Here are simple yet effective ways that you can introduce personalization into your products:
1. Personalize Common Items
An investment in high-quality tools such as a laser etching and engraving machine or a decal printer can help turn a simple tumbler or phone case into a unique work of art. Shoppers can upload their own designs or can choose from a set of templates to customize their creations.
2. Offer Engraving Services
Sellers of small gift products or even jewelry stores can benefit from offering engraving services. It can add a form of sentiment to the item purchased. Sellers of gift items can benefit from this tactic.
3. Bundle Accessories
If a customer is in the market for a computer mouse, offer options to bundle the package. For example, if the customer wants to purchase a computer mouse, offer the option to add an accessory such as a computer cable. Both are necessary and adding the option may increase total sales amounts.
Customers are the lifeblood of every business, and they can be finicky because they know what they want. These days, you want to be more than just one step ahead of the competition, you want to run the whole mile. Make every customer experience feel unique and make them feel valued. It’s guaranteed that you will earn their loyalty for many transactions to come.
