Small corner shops are disappearing because they cannot compete with large online sellers in terms of prices and selection. However, those brick-and-mortar traders have one fundamental advantage, which is perhaps the reason why some of them are still in business: they usually know the personality and buying habits of their customers, and so they can offer them credible purchase recommendations.
As an online retailer, you can now combine both benefits: the comfort of online shopping and the service of personalised offers. In times of expanding market places and growing customer demands, personalisation provides an opportunity for you to set yourself apart from the competition and – just like small corner shops – to increase your margins.
Studies show that online shoppers enjoy individual offers, but at the same time they want to surf anonymously. This looks like something of a contradiction. How can this work? A well-tried approach is to be honest and tell users which data is collected and what it is collected for. When customers know the added value they get in return for their data, they are more susceptible to personalised offers.
Everything you need to know about personalisation can be found in our infographic.
Knowing the customer is the key to enumerate what the customer’s needs and preference. In most cases, local brick and mortar business were able to achieve this. They understand the customer with empathy and tried to personalize their business in a way that it creates loyal customers.
Personalized engagement-based marketing techniques are one strategic measure e-commerce based businesses stores could implement in-order to attract and retarget customers after understanding their previous buying behaviour.