Personalisation principles to get us from now to the ‘new normal’

As a reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic consumer behavior is changing on a dime, in new and frankly unpredictable ways.

As the whole world is forced to rethink their online vs offline habits, their spending power, their personal and professional priorities, buying habits are fluctuating in kind.

For online retailers this means an upending of existing norms. And it means needing to find ways to adapt – fast.

When it comes to personalisation, the main premise remains the same: consumers find messaging that is truly relevant to them more appealing. And while there are experiences that will apply largely across the board, there are new opportunities to speak in a ‘one to few’ manner to customers that take into account this changing consumer landscape.

At AB Tasty, we strive to help retailers personalise their digital presence. Marketing, product and tech teams use AB Tasty’s AI-driven experimentation, personalisation and product optimisation platform to rapidly drive ROI and continuously deliver outstanding user experiences.

With that in mind, here are some examples of personalisation principles from our latest  ebook to help guide customer experience optimisation strategies from now until we reach ‘the new normal’.

Wishlist strategy:

We think that many consumers are going to go into a ‘wishlist’ mentality – perhaps powered by the increased screen time many are experiencing across the globe. Browsing online, making mental notes of purchases to make when the skies begin to clear… this is an opportunity for brands, especially retailers, to keep these earmarked items top of mind.

You can use our personalisation capabilities to not only identify consumers interested in specific content on your website, but also create segments based on those consumer interests; use this information to personalise the experience with these wishlist items to keep them fresh in the mind of the consumer.

Model your strategy off of cart abandonment techniques, current wishlist functionalities, or new creative ideas that put these items front and center, like personalising a homepage slider with a frequently looked at product, or one added to the shopping cart.

Product recommendations

Product recommendations are an excellent idea; based on previously viewed or purchased items, product recommendations are a good way to increase your Average Order Value, and also give customers what they want – a smooth shopping experience.

Personalise by segmenting – Keep the momentum going

You’re going to want to do everything you can to metaphorically take these new customers by the hand and lead them along the buyer journey to ensure they keep these new habits they’re forming.

Personalise the experience by segmenting based on ‘new’ vs ‘returning’ visitors, or by Engagement Level. As a reminder, ‘Engagement Level’ is a segmentation criteria available with AB Tasty, and is determined using Machine Learning. Traffic is clustered into four distinct categories based on the consumers’ level of engagement with your site.

Experiment to confirm uplift

If there’s one rule of thumb we want to emphasise, it’s this one – experiment to measure the efficacy of your personalisation campaigns. Now, more than ever, you need to confirm hunches or ideas with cold, hard data. Run a control experiment to be sure that your personalisation efforts are actually creating better customer experiences and showing the uplift you’re aiming for.

With consumer behavior fluctuating as it is, previous guidelines or ‘what worked before’ maxims have been thrown out the window. It’s essential to vet any new ideas to be sure they’re aligned with these new customer expectations.

At AB Tasty, now more than ever, we help companies optimise customer journeys at every step of the way, with features like experimentation, personalisation, and product optimisation. Whether your KPI is a fast conversion, a subscription, or frequency of use, our platform is built to optimise every digital touchpoint across all devices. Get more tips on personalisation by downloading this ebook. 

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