Shoppers Want a More Personalized Experience from Brands

In today’s retail marketplaces, any type of resistance to the customer experience can lead to lost sales. In fact, according to many reports, consumers will pay more for a product if they can get the information they need about that product and can purchase it quickly and conveniently. That’s why more and more retailers are focused on providing friction-free retail experiences for their customers. Self and autonomous checkouts, more payment options, and “live” inventory updates are just a few solutions that are helping to provide less friction and increase sales.

Today, shoppers expect retail brands to give them what they want exactly when they want it. And it comes down to trying to understand and predict the customers’ wants and needs. In a word, what consumers want is personalization. Retailers are using data, AI, and marketing solutions to create targeted experiences for customers to engage with and give them the information they want.

Because of the ability for personalized experiences to increase engagement and target customers in-store or online, these tactics have the potential to be the best sales tools for all types of retailers.

Most consumers will leave a brand that does not provide good customer service. On the other side of that, consumers will pay more and be loyal to a brand that provides the service they want. In just the past few years, the bar for customer service has been raised higher and higher.

Data has shown that 80% of retail consumers are more likely to make a purchase if a brand offers personalized experiences and 90% of shoppers find this personalization appealing. Brands have seen an average increase of 20% in sales when using more personalized experiences.

One of the newest personalized platforms to go live this year is Social Shelf. Social Shelf is a shelf tag and AI technology-based marketing tool that provides product information to consumers right in the aisle or when they are shopping online. It’s not a push or forced type of advertising. Shoppers have the control to choose the brands they want to learn more about before making a purchase.

By a shopper scanning a QR or the image of a product, brands can engage with that consumer directly, one-on-one to deliver authentic messages that can provide the information needed to result in a sale. There is no better time to have the opportunity to speak to a potential customer than when they are asking for information about your products. This is truly the bottom of the sales funnel.

Personalized communications to consumers are all about reaching out through the right medium for the right customer, including notifications, emails, text messages, and more. Content has always been king, but the difference between desired content and forced content is all about relevance and timeliness. When you think about how Social Shelf engages with consumers, it really doesn’t get any more relevant.

There is no data that needs to be collected to determine who your target audience is, their ages, genders, wants, and needs. Because they are requesting the information that your brands are providing, your target audience comes to you!