Meeting Customers Where They Are: Personalize Your Approach
Understanding the importance of meeting customers when and where they want to connect is critical for today’s retailer.
Customers want convenience, and a big part of meeting that desire is being able to offer a product through a store, social media, email or even a phone call.
Knowing how to do that requires analyzing data to offer personalization that reaches your customer.
Personalization is more than collecting names and contact information — it’s understanding what they are buying, as well as where and when they and purchasing.
This “hyper personalization” more meaningfully engages customers and strengthens their loyalty, and encourages new customers to build brand relationships and strengthen their existing ones.
It also is a part of the customers’ sentiment when they say they want convenience, because retailers that provide personalized experiences are also awarded with more visits from customers.
In Forbes’ 2024 State of Customer Service and CX Study, 81% of respondents said they prefer companies that offer a personalized experience, and 70% said a personalized experience in which the employee knows who they are and their history with the company (past purchases, buying patterns, support calls and more) is important.
They also want the experience to go beyond people and include the platforms where they prefer to do business.
The keys to thriving in retail’s evolving state lie in being intentional – from the way in which you address customers, to how you engage them in their preferred channel, to tailoring your marketing to reach local and wider audiences simultaneously with different approaches.
Artificial Intelligence Can Help
Hyper personalization can provide the depth needed to truly understand individual preferences and behaviors.
It’s an approach that uses advanced algorithms and machine learning to analyze vast data sets (including real-time interactions) to tailor content, timing and delivery channels to each user’s unique preferences.
These experiences use all the data that’s coming in from a customer journey and feed it into the retailer’s artificial intelligence (AI) engine, enabling it to continuously learn and grow.
For every customer interaction, not only does automation and self-service evolve, but also the knowledge regarding how to best reach and serve customers grows.
Paradoxically, sometimes reaching more people means restructuring retail space to fit a smaller footprint, rather than a larger one.
Retail “right-sizing” is a strategy that is designed to shift resources to more relevant – and profitable – areas within the business.
That may include closing under-performing stores or resizing their space.
It can also mean shifting employees’ focus and streamlining operations.
Less popular departments may be absorbed while the integration of digital and physical tactics, such as buy online, pick up in store, are explored.
Providing a frictionless and personalized customer experience is a competitive necessity.
By leveraging technology, retailers can unlick deeper customer insights, improve loyalty and encourage growth.
Additionally, by adapting to changing customer behavior and trends as well as optimizing operations through right sizing, forward thinking retailers can thrive in a dynamic marketplace – and position themselves for future success.
