Ecommerce and Subscription Personalization in 2024

Creating a personalized experience in ecommerce and subscription services has become increasingly crucial in 2024. With the vast amount of competition in the online marketplace, personalization is key to standing out and building long-term customer relationships. Here are some valuable tips to enhance personalization in your ecommerce and subscription business:

1. Focus on Privacy: Data Privacy will be at the forefront of consumers minds in 2024, with several states having signed bills or considering bills in the legislature. Ecommerce businesses should audit their data, ensuring that they’re only collecting the information they need to serve their customers, and that the customers consent to the collection, transmission, storage, and processing of that data. Being transparent with the data you collect and how you use the data builds trust with your consumers, making them more likely to provide you with the data to allow you to create more personalized and helpful experiences for them.
2. Leverage Data Effectively: Collect and analyze customer data to understand preferences, buying patterns, and behaviors. Use tools like AI and machine learning to process this data efficiently and accurately. This will help you tailor your product recommendations, marketing messages, and overall shopping experience to individual customer needs. Leveraging AI makes it much easier to personalize at scale, but you want to make sure you’re only using data in your AI model that customers consent you to use. This is called the “opt-in” model, where customers can opt in to having their data processed for specific purposes, as opposed to the “opt-out” model, where data is processed by default until a customer decides otherwise. As long as customers see a clear benefit, such as with discounts, personalized offers, and more, many will be happy to share their data.
3. Predictive Personalization: AI can predict future buying patterns based on past behaviors. This predictive personalization can be used to suggest products, remind customers of replenishments, or even offer personalized discounts. To many customers, it may seem like magic, but really it’s just a combination of reviewing prior browsing and purchasing behavior and using that data to predict a future need or want by the customer.
4. Implement Dynamic Content: Use dynamic content on your website and in your email marketing. This means that the content changes based on the user’s behavior, demographics, and preferences. For example, showing different homepage banners based on the visitor’s past interactions or segmenting email campaigns according to customer interests. In 2024, you’ll want to go behind the standard “Hi [First_Name]” personalization in emails; consider every touch point where a customer interacts with your brand, from email, to your website, to in-store (if applicable), to support, and social, and ensure you provide a holistic experience to the customer regardless of where they are.
5. Enhance User Experience with AR/VR: Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) can provide immersive experiences that help customers make better purchasing decisions. For instance, AR can be used to see how a piece of furniture would look in a customer’s home before buying. It doesn’t get much more personalized than seeing how your product can look in their home!
6. Focus on Mobile Optimization: With the increasing use of smartphones for online shopping, ensure your website and emails are optimized for mobile devices. This includes responsive design, easy navigation, and fast loading times.
7. Offer Subscription Flexibility: For subscription models, offer flexibility in terms of frequency, product selection, and payment options. Allow customers to pause, skip, or customize their subscription boxes, making it more tailored to their needs. Flexible subscriptions builds trust with your customers and can help you to avoid cancellations, and even help you to grow your LTV over time.
8. Engage Through Social Media: Utilize social media platforms to engage with customers. Use these platforms for targeted advertising, gathering feedback, and understanding customer preferences. Also, consider integrating social shopping features, allowing purchases directly through these platforms.
9. Personalized Customer Service: Use chatbots and AI to provide personalized customer service. Implement technology that remembers previous interactions with customers to provide a seamless and more personal customer service experience.
10. Feedback and Continuous Improvement: Regularly gather feedback from your customers and use this information to continuously improve your personalization efforts. This can be done through surveys, user testing, and analyzing customer reviews. According to Webbiquity, users who receive a personalized experience with a brand are much more likely to be satisfied and loyal to your brand, which can lead them to share positive reviews.
11. Cookieless personalization: If you rely on third-party cookies, 2024 is the year you’ll want to begin to shift your focus to first-party cookies. First-party cookies are for data that you collect on your own site, as opposed to third-party cookies which allow you to track your users on other sites, such as with Facebook advertising. Many browsers, such as Firefox and Safari, have already started blocking third-party cookies, and Google Chrome is set to start blocking them in 2024. This will make cookieless personalization and “zero party data” (data you collect directly from your customers) even more important, and can still be used to generate unique and individualized experiences, without the “creepiness factor” that comes from third-party trackers.

Conclusion

With all of the changes coming in 2024, from new privacy regulations to changes in third-party cookie tracking, ecommerce and subscription businesses still have a tremendous opportunity to create a more personalized and engaging experience for their customers. This not only boosts customer satisfaction but also drives loyalty and sales in the competitive online marketplace of 2024.

If you’re looking to grow your subscription business with better personalization in 2024, contact  Upscribe for a demo to learn more about our subscription platform for Shopify.