The pandemic has spurred many losses for retailers to recoup from and as many reasons to chase customers with renewed vigour. Global retail sales shrank by 5.7% in 2020, according to Statista. In this scenario, businesses needed to adopt intelligent long-term strategies. There are plenty of ways to enhance shopping experiences for customers to reward retailers with improved sales. Now in 2021, more retail businesses than ever are realising that they must leverage technology and data to create shopping experiences that are personalised to customers. According to a 2019 BCG report commissioned by Google, people are willing to spend more — 40% more to be exact, when faced with personalised shopping experiences, and are also 110% more likely to add additional personalised item recommendations to their baskets.
Tapping into the potential of MACH
To create personalised campaigns that are ever-evolving, retailers need to be ready to adapt. MACH architecture helps achieve this! By adopting MACH architecture, retailers can gain the speed and versatility they need to create personalised experiences at scale.
What is MACH? ‘M’ stands for micro services, which makes IT teams agile and makes core commerce features easily available. The ‘A’ in MACH stands for API-first design which enables seamless connections between various technological ecosystems, making new features easy to integrate. ‘C’ stands for cloud-native solutions which ensures that no amount of data or traffic overwhelms the system and that experiences are scalable across channels and markets. ‘H’ represents the headless feature of this architecture, which makes it flexible for the front-end, allowing businesses to adopt innovative customer-facing experiences according to their needs.
The MACH architecture can help connect new technologies with existing systems and standardise data. Customer intelligence that combines all these strengths can succeed in creating effective personalised shopping experiences quickly.
Leveraging personalised messaging and experiences
SMS campaigns are an effective way to reach customers and implement personalised initiatives. They have higher open rates than other channels such as e-mail. If you target customers with messages that fit into their shopping journey and interest them, it is likely that you will garner a favourable response. Sending different customers different messages and offers that are apt for them can be effortlessly implemented with the right customer intelligence systems. However, this has not been capitalised on by most retailers due to data centralisation challenges among other issues.
Similarly, retailers can leverage and combine the data of bulk shoppers and slow-moving goods to create a win-win situation. Slow-moving goods can be bundled in special offers with regular bulk purchases. This enables the store to move inventory and simultaneously provide these shoppers with a positive experience. Combined with the right messaging, predictive experiences can really elevate a brand image and create a strong sense of brand loyalty. Shoppers are less likely to move to a competitor when they feel taken care of. It is helpful if the messaging is transparent in such situations. According to a 2018 Harvard report, transparent messaging increased click-through rates by 11%. When messages such as “recommended based on what you’ve shared with us” were received, consumers were 40% more likely to click on items.
Businesses can send customers information about new product launches and update them regarding availability of stock, based on the customer’s recorded history of interests. 70% of millennials are ready to accept information-tracking as a way to unlock better shopping experiences according to SmarterHQ data from 2020. Moreover, by creating virtual help desks or app/web-based store-maps, businesses can help customers navigate products more smoothly, leading to more conversions. This leads to a more intuitive and seamless experience for shoppers overall.
Creating customer categories is an essential step in this process. Customers can be sorted into customer categories and personas based on sales history and other data. This helps retailers target customers with the right messaging and tailor experiences more efficiently. For example, keeping track of customer behavior patterns can also help retailers identify brand-conscious customers and target them with relevant offers from their preferred brands.
Activating and sustaining customer interest
By leveraging the latest technology and customer intelligence to create personalised messaging and retail experiences, brands can move inventory faster and rely on established sales patterns to generate profits. Personalised retail is not a war for sales but for brand loyalty, which is why long-term goals must take precedence over quick short-term victories. . 6DX - The NextGen Retail Technology built on Open Retail Architecture, can help bring you closer to these goals and achieve many more. To learn more about how 6DX can help personalise experiences to make every customer loyal, book a free demo now!