Personalisation drives increased spending and loyalty for the European customer, new IDC research reveal.
Reading, UK — 6th November 2013 — The UK leads the rest of Europe in the adoption and usage of personalisation technology when shopping online, according to a study released today by IDC and RichRelevance.
The study, which surveyed 1,000 consumers in the UK, Germany and France, investigated how shoppers utilise personalised services in their purchasing choices and online shopping habits. Significantly, personalisation is most advanced in the UK, with the majority of Britons (53%) citing personalised product recommendations as clearly relevant to their purchasing habits compared to four in ten shoppers in Germany and France.
Not only do recommendations fuel greater spend, they also drive repeat visits. The highest online spenders are also the most likely to respond well to recommendations. Forty percent of those spending over €600 buy a recommended product. In the UK, over a quarter (26%) of consumers also said that recommendations would make them more likely to shop at the same retailer again.
The research suggests that personalisation is most effective amongst UK consumers between the ages of 45 and 54 years old (36%); this age group is the most likely to return to a retailer as a result of targeted recommendations, closely followed by 55 to 64-year-olds (32%). The under 35s are the most interested in being recommended products they would not initially have considered, presenting an opportunity for retailers to influence this age group by delivering relevant recommendations at the right time.
The research affirms that relevance in delivering personalised product recommendations is crucial. Nearly half (45%) of UK consumers use recommendations because they are presented at the right time in the decision-making process. This is based on search criteria, previous purchases, the “wisdom of the crowds”, what the consumer is currently viewing and what is already in their basket.
“It’s clear that accurate, well-timed recommendations, based on popular customer behaviour, deliver sales results for retailers and help retain customers”, said Spencer Izard, Head of European Retail Insights & Executive Advisory Programme, IDC “The research shows that personalisation is becoming one of the main competitive battlegrounds for online retailing, and retailers need to take it seriously.”
Pontus Kristiansson, VP of Marketing, EMEA RichRelevance, commented: “Now more than ever, retailers need to find ways to engage with their customers. By delivering shoppers relevant information they want, when they want it, personalisation drives customer loyalty, increased purchase and average basket value. Personalisation will continue to be a key differentiator for retailers in their battle for customer engagement and retention.”
Other key findings include:
UK shop online more than French or German shoppers: 70% of UK consumers shop online more than once a month, compared to their German (61%) and French (45%) counterparts.
Laptops are significantly more popular for online purchases than mobile devices: Although we might be entering an mcommerce age, the majority of shoppers in the UK (85%), Germany (85%) and France (75%) still prefer to purchase online from their laptops, rather than on mobile devices.
Recommendations influence purchases and lead to sales across all three markets: 18% of those surveyed make their choices after considering which other bestsellers are recommended.
Personalisation makes shoppers feel valued: A fifth of UK and German survey respondents and 17% of French consumers said that personalisation makes them feel valued by the retailer.
Click here to download the full report.
Methodology
As part of this study IDC conducted an Internet-based survey of 934 online consumers. The sample was targeted to be representative of the age and gender demographics in the respective markets (UK, France, Germany) with approximately 300 respondents per country.
The interviews examined respondents’ shopping activities and spending patterns as well as views, experiences and challenges faced when shopping online, We also looked at changing habits over the past 12 months as well as preferred devices (laptops, tablets, mobile, etc.) used in various shopping scenarios.
About RichRelevance
RichRelevance is the global leader in omni-channel personalisation. More than 160 international companies use RichRelevance to turn data into actionable insight, which delivers the most relevant experience for consumers as they shop across web, store and mobile. RichRelevance drives more than one billion decisions every day, and has delivered over $10 billion in attributable sales to its clients, which include Walmart, Marks & Spencer and Priceminister. Recently, the company opened its cloud-based platform to allow clients to easily merge disparate data sources and build real-time applications tailored to their specific business needs. RichRelevance is headquartered in San Francisco and serves clients in 40 countries from 10 offices around the globe. For more information, please visit www.richrelevance.com.
About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries worldwide. For more than 48 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading technology media, research, and events company.
As consumers continue to demand more personalized e-Commerce interactions, “retailers need to stand out from the crowd and find ways to deliver a unique, exceptional shopping experience,” said Deena Amato-McCoy, Research Analyst at Aberdeen Group, in a Retail TouchPoints feature series about personalization. “The best way retailers can achieve this is to personalize brand interactions to individual shoppers and groups that share similar preferences and/or demands.”
The new RichContent offering from RichRelevance, a provider of e-Commerce personalization strategies, helps retailers deliver these individualized experiences. RichContent uses multiple algorithms to assess e-shoppers’ specific interests based on clicks, searches, social network cues and more, then display the most relevant content in real time. This content includes preferred products, colors and styles; recommendations based on those preferences; videos; and other unique value propositions based on specific consumer behaviors.
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Innovative offering extends the enRICH™ platform to deliver the right content to consumers at the right place and time
San Francisco, CA – Mar. 27, 2013 –– RichRelevance®, the leading provider of dynamic personalization for the world’s largest retailers and brands, today unveiled its new RichContent offering to bring the power of data-driven decision-making to digital marketing and publishing. Built on the enRICH platform, which delivers more than 1 billion product recommendations daily across the worlds largest retail sites, RichContent analyzes consumer signals and re-architects site content in real time to reflect a consumer’s true interests. Now, consumer brands, media and hospitality sites can maximize engagement, brand preference, loyalty and sales by delivering highly personalized experiences that customize the site to each visitor based on current and past behaviors (clicks, searches, views, etc.), as well as additional information provided, including page views or social network cues such as “Likes” or “Favorites”.
“Data is the currency of business today,” said RichRelevance CEO David Selinger. “With RichContent, we are leveraging our platform to help companies use data to solve the most complicated content challenges. Now, brands and publishers can replace static websites with personalized consumption. The result is an engaging, differentiated experience that drives engagement, letting publishers and brands extract the greatest value out of every pixel of their site.”
L’Oreal Paris USA recently leveraged RichContent to deliver a ground-breaking new experience for the beauty industry. Through RichRelevance’s personalization, L’Oreal is able to help each user find her signature beauty looks based upon stated characteristics, individual preferences and observed behavior. The result is delivery of a custom mix of content that is directly relevant to each individual consumer. This includes product recommendations, articles, videos, slideshows, special offers and more, that dynamically change in real time based on her goals and interests.
RichContent: Features & Benefits
The newest addition to RichRelevance’s integrated personalization suite, RichContent, leverages real time consumer behavior analysis to display the most relevant videos, articles, white papers, and/or slideshows dynamically to consumers, creating a unique site experience for each individual. Now brands and publishers can easily optimize their valuable web real estate to increase multi-channel sales, improve loyalty and brand preference, as well as boost ad revenue, while delivering a highly personalized and engaging site experience.
Key capabilities include:
- Dynamic Content Targeting: RichContent changes site content in real time based on existing customer segments, as well as individual shoppers’ behavior and context on the site such as: how the consumer arrived on the site, browsing history, geo-location, social activity (Likes, Pins, etc.) and time of day.
- Content by Consumer Group: RichContent models behavior of specific groups of consumers that share similar characteristics (for example, women with red hair, men who have interest in adventure sports, a young couple looking for a honeymoon package) to uncover and display the most appropriate content for consumers within each group.
- Adaptive Learning and Optimization: As consumers interact with recommended content, the enRICH Engine’s built-in feedback loops inform the system about the performance of key content and recommendation types. The Engine then rebuilds its models every other hour—adjusting to accommodate the subtlest changes in consumer behavior.
- Truly Dynamic Content: RichContent employs multiple algorithms to support numerous recommendation types, each with a unique value proposition that corresponds to a specific consumption behavior, ensuring site visitors receive the right information at the right time in fewer clicks. This allows brands, media and retailers to build millions of customized experiences at scale, without any manual intervention.
- Insights and Analytics: RichContent offers detailed reports for the entire site or individual campaigns, including placement views, click-through-rate, revenue, average order value and more. Data can be easily exported for easy reporting. The insights and analytics are included as part of the RichContent software package.
Additional Resources:
- More information and pricing information on RichContent is available here.
- More information on RichRelevance is available here.
- Connect with RichRelevance on Facebook and Twitter for updates and news
AboutRichRelevance
RichRelevance delivers over one billion product recommendations daily, powering the personalized shopping experiences for consumers shopping the world’s largest and most innovative retail brands like Walmart, Sears, Target, Marks & Spencer and John Lewis. Founded and led by the e-commerce expert who helped pioneer personalization at Amazon.com, RichRelevance helps retailers increase sales and customer engagement by recommending the most relevant products to consumers regardless of the channel they are shopping. RichRelevance has delivered more than $8 billion in attributable sales for its retail clients to date, and is accelerating these results with the introduction of a new form of digital advertising called Shopping Media which allows manufacturers to engage consumers where it matters most—in the digital aisles on the largest retail sites in world. RichRelevance is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, Seattle, Boston, London, Munich and Paris. For more information, please visit www.richrelevance.com.
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