It's the age of big data. Businesses now know more than ever before about customer behavior and preferences—and those who use that knowledge to build personalized shopping experiences are reaping the rewards (think Amazon, Spotify, and Netflix).
Ecommerce companies are struggling to stay competitive in today's marketplace. As eCommerce grows and becomes more competitive, it becomes harder to maintain a competitive edge. So what are the keys to success for eCommerce?
It's no longer good enough to simply provide a one-size-fits-all eCommerce experience. Today's consumers expect an individualized experience, tailored to their needs and preferences, and they won't settle for anything less.
Big data—or massive sets of data that can be analyzed for patterns—is the key to unlocking this personalized eCommerce experience.
In a recent study by ContentSquare, 90% of online shoppers said they expect personalization from brands. If you aren't providing your customers with personalized experiences, then you aren't going to keep up with your competitors.
So how do you provide a personalized experience for your customers? The answer is simple: data.
If you want to challenge your competitor, a personalized experience can make your brand memorable. With access to data, you anticipate your customer's needs before realizing them.
In one such study published by BARC, there's a long list of benefits of using big data, including improved strategic decision making (69%), better control of operational processes (54%), and a better understanding of customers (52%). Around 47% of customers have even said that they had lower process costs because of data analytics. Apart from these benefits, others included increased sales, faster product innovation, reduced risk, and more efficient operations.
Without big data analytics, companies are blind and deaf, wandering out onto the Web like deer on a freeway,
Geoffrey Moore, American Management Consultant, and author
Let's look at the 5 ways e-commerce business owners can leverage big data to provide their customers with an unforgettable shopping experience.
Five ways eCommerce businesses use big data
1. Improve shopper analysis:
Big data helps businesses determine the customer preferences or what products they like to buy and when they buy them. And when you develop customer profiles based on these insights, you're able to achieve operational efficiency.
For example, with access to data about peak shopping times, you can sell excess stock at competitive prices or even run campaigns and ads in these timeframes. Plus, eCommerce big data can also uncover unexpected buying behaviors. Like when Walmart found that people who bought diapers were also purchasing beer. It opened up the company to so many cross-promotional opportunities. All this data is easily obtainable for businesses that use data analytics tools.
2. Provide better customer service:
With big data tools, you have the potential to change the world of customer service. Businesses can analyze data received through email letters, social media campaigns, and online self-service tools to identify the gaps. Then, after you've identified the gaps, you try to offer better customer service. When a business knows what works and doesn't, it can make way for continuous improvements. The data collected is made available through reports and educational materials for customer service representatives.
3. Personalize customer experience:
Most consumers say that personalization plays a vital role in their buying decisions. Millennials who purchase online mostly say that they do so because they hope to receive personalized suggestions.
When eCommerce companies use big data analytics, they get an overall view of the customer. This view allows companies to segment customers based on gender, location, and social media presence. Following this, companies can create and send emails with customized discounts and devise marketing strategies for different target audiences. They can even launch products that connect with specific groups of consumers. Many retailers make a profit with the help of this strategy by giving members loyalty points for their future purchases.
4. Provide more secure online payment processing:
For a better shopping experience, businesses should assure customers of secure online payments. Big data analysis will help identify atypical spending behavior and notify customers as it happens. In addition, businesses can set up alerts for various fraudulent activities.
For example, it may be purchases from one credit card in a short period or multiple payment methods from the same IP address. Lately, many eCommerce sites have introduced several payment methods on one centralized platform. Big data analysis can determine which payment methods work better or the card's set an alert, which causes issues during payment processing. These sites can even see whether new payment options like "bill me later" are effective. Meanwhile, there are e-commerce sites with an easy checkout experience to lower the chances of cart abandonment.
5. Better target advertising:
Big data helps businesses create personalized ads for targeted groups. Firms like Google and now Facebook, one of the most dominant players in this field, have learned the knack for creating and delivering more engaging ads in completely non-intrusive ways. They show the ads you'd want to see by featuring products and services we might want.
These personalized and targeted ads are the outcome of studying the enormous volumes of personal data. And our phones put this data on the web, because customers share what they are doing, liking, and where they're going.
Build personalized experiences on your e-commerce store
Big data is only witnessing growth in the past couple of years and will likely continue to grow. With its relevance felt more and more, it will considerably impact the eCommerce industry. Therefore, businesses need to integrate big data into their e-commerce store activities to be advantageous.
The key to succeeding in the eCommerce space is to create a more personalized experience for your customers. As technology continues to advance, the quality and quantity of the data we can access will only increase. This means that retailers who want to stay ahead of the curve will have to prioritize understanding their customers by using all the data they have at their disposal. And to do this effectively, you’ll need the right big data partner.
Datahut helps brands extract data in huge volume and helps companies with their big data initiatives. With the data we provide, you'll be able to prepare for seasonal influxes, new trends, and customer preferences. While there are many ways to gather eCommerce data, why go anywhere else when you have professionals like us?
Contact Datahut now to build personalized experiences for your e-commerce store
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