Fast Simon Answers
Find answers to online merchandisers' common questions about using AI integrations to improve the customer's shopping experience. From smart collections to personalized recommendations, these expert insights will boost customer engagement, sales, AOV, and your bottom line.
Recent Answers
Remarketing vs. Retargeting: What Is the Difference?
Remarketing and retargeting have subtle differences, even though both of these advertising techniques target users who have already shown interest in your brand. Retargeted ads have a 70% chance of conversion, while remarketing can increase your website traffic by 108%. So, leveraging these techniques effectively can help maximize conversions and boost your business's bottom line. What Is Remarketing? Remarketing uses personalized advertising to target people who have already interacted with or purchased from your website or brand. Email is one of the best remarketing tools, as it has an 8.17% conversion rate. Email solutions like Klaviyo have almost endless customization options, so you can conceptualize and send any content to prospective customers. You can maximize conversions by sending: Personalized email reminders about abandoned cartsIncentives, such as discounts and free shippingUpsell and cross-sell options What Is Retargeting? Retargeting uses cookies to track a user's browsing history on your site and then displays targeted ads on other sites that the user visits. Retargeted users are three times more likely to click on the ad than those who haven't interacted with your brand before. Consider this: a user visits your online clothing brand, browses various dresses, but doesn't purchase any. When scrolling through social media, ads for your dresses may appear on the user's feed. This can help your brand by: Increasing the likelihood of a purchaseImproving brand recognition and reachAchieving customer satisfaction through adequate personalization » Learn why customers are leaving your eCommerce store and how to make them stay 3 Key Differences Between Remarketing and Retargeting 1. Target Audience Remarketing targets customers who have already made purchases and, therefore, are more likely to make repeat orders or re-engage with your brand. Retargeting appeals more to potential customers who have shown interest in your brand or product by visiting your website or engaging with your social content. 2. Communication Method With Customers Because remarketing is aimed at existing customers, communication is typically through personalized email or SMS campaigns. Retargeting focuses on paid digital ads on different platforms, such as social media and search engines, and can include social proof to encourage conversions. 3. Calls-to-Action (CTAs) Remarketing CTAs include direct engagement by asking customers to perform a specific action. For example, taking up promotional offers, signing up for loyalty programs, or providing reviews on recent purchases. Retargeting CTAs are indirect, asking potential customers to take more general actions, like revisiting your site or signing up for a newsletter, to create long-lasting customer relationships over time. Retarget and Remarket for Fast Conversions While remarketing is effective for encouraging existing customers to make repeat purchases or engage with a particular product or service, retargeting reminds potential customers about their interest in your brand. Understanding these differences and your shoppers' intent can help you tailor your marketing strategies to ultimately optimize your advertising efforts and maximize conversions. » Want to try AI? Find out how AI can improve conversion rates in eCommerce
Asked 2 months ago
Behavioral Targeting vs. Retargeting: Is There a Difference?
Did you know that companies that leverage personalization see 40% more revenue than their average competitor? To be in that bracket, it's useful to understand if there's a difference between behavioral targeting and retargeting. Plus, with 71% of consumers expecting personalized experiences from businesses, using these targeting techniques in your marketing strategy can help boost conversions. What Is Behavioral Targeting? Behavioral targeting involves analyzing customer behavior and grouping it according to data such as browsing habits, site searches, other visited sites, and past purchases. Automated behavior data collection can greatly facilitate this process, and there are tools available to help, such as Klaviyo. The collected data offers multiple personalization options in the form of: Targeted adsEmailsSocial media posts For example, if you've been looking up mattress reviews, the next time you scroll through your social media feeds, you may notice sponsored ads from different mattress brands. » Want to leverage social media? Learn what social commerce means for your business What Is Behavioral Retargeting? Behavioral retargeting, also known as remarketing, is the process of re-engaging with users who have already shown interest in your products or services but did not convert. This technique uses the same tools as behavioral targeting to track and analyze customer behavior for customized marketing opportunities. For example, Targus, a computer and accessories brand, displays an array of backpacks and laptop cases after a site visit where we viewed the backpacks on offer. Personalization like this can highlight that you understand shoppers' intent and show attentive consideration of their needs, which can encourage conversion. So, What's the Difference? Although the two methods seem nearly identical, there are slight differences. Contributions to Your Overall Marketing Strategy Behavioral targeting is a broader technique that entails creating targeted campaigns for audience segments.Retargeting is smaller-scale and focuses on those already aware of your brand, emphasizing their prior interest creatively. The goal for both is to increase conversions by leveraging user preferences. Stages of the Sales Funnel Behavioral targeting is commonly employed at the top of the funnel to acquire new potential customers and raise brand or product awareness.Retargeting is frequently utilized at the middle or bottom of the funnel to re-engage with consumers who haven't converted. » Find out why personalization for large audiences through anonymous data works Fast Targeting, Better Marketing Behavioral targeting and retargeting are connected methods that evaluate customer behavior and utilize the same tools in different ways. By incorporating these into your marketing strategy, you can get your brand in front of consumers who are likely to convert and reduce the number of users who leave your eCommerce store empty-handed. So, why not try it and avoid wasting time and resources reaching out to broader audiences?
Asked 2 months ago
What Is Predictive Personalization?
Personalization is non-negotiable in eCommerce. 60% of your visitors can become repeat customers if you give them personalized buying experiences. While there are different ways to achieve this, predictive personalization is rising along with AI to change the retail space. Below, we look at what predictive personalization is and how it works to help you stay ahead of the curve and meet your customers' needs. Understanding Predictive Personalization Predictive personalization is a powerful marketing approach that uses AI, machine learning, and data analytics to clearly understand customers' needs and provide personalized experiences in real time. Predictive personalization stands apart from other personalization approaches because it's proactive. Instead of simply reacting to explicit customer requests, it can already begin to anticipate your customers' needs based on data like their location, demographic, or browsing behavior. For example, Princess Polly, an online fashion store, starts the predictive personalization process immediately on their homepage. Visitors can choose their shopping region, meaning prices, stock availability, and shipping information are already localized for them. Additionally, visitors receive a discount to encourage them to purchase. Because the discount is sent via text, visitors need to submit their mobile number. Predictive personalization instantly picks up the visitor's location and automatically inserts it into the form. This means the visitor can just type in their number without changing any other settings. » Learn how personalization can help you improve merchandising in your store How Predictive Personalization Works Predictive personalization works by analyzing customer data and making real-time predictions about their behavior using advanced algorithms, machine learning techniques, and AI. In a nutshell, the process works like this: Collect Your Data You can gather information from a range of sources, including customer interactions with your website, social media, and email marketing campaigns.Analyze Your Data By using predictive tools like AI, machine learning, and algorithms, you can analyze your data to uncover patterns and trends in customer behavior, preferences, and interests.Predict Your Customers' Behavior Once you've identified trends, your predictive tools can generate predictions about what a customer is likely to do next, allowing you to give your customers what they need before they even have to ask for it. This can include what products customers will likely purchase, what content will draw their attention, and what channels they prefer to communicate through.Personalize Your Customers' Shopping Experience You can implement your predictive personalization strategy to give your customers customized search results, upsell and cross-sell product recommendations, and emails. If you implement predictive personalization successfully, you can deliver more relevant and timely content by anticipating your customers' requirements and preferences. This, in turn, boosts your chances of engagement and conversion. » Need to boost your email marketing? Here's how to use AI to personalize emails Fast-Forward to Success With Predictive Personalization Predictive personalization is a formidable marketing strategy that can help you understand your customers' needs and give them the best shopping experience possible. While predictive tools can process a lot of data quickly and even pick up patterns that a person might miss, customer behavior is ever-changing. By making sure your tools and models are updated, you can maintain a competitive edge and efficiently grow your online operation. » Discover more effective ways eCommerce personalization helps your business
Asked 3 months ago
Enhance Your Shopify Product Collections Through Merchandising
Did you know 87% of consumers say product content is very important when deciding what to buy online? As an eCommerce business owner, enhancing your Shopify product collection through effective merchandising is essential to improving your customers experience and ultimately increasing sales. Merchandising encompasses a store's sales and marketing strategies to promote products and persuade customers to make a purchase. Effective merchandising involves increasing awareness, creating a more engaging shopping experience, and supplying customers with the right products for their needs. This is especially important for Shopify stores, as the platform offers a variety of tools and features to streamline product presentation and improve conversion rates. 1. Product Positioning Product positioning refers to the strategies a retailer uses to create a distinctive place for their product in the marketplace and improve the customer's perception of it. Product positioning helps to showcase key products and collections to maximize customer engagement and increase sales. Shopify enables effective product positioning by leveraging various platform features, such as creating product filters, tags, and collections. This process is streamlined and enhanced by a number of apps available for Shopify stores. To illustrate, the online lightbulbs and fixtures retailer BulbAmerica uses merchandising rules to easily customize their product display. Using filters and tags, they can move relevant products, like sale items, to the top of their smart collections to make them clearly viewable. More tips for effective product positioning include: Creating curated collections based on customer preferences and seasonal trends.Writing compelling product descriptions.Leveraging user-generated content and social proof like customer reviews.Using high-quality images. » Check out our list of must-have eCommerce apps to get started with product positioning 2. Product Assortment Product assortment is simply the number and variety of goods a store offers its customers. Optimizing your product range is key to making sure your Shopify collection is engaging and relevant to your target audience. To select the right products for your collections, you should consider product availability, pricing, and eCommerce market demand. An effective technique is to analyze customer data to identify trends and preferences and select products that match those insights. You can do this in various ways, including reviewing your sales history, conducting surveys, or monitoring your website and using predictive analytics. Other tips include diversifying your products to cater to a broader range of customers and updating your collection regularly to keep it fresh and appealing. 3. Pricing Strategies Pricing strategies are the plans and methods for deciding what price to sell your products for. Pricing plays a vital role in merchandising, by shifting buyer perceptions and influencing their willingness to buy. An effective pricing strategy can, therefore, significantly boost sales. However, it's essential to strike a balance between offering competitive pricing and maintaining profit margins. Shopify allows businesses to incentivize their customers with a number of pricing strategies, including offering discounts or promotions on specific products or collections. Other effective pricing strategies include: Product bundlingOffering tiered pricing based on volume or purchase historyUsing dynamic pricing based on demand or seasonality Fast Merchandising Strategies An effective merchandising strategy is vital for optimizing your Shopify product collection, building long-term customer relationships, and growing sales. This includes techniques like product positioning, product assortment, and pricing. As customer expectations for personalized and seamless shopping experiences increase, merchandising is becoming increasingly important in eCommerce. To remain competitive, you should also consider implementing predictive personalization strategies to optimize your customers experience. » Learn more about personalization and how it can benefit your store
Asked 3 months ago
Customer Personalization vs. Segmentation: Is There a Difference?
It's no longer a secret that personalization in eCommerce works. In fact, up to 65% of your customers expect it—not only in your store but as part of your marketing efforts too. Personalized marketing, including customer personalization and customer or audience segmentation, can significantly influence buyer behavior and increase sales and customer loyalty. While they may seem similar, customer personalization and segmentation are different in their approach and business outcomes. What Is Customer Personalization? Customer personalization is the process of using data to tailor specific services and products to individual customers to enhance their shopping experience. Businesses use different customer data points like browsing history, purchase behavior, and geological location to understand each customer. This approach includes customized messages, product recommendations, product bundles, and customer services. By implementing personalization, businesses can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty as customers feel more valued by the brand. The personalization experience can also lead to increased sales and revenue, as customers are more likely to shop at a store they feel more connected with. » Customer retention is vital in eCommerce. Learn how to create long-lasting customer relationships What Is Customer Segmentation? Customer segmentation is the practice of dividing a business's target audience into groups based on shared features or behaviors. Customer segmentation may be classified into three types: Demographic segmentation: based on age, gender, income, and occupationPsychographic segmentation: based on personality, values, and interestsBehavioral segmentation: based on browsing and purchase history, average order value, and session frequency By creating customer segments, stores can better address each group's specific needs and appeal to their preferences based on their shared traits. » Use these customer segmentation strategies to grow your eCommerce business Key Differences Between Customer Personalization and Segmentation Customer PersonalizationTailors shopping experiences to the individualBased on each customer's traits, preferences, & behaviorCenters around the customer's needsUsually happens after segmentation has been establishedRequires advanced technology like AI & machine learningCustomer SegmentationTailors shopping experiences to groups of individuals with commonalitiesBased on characteristics, preferences, & behaviors shared by a group of customersCenters around the marketer's needsComes before personalizationUses more basic CRM software & marketing tools To illustrate these differences, we can look at examples of customer personalization and segmentation. BrightMinds Creates a Bright Future With Personalization BrightMinds is an educational toys and books retailer that offers shoppers individualized experiences. Using AI knowledge of browsing and purchase history, preferences, and demographics, they're able to provide customers with the most relevant information and personalized product recommendations. BrightMind's conversion rate for personalized shoppers is an impressive 25% and above. Best Buy Benefits From Customer Segmentation Best Buy, a consumer electronics retailer, segments customers according to purchase history data. Once a customer shows an interest in a particular product, Best Buy gives product recommendations to cross-sell after identifying patterns of buying behavior. For example, after adding earphones to your cart, other earphone models and related accessories are displayed as recommendations based on what "people also bought". » Learn more about the benefits of upsell and cross-sell personalization Fast and Focused: The Power of Personalization and Segmentation Personalization involves creating one-of-a-kind customer experiences and suggestions for individual consumers. In contrast, segmentation entails identifying groups of customers with similar traits and customizing marketing messages and experiences accordingly. By understanding the differences between customer personalization and segmentation, you can leverage the power of both strategies to send the correct message to the right customer at the right time. You can create a more comprehensive and effective approach to customer experience and marketing, resulting in greater customer satisfaction, loyalty, and sales.
Asked 3 months ago