How to Personalize WooCommerce for Your Most Valued Customers

I was like over the moon when my girlfriend accepted my wedding proposal. It may sound a bit weird to you but at that time in my life, I would spend my entire days doing just two things; shopping and daydreaming. Multiple times in my office I was caught shopping online for our marriage searching for tailored solutions such as customized honeymoon packages, dresses, invitation cards and mugs engraved with my wife-to-be’s name Maha (short and sweet).

And let’s be fair guys, I am not alone who did this crazy stuff. But the point to ponder here is that how many e-commerce websites are there that let you take control of the process and give you that personalized shopping experience?

Being a digital marketer myself, I then truly realized the importance of customer centricity, personalization, and localization.

Why do E-commerce Brands need to Focus on Personalization?

The prevailing ideology behind why e-commerce stores need to focus on personalization as an utmost priority lies in the ideology of e-commerce itself i.e. providing convenience. One of the premier reasons why people are slowly switching from brick and mortar stores to online stores is the convenience that comes in the form of an hyper-personalized shopping experience. An experience tailored as per customer needs, demands and desires, with each and every step carefully designed to gently nudge them into the sales funnel by offering value and individual attention.

Moreover, this is the age of customer empowerment as well. Today’s customer wants more control over the buying process.  If your website fails to provide that personalized shopping experience; he/she/ze is going to abandon your website ruthlessly as there are dozens and dozens of other channels available out there.

Same is the case with social media sites as well. The reason why Facebook is still the king of all social media platforms is that of its brilliance when it comes to understanding where the user’s desires and expectations are headed. Capitalizing on cutting-edge technologies, Facebook has successfully developed one-to-one personalization because of its ability to know exactly who the “one” is and thus; it smartly connects every online action with a known individual.

And this is not just theories; there are some astonishing facts in support of personalization. As per the findings of Boston group study, e-commerce brands that offer personalized experiences are seeing revenue increase by 6% to 10% – almost two to three times faster than those who don’t. This clearly indicates that personalization leaders stand out to capture a disproportionate market share of category profits in the new age of individualized brands whereas slow movers will lose customers, share, and profits.  Obviously, you don’t want to be among those latter ones.

Personalizing your WooCommerce Store

WooCommerce is by far the most loved and respected e-Commerce web development platform. If you are using WooCommerce then you must be grateful as it is incredibly flexible and immensely customizable.  You can literally mold your website in every dimension and integrate new and innovative features to create a hyper personalized shopping experience for your valued customers.

However, as a beginner in the industry, you might find yourself at the cross roads principally deciding what areas to focus as a misjudged maneuver can cause consequences. And this where we step in; in this article, we are going to give you some tips and unveil some best practices to personalize WooCommerce store.

1. Feed Personalized Content To Your Customers

Content is still the king in 2018 and will continue to rule in the future. For effective online marketing, you must create quality content that creates a positive impact on your target audience. There are dozens of interactive WooCommerce tools such as wordlift and kindred posts that can help you make your website content more effective, useful and personalized.

Here are some vital elements of a personalized content strategy.

• Identify your target audience and feed them content they are actually looking for.
• Make yourself relevant by having your material lined up for significant events, holidays and seasonality on the calendar so that you have the opportunity to publish them before your competitors.
• Be informative, provide a solution, challenge the norms and avoid sales content.

2. Capitalize on Cutting Edge Technologies

E-commerce marketers and retailers are known for being the leaders when it comes to bringing innovation by capitalizing on modern technologies.  There is no debate in saying that the evolution of technology in eCommerce has reshaped the way consumers interact with the brands. With AI and machine learning technologies in the mainstream, retailers can now utilize these technologies to identify the consumer needs and offer customized solutions to help significantly increase their bottom lines.

Here’s how WooCommerce brands can use technology to provide a personalized experience,

• Webs backed AI, and Machine Learning has the ability to drive data and analyze and interpret consumer behavior so that retailers can craft a unique pattern for each customer.
• Use the data to further modify your website offerings and also improve your marketing campaigns by providing relevant content which ensures better engagement and conversions.
• Improve the overall website experience such as better customer service, simplified checkout and provide a real-life shopping experience.

3. Get the Right Extensions to Empower Your Customer

Like I mentioned earlier, this is the age of customer empowerment. We are living in the age where customer reviews can make or break a product. It is important for retailers to make customer experience effortless and enjoyable and let the customer take charge. The key is to be as flexible as possible and WooCommerce offers tons of customizable solutions. There are hundreds of extensions developed by third parties that you can take to your advantage to personalize WooCommerce store.

Here is how you can empower your customers,

• Allow your customers to pick their own delivery date. WooCommerce Order Delivery is one incredible extension that allows the customers to set the delivery date based on the estimated shipping times to their location. It also allows merchants to block off dates on which the delivery is not possible.
• Allow your customers to purchase in their local currency. With extensions like WooCommerce currency switcher, let your customers pick their respective currency. Moreover, you can also set the default currency for particular geographical locations to help your customers view the product prices and complete the checkout process in their local currency.
• Allow customers to shop by brand. WooCommerce shop by brands plugins allows merchants to create endless brand categories with a name, description, and image and attach products to it. This allows customers to shop from their favorite manufacturers without any hassle.

4. Take Social Media To Your Advantage

Social media is arguably the great platform for targeted and personalized marketing. For a personalized experience, you also need to create a community around your brand and get your customers involved.  This is why eCommerce brands must ensure a firm social media presence.

Here is how you can leverage social media for personalization,

• Marketers can stay on top of the trends by analyzing real-time scenarios and what their audience cares about the most. Social networks help in better segmentation and help in the understanding of target demographics.
• Personalization and customer service go hand in hand and social networks are so great for customer service. They help retailers to quickly respond to customer inquiries. Moreover, social media makes it easier to spot and respond to any unpleasant customer experiences.

5. Keep the Relationship Alive

Keeping business relationships with customers alive and healthy is essential to a successful personalization strategy. Ignoring clients who aren’t actively purchasing nor responding to your emails won’t help your company grow or receive any more orders.

Now how to keep the relationships alive with customers is whole another topic. However, talking specifically about personalization, here is what you can do.

• Check in occasionally to see if your customers need assist
• Send Personalized Messaging
• Offer Special Pricing for inactive customers
• Offers discounts and loyalty benefits to loyal customers
• Reply in a timely fashion
• Remain Friendly and Personal
• Complimentary Promotions

Final Thoughts

Personalization is gradually becoming a big deal for eCommerce and for all good reasons. Though the boundary for personalized experience remains a debated topic; the above-mentioned tips are safe and proven measures to get started with personalization and take your sales to a whole new level.