Sun, November 10, 2024

eCommerce Technologies for Personalization and Customer Engagement

Jen Buckner
Updated on October 14, 2024

eCommerce technology has transformed how businesses interact with their customers. It offers tools for personalization and customer engagement, elevating enterprises and boosting their online presence. For online businesses, especially those catering to international audiences, providing a customised shopping experience is essential. Let’s explore some popular eCommerce technologies that drive customer engagement and personalization.

Chatbots and Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs)

These tools are ideal for engaging customers and reducing costs. They use machine learning and natural language processing to answer real-time customer questions. They help create personalized shopping experiences and improve customer service.

Personalized experience is key especially for business such as online casinos where players expect fast and efficient communication. When playing at casinos for real money, access to live chat services gives players peace of mind since their issues are handled promptly. This increases trust between the players and the online casinos. 

Sales chatbots and IVAs can work on websites, mobile apps, and messaging platforms like WhatsApp. This approach is known as conversational commerce. PwC data indicates that customers will likely remit up to 16% extra for engaging and convenient services. It’s like having a friendly salesperson in a physical store, ready to share product information, suggest alternatives, and provide advice.

If you need more information on using conversational commerce for your business, consider researching common use cases or chatbot companies specialising in conversational AI.

Email Marketing

Email marketing tools help online businesses design, automate, and deliver email campaigns directly to consumers. This type of marketing involves sending personalized messages, promotional content, and updates to specific audiences. The goal is to increase customer engagement, drive sales, and build brand loyalty.

Studies show that more than 60% of online retailers use email marketing for their campaigns. This strategy contributes significantly to business growth and success. A real-life example is Livrarias Curitiba, an online store in Brazil. They used GetResponse’s tools to create personalized marketing emails, landing pages, and websites, which boosted their revenue by 200%. They also used A/B testing and email analytics to improve their campaigns.

Image Search Engines

Image search is an often overlooked but powerful eCommerce tool. According to SemRush, Google image searches make up more than 22% of all queries. Customers can use image searches to find products by uploading pictures or reverse image searches. This improves the online shopping experience.

Optimising product images is essential for eCommerce businesses. Enterprises ensure that search engines understand the image content by adding informative titles and alt texts to photos. This helps improve Google’s rankings, bringing more customers to the website.

Integrating image search strategies into mobile apps can further streamline operations, especially since more customers prefer to shop on mobile devices.

Mobile Apps

Mobile commerce (mCommerce) is growing rapidly, with around 60% of eCommerce sales happening on mobile apps. A custom mobile app lets businesses keep customers updated about the latest deals and products.

Mobile apps allow you to browse, shop, and check out. They provide a simple and user-friendly interface, which can lead to more sales. The trend toward mCommerce suggests that mobile apps will keep playing a crucial role in eCommerce.

Recommendation Systems

Recommendation systems are essential for personalized shopping experiences. They process customer information, including historical purchases and browsing behavior, to suggest relevant products. These systems help eCommerce businesses increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Recommendation systems can be integrated into mobile apps and web apps to improve customer service. They can also work with pop-ups to notify customers about discounts or items left in the cart. This helps to bring down cart abandonment.

AIMultiple advises eCommerce businesses to use behavioural analytics to predict customer preferences and customise their marketing efforts. This can increase sales and improve engagement rates.

Social Commerce

Social commerce combines eCommerce with social media, allowing users to shop directly on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest. With almost 19% of all online sales through social commerce, it has become a vital tool for businesses.

Social commerce uses the power of social networks to drive sales through influencer collaborations, user-generated content, and social interactions. Here are some examples:

  • Instagram shopping: Users can buy products directly from posts, stories, or the dedicated “Shop” tab.
  • Facebook shops: Businesses can create online stores with integrated checkout on Facebook and Instagram.
  • TikTok shopping: Brands can add product links to videos or partner with influencers for promotions.
  • Pinterest buyable pins: Users can purchase items directly from pins they find.

Social commerce increases engagement and drives sales by improving how customers shop without leaving social media.

Virtual Reality (VR)

One downside of online shopping is that customers can’t see or try products before buying. Virtual reality (VR) solves this problem by creating 3D environments where users can interact with products. With VR, customers can try on clothes, arrange furniture, and realistically explore products.

For example, the British shirt manufacturer Thomas Pink launched Fits.me, a VR platform that allows customers to see how shirts fit based on their body size. This technology helped the company increase sales by offering a more engaging shopping experience.

Conclusion

eCommerce technologies for personalisation and customer engagement are changing how businesses interact with customers. Chatbots, email marketing, image search, and virtual reality all enhance the online shopping experience.

Using these technologies, businesses can improve customer satisfaction, increase sales, and build brand loyalty. The secret is to opt for the ideal tools that fit your business needs and to keep up with the latest trends in eCommerce technology.




Jen Buckner

Fintech Writer