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Data-driven personalisation improves customer targeting, delivering better, cost-effective results.
It has driven results for a long time. Sales professionals in retail stores have always trained to understand the preferences of customers and present them with the appropriate products. Building a relationship with customers allows businesses to offer personalised products and services, bringing benefit to the customer and the business.
It can become a game changer in the digital world with appropriate use of data.
Historically, businesses approached customers via mass marketing often with a very broad range of messages leading to information overload and poor return. However, when tech giants like Amazon started using customer data to personalise their shopping experiences, the expectations changed. Businesses realised that if they could target customers with products they actually wanted, rather than mass marketing ads at them, the results produced were far better and cost-effective and had dramatic impacts on business results
How you can benefit from personalisation
Leading players for personalisation
Why Product Managers should consider personalisation
For Product Managers, getting to grips with personalisation is key because it matters to customers. It’s no longer a "nice-to-have"—it’s essential.
By using data like customer search and browsing history, previous purchases, or even location, Product Managers can generate insights about spending patterns and lifestyle of their customers to help create unique, personalised experiences that keep customers engaged. When shopping online and customers see things that are relevant to them, they’re more likely to stay on a site, explore more products (i.e. opportunity to upsell and cross sell), make a purchase, and more likely to return in the future. A great way to achieve personalisation is through loyalty programmes, which give retailers even more insight into their customers' preferences.
Loyalty programmes track customer behaviour over time, collecting valuable data on their shopping habits, spending patterns, and favourite products. This data can then be used to offer personalised rewards or tailored promotions – which are valuable to the customer. For example, a customer who frequently buys certain types of items could receive discounts or special offers on similar products.
In this way, loyalty programmes don’t just reward customers—they also provide businesses with a wealth of information to create more effective personalisation strategies that keeps customers returning. The distribution of value can be targeted to customers who are more engaged with the brand as opposed to mass marketing or generic discounted pricing. 74% of customers in the UK think loyalty programmes are a great way for brands to reward customers.
In the UK, Tesco’s Clubcard, Sainsbury’s Nectar, Boots Advantage Card have been dominating the loyalty landscape, and retailers like ASOS and Waitrose have also jumped on the personalisation bandwagon.
ASOS is leveraging digital marketplaces and advanced technology to enhance personalisation, allowing for dynamic product offerings and targeted marketing campaigns. Waitrose is enhancing personalised online shopping experiences by using ‘myWaitrose’ programme to provide personalised vouchers that reflect individual shopping habits, offering discounts on frequently purchased items.
A fascinating angle of personalisation is the integration of augmented reality (AR). AR allows customers to visualise products before making a purchase – e.g. visualise a piece of furniture in the living room when shopping from Argos or try out various make-up products from Sephora’s Virtual Assist App to create a personal ‘look’. This immersive experience not only makes shopping more engaging but also reduces the likelihood of returns, as customers can make more informed decisions.
Ultimately, personalisation is more than just a buzzword. It’s become the standard, and for Product Managers, it is a tool to make your product more relevant and valuable to the right customer segments.
If you are thinking about your Product and Data strategy, personalisation should be top of your list. It is the weapon that allows you to turn the data you hold into increased sales.
Retail Reply’s Product Consultants are helping clients unlock the full potential of personalisation by leveraging customer data and insights to create targeted, tailored experiences.
Whether through loyalty programmes, dynamic product offerings, or advanced technology like augmented reality, we work with businesses to turn data into meaningful interactions that enhance customer engagement, drive sales, and improve key business metrics like conversion rates and revenue per visit.