Tool 4: Product recommendation - Personalising the shopping experience
If you walk into a brick and mortar store, you will likely be greeted by a shop assistant who will inevitably offer to help you find items that are suited to you. When shopping online, this isn’t always as simple; that’s why it pays to implement a tool that can help achieve the same level of personalisation.
What are product recommendations?
Product recommendations are exactly as they sound: they display unique products to online shoppers based on their browsing history, user profile and site metrics. Product recommendations are powered by algorithms and customer data to show prospective buyers something they are likely to purchase. This is a powerful tool as it introduces an extra element of personaliation to the online shopping experience and entices consumers into making purchases based on past searches and preferential criteria. According to Monetate, product recommendations can increase revenue by up to 300% and can improve conversions by up to 150%4. This is a great indication of the difference this could make to your store.
There are several products out there, including Nosto’s product recommendation tool. Its algorithm analyses consumer shopping behaviour and displays product suggestions that are targeted to the customer’s unique persona. This type of tool also tracks your online shoppers using cookies to gain a better understanding of their online behaviour. If a new user visits your site with no recorded browsing history, it can serve up bestsellers, popular items, items based on search queries and more. Product recommendations can be used strategically across your site, from your homepage to your checkout.
How will product recommendations help improve your checkout conversions
Product recommendations are essential for all ecommerce sites, as they can drive sales, increase conversion rates and keep customers engaged. By ‘dressing your shop window’ and showcasing best sellers, visitors to your store will be more likely to notice new and popular items right away. Shoppers may think that they have finished shopping once they’ve reached the checkout but with product recommendations you can subtly suggest another item that they just can’t leave behind. Ensuring that all recommendations are in line with your customers’ search terms makes it so much easier for visitors to find exactly what they are looking for, and you will see a big difference to your conversions.
4 Source: Maximise online sales with product recommendations, Monetate