Over the last five years or so, e-commerce has grown hugely around the world, as consumers take advantage of great online pricing, the convenience of shopping from anywhere at any time of the day or night, and the ability to discover a whole raft of products that otherwise would be beyond reach.
However, although it has been getting continually cheaper and easier for entrepreneurs to create an online store with the advance of technology and growth in the market, the influx of new e-commerce stores also means that there is more competition than ever.
If you want to wow customers, grow your business, and blow your competitors away, then it’s important to be aware of all the best ways you can build an online store that thrives. One of the best things to do in this field is to make use of big data. Read on for some prime ways that the growth in data science, and the subsequent ease of access to information, can help you to grow your business today.
Personalization One of the best uses of big data for e-commerce businesses is Personalization. By analyzing a wide variety of data about your customers and their shopping habits, you can provide a more individual browsing and buying experience that will help to convert more sales. Take a look at the different ways that consumers shop with you (for example, through different touchpoints and for different reasons and occasions), and you can find out how to offer these people content, promotions, products, and processes which suit them.
Loyalty Programs A prime example of personalization for online stores is the ability to reward loyal customers. Once people have purchased from you a few times, you can see what types of products they buy, at what prices, at what time of day they shop, where they have goods delivered, and more. You can then use this information to reward shoppers with ideal promotions plus product information and suggestions.
You Might Also Like… A great way to use personalization effectively online is via the “Customers who bought this item also bought...” recommendation feature. Initially seen on Amazon years ago, but then made more readily available to other e-commerce entrepreneurs because of open-source software and cheaper digital shopping cart software, this function enables you to automatically recommend products to customers that they may like, based on their browsing or buying history.
