The recommendation engine market size, valued at just over $1 billion in 2018, is projected to hit an astounding $12 billion by 2025. Almost seven out of ten business leaders are boosting their investments in personalization, revealed a recent survey.
In a time where the majority of eCommerce players are focusing on personalization, businesses must craft unique and memorable shopping experiences that not only cater to shoppers’ individual preferences but also set them apart from the competition.
Guided Selling, powered by Algonomy Recommend™, lets optimization managers curate a shopping journey like never before. The shopper is presented with an interactive questionnaire. Upon submission of the quiz, products are dynamically selected based on a combination of the shopper’s inputs and behavioral data that has already been gathered about them.
It’s the fusion of intention and past interactions that gives rise to a shopping experience that’s not just tailored but truly individualized.
Zero-Party Data: A New Input to Personalization
From a personalization perspective, a Guided Selling experience is especially compelling because it enables optimization managers to incorporate the shopper’s inputs into the results.
This is known as zero-party data. Forrester coined the term zero-party data, which is “data that a customer intentionally and proactively shares with a company.“
Shoppers willingly offer up information, and in return, they expect a more personalized, relevant shopping experience.
Personalized Recommendations, Today and Tomorrow
With Algonomy’s Guided Selling, personalization isn’t limited to the current shopping session. It extends its reach into future interactions with the shopper.
How? By seamlessly integrating the shopper’s responses into their real-time customer profile or User Profile (UPS). This integration allows optimization managers to apply merchandising rules based on these answers at a later stage in the shopping journey, creating an ongoing cycle of personalization.
Imagine this scenario: In a Guided Selling experience centered around beauty products, the shopper is prompted with a question about their eye color. If the shopper shares that their eye color is blue, this valuable piece of information is stored within their UPS.
Now, when this same shopper receives an email with product recommendations, Algonomy’s personalization engine can apply a merchandising rule that boosts products specifically compatible with blue eyes.
The result? Not only are the recommendations stemming from the Guided Selling quiz more tailored to the shopper, but the product suggestions in future interactions also hit the mark.
Gift Finder: An Excellent Application of Guided Selling
Guided Selling extends its utility even when shoppers make purchases on behalf of others, as is often the case when buying gifts.
By presenting a series of well-crafted questions on the recipient’s preferences, interests, and occasion, Guided Selling can intelligently suggest the most suitable gift options, ensuring that the chosen gift resonates with the recipient.
With Algonomy’s Guided Selling, you can swiftly construct a proof of concept that seamlessly integrates into your website without necessitating any additional development resources from your end.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started:
- Define the Questions: Begin by outlining the questions you intend to ask shoppers. These queries serve as the foundation for tailoring the gift recommendations. They might include:
- Who is the gift for?
- What is the occasion?
- What are the recipient’s hobbies or interests? (e.g., Sports and fitness, Travel and adventure, Cooking and food, Fashion and beauty, Technology and gadgets, Books and reading, Arts and crafts)
- Do you have a budget range in mind?
- Align Questions with Catalog Elements: Map your questions and the provided answers to elements within your product catalog. These elements can include categories, specific product attributes, or price ranges.
- Customize the User Experience: To make the process engaging and visually appealing, personalize the look and feel of the quiz and the resulting gift recommendations. You can incorporate images as answer options and tailor the interface with your preferred fonts and color schemes.
By following these steps, you can seamlessly integrate a Gift Finder into your website, delivering an enhanced shopping experience that is bound to delight your customers no matter the occasion.
Conclusion
Algonomy’s Guided Selling merges the art of shopper intention with the science of data-driven personalization, creating an experience that’s not just curated but genuinely one-of-a-kind. With the integration of zero-party data and the ability to store shopper responses in the UPS, Guided Selling opens up a new frontier of personalization.
Learn more about our personalized product recommendation platform. Or request a demo to see it in action.
