With eCommerce becoming increasingly competitive. And inboxes becoming increasingly busy. Brands need to pull out all the stops to stand out from the crowd and remain competitive.
Relevant product recommendations are key to achieving this.
Essentially, they give customers the options that they want. With no need to spend hours browsing, comparing, and deliberating over choices. Instead, the best products come to them.
Easy.
We’re huge fans of product recommendations, so to convince you to make them part of your strategy, here are 5 reasons why product recommendations are essential to increasing eCommerce revenues.
Timely
When consumers have spent time browsing your website and considering specific items, they are in a highly engaged state.
A lot of the hard work has already been done. They are on your website, and they are already engaged with your brand and offering.
This state of engagement is the perfect time to get in front of your consumers and target them with items that they just won’t be able to resist.
For instance, if they are already in buying mode and searching for sofas. You can use dynamic content on both landing pages and within emails to immediately showcase recommendations of similar items and sofa ranges that they are likely to be interested in.
Essentially, putting the right product, in front of the right consumer, at the right time.
Image Source – Snug.com
Personalised and relevant
80% of consumers like it when emails they receive from retailers recommend products to them based on previous purchases.
And 74% of consumers feel frustrated when website content is not personalised.
If you weren’t aware already, personalisation is a pretty big deal for consumers. And therefore, personalised product recommendations are particularly useful.
By showcasing consumers products that you know are relevant, you are making the buying process much simpler for them. They no longer have to trawl through endless product listings. Instead, they have personalised items either in their inbox or on the landing page right in front of them.
Engages abandoned customers
64% of consumers always or occasionally feel overwhelmed by choice, and 54% experience so much frustration that they abandon their search entirely if they cannot choose.
But that’s not the only reason a consumer abandons a search. They may have also been distracted or tempted by a competitor, for instance.
For brands who are armed with browse and purchase data, they can win back these potential customers with the use of relevant product recommendations.
Firstly, recommendations that are relevant resolve any frustration faced by choice overwhelm, especially for those customers you may have lost as they just couldn’t find the right item for them.
But product recommendations also enable the brand to put their best sellers and best deals in front of consumers to tempt them back to their store.
These could be relevant products that have recently gone on sale. Or items that have been flying off the shelves and you’re sure the consumer won’t want to miss out on.
Increases basket spend
If a customer is already purchasing from you, product recommendations are the ideal way to encourage them to spend just that little bit extra.
Brands can choose to cross-sell based on a customer’s current or recent purchase. For instance, if they have bought a dress, a brand can recommend shoes and a bag to make the outfit.
These recommendations can be showcased on the product landing page or at the point of purchase. Or, they can be sent via email post-purchase, to encourage the recipient to come back and make another purchase.
Alternatively, brands can use product recommendations to upsell at the point of purchase. This could include suggesting the customer upgrades their product model or service for a better option, at a slightly higher cost.
At this stage, the recipient is already highly engaged with their purchase. So are primed to spend a little more to get a little extra.
But don’t just take our word for it, an estimated 35% of Amazon’s revenue comes from upselling and cross-selling. So we’re learning from the best.
Creates loyal customers
Customer loyalty is key for any flourishing brand.
All of the above, timeliness, personalisation, and relevance improves the buying experience for any customer.
Customers who have these seamless experiences will want to come back for more. Your brand will become their brand of preference, as they soon become aware that they can find the right products, with minimal hassle.
And the more a brand learns about a customer, the more they can personalise their product recommendations. Keeping your customers happy and loyal. Long term.
Are you looking to implement product recommendations?
Our all in one AI email and web marketing technology, alongside our industry-leading customer success team, can help you achieve personalised, timely, and relevant product recommendations. That your customers love to receive.
Get in touch to find out more.
Alternatively, if you need a little more inspiration, check out our post on 14 Types of Product Recommendations That Go Beyond the Basics