November 13, 2023
3 mins
When we look back at the history of online shopping, it's clear how much technology has transformed it. But it wasn’t a clearcut path right from day one (when has it ever been?).
And one of the biggest drivers of this change as we evolved into the chronically digital world was personalization.
As e-commerce grew up, brands worldwide have adopted the practice of personalized shopping experiences, but leading this change was Boots. The household beauty brand was one of the first to really invest in personalization and has seen it underpin loyalty and growth over the long-term as a result.
If you look behind the scenes, Boots are a shining case study of how cleverly pivoting to novel tech is a pretty surefire way to guarantee success.
Over the years, they’ve seen steady increases in conversion rates, bigger average order values, and improved customer retention rates because of that personalization. Data-driven decisions are so clearly the way to go now, but it wasn’t always the case. They first started greasing the gears of their current omnichannel success by developing their iOS-first mobile app, in 2016. They added a whole swathe of personalization over the years following and further bolstered their efforts during the pandemic. The results are clear. They took an educated gamble by investing heavily and early in a developing tech and are seeing clear, long-term rewards.
At first glance, Boots' e-commerce platform looks like any other. But under the surface, it offers customized deals, tailored product recommendations, and a personalized browsing history that reveals their mastery in personalization over the years.
Every personalized interaction with Boots paints a clearer picture of the shopper. With more data collected, the interactions become more personalized, building a stronger relationship between Boots and its customers.
For Boots, personalization doesn’t stop when customers walk into the store. By linking online data with in-store shopping, they provide a unique, blended brand experience, no matter where customers choose to shop.
What do shoppers say about the personalized services at Boots? From the numbers and responses, they seem to enjoy the specific product recommendations and exclusive deals. It's a clear winner, where shoppers are happy because their experiences are better but also Boots have managed to sure up a lot of their backend processes, dialing it right down to the granular details that allow them to boost their sales but also cut back wastage in their systems.
Gambling so heavily on personalisation was a big move back in 2016, but now it seems so essential that it doesn’t even feel like it could have been a risk at all. But this is exactly the trend we’ve seen time and time again. Personalisation has been the driving force behind commercial change for years and will continue to be.
With future tech gearing towards omnichannel touchpoints, it feels only natural that we’ll see an increase in personalized content, offers and truly nuanced customer journeys. And the thing is, when you adopt those practices you actually foster an incredible relationship with your customers. One that is aided by the use of clever tech to make it scalable, but still feels personal and in tune with what they want.
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