• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, March 14, 2013

According to primary research across more than 1,100 consumers by MyBuys and the e-tailing group,customer-centric marketing (the ability for retailers to engage consumers in one-to-one conversations across the customer lifecycle and all touch points) increases buyer readiness, engagement and sales activity, with 40% of respondents now stating that they buy more from retailers who comprehensively personalize the shopping experience across channels.

The survey results showed that buyer “readiness” requires finding the right product (67%) at the right price (55%). In addition, personalized promotional emails (57%) and personalized online advertising (35%) are top vehicles to prompt consumers to purchase.

Since the last surveyed consumers on this issue in April 2012, consumer awareness of personalization taking place jumped 25%. The impact of personalization on purchases increased:

• 21% from personalized emails
• 11% from website recommendations
• 8% percent when experienced across channels

More than half of the respondents say that website recommendations (55%) and emails (54%) personalized based on their past browsing and shopping behavior are “desirable” to receive. Nearly 60% of consumers indicate that personalized product recommendations make it easier to:

• Find the products they are most interested in (59%)
• Provide a valuable service (53%)

Lauren Freedman, president of the e-tailing group, who conducted the study, says “... we’ve followed (personalized) consumer attitudes and behavior for over a decade... the latest surge in awareness, value and purchase intent shows that consumers’ desire for customer-centric marketing has hit the mainstream... ”

Given the right product at the right price, consumers become “confident and ready” to buy. However, when they leave websites without purchasing, it is most often because:

• 44% say they were “still in the research process”  
• 33% found it “hard to browse for the products” they were interested in

When they do abandon, Amazon and Google are typically the next visits shoppers make, with 60% going to Amazon and 42% going to a search engine such as Google (and Amazon is often the top ranked result on Google.) 

Robert Cell, CEO of MyBuys, notes that “.. the number of consumers show-rooming on Amazon is a top concern for retailers, highlighting the importance of keeping and re-acquiring a potential customer’s focus during their purchase process... “

According to MyBuys’ detailed behavioral and performance information for more than 250 million shoppers across more than 400 retailers, customer-centric marketing has a significant impact on driving revenue.  Analysis of this “big data” shows that when customer-centric marketing is implemented across channels, retailers typically realize a full 100% increase in purchase frequency, a 50% increase in average order value and a 25% increase in conversion of cart abandoners to buyers. These and other improvements stemming from customer-centric marketing equate to delivering a 25% increase in total online sales and a 300% improvement in customer lifetime value, concludes the report.

For more information from MyBuys, please visit here.