• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, September 16, 2019

Retailers have warmed up to personalization, with 86% now using it, according toThe Value of Personalization Optimization for Retailers, a study from Liveclicker done in partnership with The Relevancy Group. But most of the retailers are stuck at a rudimentary level.

All 86% use first name and 66% utilize subject-line personalization — " 'table stakes' that do little to move the needle and drive business objectives," the study says.

The numbers go down for more sophisticated applications:

• Email body content — 62%
• Offers based on past purchases — 55%
• Offers by location/geography — 53%
• Offers at the time of open — 52%
• Offers based on site behavior — 52%
• Website personalization — 52%
• Base on real-time data — 51%
• Rules based personalization — 51%
• Offers by inventory levels — 50%
• Retargeting personalization — 48%
• Offers by weather — 43%
• Countdown timers — 41%

Overall personalization usage varies by product category. At 78%, the grocery/food/beverage field is the least likely to deploy personalization,

The music/media/movies is first with a 96% usage rate, and the arts and crafts and gardening categories are tied for second with  95% apiece.

Tied for third, with 91% each, are the baby/child/toys and hiking/outdoor segments.

What’s delaying personalization adoption? The biggest challenges are security and IT issues:  

• Having adequate IT support for data extraction — 26%
• Concerned with the security of third-party provider — 26%
• IT support for personalization applications — 23%
• Lack of budget — 22%
• Difficulty accessing our customer data — 21%
• We are merchandiser driven — 20%
• Lack of experienced staffers — 19%
• Previous efforts have not driven positive results — 18%
• Lack of labor resources — 17%
• Lack of executive mandate — 17%
• Have not been able to find a suitable technology — 16%
• Don’t see the value  — 14%

“To be truly compelling, retailers have started to step up their game with real-time advanced personalization, and math-based personalization using click behavior and inventory data,” states David Daniels, CEO or The Relevancy Group and co-author of the report.

The research shows that “these advanced tactics absolutely pay off in the form of real revenue for the company,” Daniels adds.

Clearly, they have to do better, given the threat from Amazon. Retailers are using these tactics to compete with the behemoth:

• A more relevant and enriching customer experience — 52%
• Loyalty programs, rewards program — 47%
• Specialized, unique product offerings — 43%
• Price — 38%
• Better personalized recommendations — 37%
• Offline store integration, i.e. pickup — 31%
• Selection — 28%
• Store credit card — 26%

The study asserts that firms using advanced personalization methods pull in $20 in revenue for every $1 spent, and 17% more than firms that are not at that level.

The data is based on survey input from 147 retailers.