• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, August 3, 2022

Ask the average consumer what drives them to purchase decisions, and you might be surprised. 

It’s email, email and email, judging by Audience of One: Creating Loyalty Through Data Personalization, a study by Movable Ink. 

Here's the percentages of shoppers polled who cite the types of information they find useful when purchasing: 

• Email marketing about sales, promotions or offers—43% 
• Email marketing to tell you about new products or services—35%
• In-app notifications or reminders about sales or promotions—27%
• Social media posts announcing sales or promotions on social media—21%
• Email marketing to remind me of products I previously browsed or carted but never purchased—20% 
• Social media posts announcing new releases of products or services on social media—19%
• In-app notifications or reminders for you to repurchase products or services that you’ve purchased in the past that you could be running low on—15% 

When are emails and other messages most helpful?

• The initial researching phase—24% 
• The final decision phase (i.e., using search engines to explore the options out there, deciding between a few options)—19% 
• After primary contact (i.e., after I’ve visited their website)—19% 
• After purchasing/continued engagement (i.e., sending similar products or services that could be of interest, sales, etc.)—13% 

How comfortable are consumers in giving sharing information to get personalized offers? They are willing to provide: 

• Satisfaction with past orders, products or services—68%
• Ideal price range—67% 
• Product category of interest—65%
• Size—63% 
• Fit/body type—55% 
• Interests/hobbies—57%
• Order and search history—49% 
• Profession—45%
• Information about daily habits (i.e., eating, exercising, etc.)—41% 

Good personalization will make consumers more likely to do the following: 

• Purchase beauty products when shopping for clothing—41% 
• Purchase clothing when shopping for home goods—39% 
• Purchase beauty products when shopping for home goods—34%
• Purchase clothing when shopping for beauty products—40% 
• Purchase home goods when shopping for clothing—39% 
• Purchase home goods when shopping for beauty products—39%

 The findings are an outtake from a survey 1,000 consumers conducted last year.