Dive Brief:
- A large majority of shoppers — 93% — say they are likely to continue shopping with a brand when it provides personalized experiences, according to a survey of 1,050 consumers across the U.S., UK, and Australia released last week by Attentive.
- Nearly all consumers are OK with brands sending back-in-stock alerts for items they viewed on their websites or recommending products based on past purchases. Consumers are also fine with brands tailoring marketing based on information they explicitly shared, like preferred size, style or interests.
- Poorly done personalization is unwelcome for many consumers. Two in five respondents say it feels uncomfortable or invasive when personalization implies a brand has information the shopper never shared.
Dive Insight:
While most customers say they appreciate personalization, they are also aware that it’s their data powering such benefits.
Attentive found that 71% of shoppers say they are working to protect their privacy, up from 64% last year. Some common actions include opting out of cookies, limiting app access to phone data, and doing their shopping in incognito mode.
These shoppers are cautious because of data security, wanting to browse without being tracked, and distrust of certain brands or websites. Consumers are also concerned about receiving marketing messages without opting in and worry that brands will share or sell their data.
But many shoppers are still interested in personalization, despite their concerns. More than two-thirds of privacy-conscious consumers say they want brands to learn about their shopping habits over time.
“Shoppers still want relevance — just on terms they understand and can control,” Attentive said in the report. “That means it’s within brands’ power to personalize in a way that honors customer privacy and improves their experience.”
Other research has found that customers are more reserved when it comes to personalization. Qualtrics research from last fall found that only 3 in 10 consumers are comfortable with organizations learning their habits to personalize experiences.
Brands can still win over shoppers despite their caution, according to Qualtrics. Nearly half of consumers are willing to share more information if they offer more transparency about data that is collected, better control over how it is used, and make it easy for them to delete their information.
