Published November 18, 2021

How independent retailers can switch on enterprise level growth using AI

By Rokt

We’ve all read about how the pandemic fueled overall retail sales up by nearly 3.5%, largely thanks to online shopping and large ecommerce retailers. What we don’t hear much about is how few independent online retailers benefitted from the ecommerce boom. According to the NY Times, ten large retailers accounted for 68% of all U.S. e-commerce sales in 2020.

Independent online retailers face multiple operational, marketing, and technical challenges when it comes to carving out their piece of the ecommerce growth pie. Competing with large scale retailers is not only daunting but usually an expensive proposition. While there are a number of tech products and platforms that help support growth for independent businesses, the one key ingredient that sets a profitable business apart from a high growth business is relevant customer experiences.

Online shopping, by nature, is not as personal as shopping in person. In person, retailers are able to provide relevant experiences and recommendations to customers while they are shopping and most engaged. Few businesses are able to replicate the same experience online. When you personalize your customer’s experience, it pays off in better engagement rates, higher conversion rates, and increased customer loyalty and satisfaction. According to a 2020 Forrester report, 85% of customers would reward sellers who provide relevant personalization with increased lifetime value.

The recent surge in online shopping forced brands to find ways to use technology to personalize the online experience for each customer. Most ecommerce behemoths today have doubled their profitability by focusing on providing the most relevant offers, messages, products and experiences to customers on an individualized level, as they would in a brick-and-mortar location.

So how can independent retailers on platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce personalize their ecommerce business to unlock incremental revenue and engagement without making huge investments?

1. Remember the Paradox of Choice

There is often a temptation to offer endless choices, offers and messages on an ecommerce site, because we assume customers want choices. While this is true, overloading your consumers with options can ultimately be a major deterrent to business. Research suggests that when shoppers are faced with multiple options, they more than often get overwhelmed and choose not to make a purchase at all, and if they do make a purchase, they’re often less satisfied with their experience. This is known as the paradox of choice. Independent retailers should keep this in mind while planning their ecommerce strategy, and ensure that they are only showing the most relevant messages to customers, where they are most likely to engage, rather than overloading them with too many options.

2. Treat each customer as an individual

1:1 personalization is key! Rather than showing the same messages to everyone, businesses should present them with handpicked relevant choices. You wouldn’t offer winter coats to customers in Hawaii, or show an app-install promotion to a customer who already has it downloaded. These are missed opportunities, especially when the paradox of choice demands you keep your offers limited.

Customers are individuals, and they are increasingly demanding that their online shopping experiences be personalized for them. Forrester research recently found that 85% of consumers would reward brands who provide a personalized shopping experience and 45% of consumers would even stop buying or switch to a competitor upon no attempt at relevant personalization. Independent retailers must invest in personalization in order to keep their customers satisfied.

3. Invest in technology

Many ecommerce retailers don’t have the time, money, or internal expertise to customize every user’s experience, which is where tech powered by AI comes in by presenting them personalized offers. SMBs and independent retailers were previously at a disadvantage, not being able to spare the resources necessary to keep up with enterprise competitors, but this investment is essential and has recently become more accessible. A late-2020 study by SMB Group backs that up, finding that “SMBs that have accelerated technology adoption and investments are 42 percent more likely to have increased their revenues since March than SMBs that decelerated in this area.” Investing in tech is proven to be beneficial for both small and large companies, and can be paramount to significant businesses success.

The Rokt Solution

Rokt’s ecommerce platform integrations with apps like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce provide an easy, automated integration option for merchants on these platforms. Rokt’s award-winning AI helps generate additional profit and serve seamless offers from well-known advertisers to customers after they’ve made a purchase.

Since 2012, Rokt’s disruptive technology has been transforming ecommerce for enterprise clients. Live in 16 markets and powering 5 billion transactions to date, Rokt’s algorithms instantly understands each customer and recommends the next best action based on client business objectives and the customer’s likelihood to engage. We can now harness the power of our enterprise technology already employed by leading ecommerce companies such as Ticketmaster, GoDaddy, and Groupon, for many different business owners to help them generate more profit per transaction and unlock incremental value with every purchase.

When a customer’s needs are anticipated and they receive messages, experiences and offers most relevant to them, the relationship between brand and consumer is enhanced. Not only are brands able to delight their customers by presenting them personalized offers, but every time a customer opts in, merchants get paid.

Ecommerce business owners on these platforms are able to optimize their user experience, maintain total brand control, and unlock a new revenue stream for their business. The applications were designed with independent online retailers in mind, so users can install integrations seamlessly with one click.

Ready to generate extra profit for your Shopify, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce store? Download Rokt Ecommerce for your business or contact solutions@rokt.com today or talk to an expert today!