It’s time to move a step beyond personalized promotional emails. Targeting and location-based personalization on mobile phones is now possible, and this technology gives retailers a new ability to be present for a customer’s “in the moment” need or want.

The Personalization Features Your Customers Want

In-Store

Accenture research finds that 60% of shoppers want to receive real-time promotions when they’re inside a store. Among the most popular:

  • 82% enjoy automatic discounts at checkout for loyalty points or coupons
  • 57% like real-time promotions
  • 54% like complementary item suggestions

On-the-go

The desire for a personalized experience isn’t limited to in-store. For more general personalized mobile promotions, the most popular features include:

  • 64% want website optimization by device
  • 59% want promotional offers for the specific item the customer has been looking at, and want personalized navigation that makes it easier to find items relevant to their browsing history

With 59% of shoppers comparing prices before buying an item, personalized promotions may be the best way to pull a customer’s attention back to your product.

Know Your Customers: The Best Features for Each Demographic Are Different

There are some generational differences when it comes to which consumers are willing to share information with retailers.

  • Millennials are most willing to share information and are most receptive to product advice and recommendations.
  • Baby Boomers are more demanding and have higher expectations for rewards in exchange for their data.
  • According to the study, 74% of Baby Boomers expect to get automatic crediting for coupons and loyalty points and 70% expect special offers, compared to 58% and 61% of Millennials, respectively.

“Leading retailers understand that every shopper is different and look for insight in terms of what works best across product and service lines or with high-value customers,” said Chris Donnelly, global managing director for Retail, Accenture Strategy. “It is critical to test how customers might respond to a particular personalization strategy. Data-driven testing should include the behavior of individual customers, demographic indicators and factors relating to the item itself. For instance, while some people may want to be told they are out of milk, they may not feel the same way about personal care products.”

The Right Way to Personalize: Tell a Story

  • Tell the Right Story — Catching customer attention means creating a story that focuses on your brand and product to connect with your customer. Use “in the moment” personalization to build on the desires that bring a customer to your brand in the first place. A story is more than discounting; personalized discounts only appeal to a smaller subset of discount shoppers.
  • The Right Way — Shoppers are sharing their experiences with social media and other user-generated content, including product reviews. They are getting increasingly blind to paid media and referrals. Make it easy for your shoppers to share your story and then, get out of the way.
  • At the Right Time — Understand where the shopper is in the shopping journey and target messaging to make the most of the micro-moments. Learn more about how to find and win the micro-moments here.