How personalization can improve ecommerce

Kristina: In 2009 buzz began over online recommendations; are recommendations still important?

Millie Park, ChoiceStream Vice President and General Manager: Today, not only are recommendations still important, they are more important than ever. While shoppers value each dollar they spend, they also value their time. Individuals looking to the online space to make purchases are not only looking for a good deal, but also looking to save their precious time. Etailers who are using recommendations effectively to engage their customers will help them slog through product choices which seem to grow exponentially, and find what they are looking for more quickly.

Kristina: How can etailers improve on recommendations?

Millie: Recommendations allow shoppers the pleasure of browsing and discovering new products and services that they may be interested in along the way by providing related items of interest. And as time-crunched shoppers embrace smartphones and tablets as a method to shop from wherever they are, recommendations become even more important. The limited real estate on phones and tablets mean retailers need to get their "mini-storefront" experience to reflect the individual's interests and purchasing habits - personalizing small screens with recommendations allow them to do this.

Kristina: I've seen several reports about the importance of personalization, especially with tablet/mobile consumers. What does personalization offer advertisers?

Millie: Personalization has become increasingly important as growing numbers of people are embracing searching and shopping on-the-go. Mobility necessitates packing relevance into a smaller screen. To that end, using some of that limited screen real estate to target individuals with personalized advertising (beyond simple retargeting), will not only provide individuals with advertising they'd actually be interested in clicking through, but it will also drive the interested and engaged consumers to your website and your brand.

More from Millie and ChoiceStream tomorrow - including her top three tips to improve a personalized, ecommerce approach.

Tags: ChoiceStream, ecommerce experience, online advertising, personalized advertising, personalized experience