OK, so maybe my subject line goes a bit far, but Google’s recent announcement about its enhanced personalization capabilities is another important indicator of the importance Web users are putting on their own individual, contextualized experiences. Nowhere is this having a more profound effect than in the world of eCommerce. In future posts, I’ll look at the “how to” of great personalization, but for now, let’s take a moment to look at the two major factors that are making personalization a “must have” for Web sellers:

The rise of the “Millennials”

This catchy term refers to people born between 1982-2000. Current estimates from Resource Interactive peg their collective spending power at $200 billion, with 5-17% spent online. (Perhaps more immediately relevant, though, is the influence Millennials have on the rest of the household’s spending.) A look at some commonly held characteristics of this group make it obvious why personalization is key. Millennials are:

  • Perpetually connected (to each other and the wider world) via the Internet, text messaging, cell phones, etc., which serves to stratisfy communications
    • Remember, personalization is about showing the right content, to the right person, at the right time
  • Multi-tasking and productive, which means they are constantly filtering out “non-relevant” content and messages
  • Optimistic and entitled. This group assumes success (in the case of eCommerce, this can be defined as quickly finding and buying exactly what they are looking for) and demands involvement in achieving that succes
  • Fickle. If you don’t immediately meet their needs, they are looking for somebody who will
  • Driving other generations’ behavior. Not only do Millennials influence purchasing decisions now, but they also serve as the model for how others may soon expect to be treated

Clearly, these characteristics are already driving behavior online. According to Forrester Research “Nearly half of consumers who visit a landing page leave in under 8 seconds. To build relevance, brands must start with segmentation models that enable personalization and deliver targeted function, content and images.”

Chris Anderson’s Theory of the Long Tail

I cannot do this theory justice in the space of one blog post (plus, I’m sure you are quite familiar with it anyway!), but the relevant highlights include:

  • Demand for products available only online is potentially as big as for the biggest sellers available in physical stores
  • Unconstrained by shelf space and distribution, narrowly targeted goods are now economically attractive
  • Online, one size need not fit all

So if we are to have more and more selection in an online store, targeted and narrower niches, viewed by people who will leave quickly if you show them irrelevant content — the only answer is advanced personalization.  That is where Google is going, and that is where every ecommerce platform provider must go, and where every online seller must go, or risk becoming quickly irrelevant themselves.

In future posts, we’ll dive further into the attributes that contribute to an optimally personalized experience.

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