Marketers and psychologists have known for years that people are attracted to every choice opportunity (check out the growing selection of products in your local grocery store's beverage department). But the digital world, with its offerings of unlimited inventory and a near-infinite web, has fundamentally changed people's expectations of personalization. Today's consumers not only want more choices, they also want better choices.
Businesses today can create tremendous value for customers by leveraging digital tools to deliver the right products, services and personalized experiences.
Here are 5 approaches to digital personalization currently in use:
1. Custom trading
As online shopping becomes more personalized, users have the opportunity to explore how a product will suit them and not just the general customer. Lancôme's "Magic Mirror" Facebook app lets visitors upload photos of themselves and virtually "try on" makeup products to see how they look.
The My Virtual Model site allows users to create custom full-body avatars to try on products from retailers such as Adidas, Levi's, Land's End, Best Buy, and Sears. Land's End saw a 45% increase in conversion rates and a 15% increase in average order value among customers using this personalized shopping interface.
2. Personalized products
In other cases, customers try to show a personal touch by personalizing the product so that it is unique to them. For the 2010 Mustang launch, Ford offered car lovers an online tool for selecting custom details and body parts (if you like your design, the site provides instructions for doing detailing work in a local auto shop).
The Nike ID platform allows customers to design a unique pair of shoes with their own signature color and look. And the "My Starbucks Signature" microsite lets you mix and match ingredients to design your own Starbucks drink, with over 87,000 possible combinations.
3. Personalized service
Hotels have long known that guests will return when you can give them a more personal touch. Today, that includes using social media and digital tools to capture and cater to guests' unique interests, such as Marriott's new GoBoard digital concierge. Affinia Hotels offers the "MyAffinia" web portal to select the right service in your room upon arrival, from an Ibanez guitar, a walking guide around the city, to a choice of 6 custom pillows (magnetic therapy pillow, anyone?).
The Zync American Express Card website allows customers to choose from a variety of card benefit “packages”, from the “GO” package for travelers to the “ECO” package for green consumers or the “RESTAURANT” package for gourmets.
4. Special media
Today's online customers also expect increasingly personalized media. Pandora has attracted 80 million users to its digital radio service, beating out traditional radio stations for young users in cities like New York and Los Angeles, thanks to its ability to stream your preferred radio station based on the songs or artists you like. Both Twitter and magazine-like apps like Flipboard for iPad allow users to curate and collect their own media mix, essentially creating their own personal news channel.
5. Filter noise
However, making this choice can be a challenge. And for many of us, our digital lives are characterized by information overload, too much media, and the need to sift through what is most valuable and relevant to us. This creates another opportunity for companies to create value by helping to provide more personalized and personalized information and options to choose from.
The digital tools, interfaces and algorithms available for customization will continue to evolve. But they won't be leaving anytime soon. Because customers have proven, time and time again, that when they have a choice, a personalized product or service is what they are looking for.