The Ultimate Guide to Personalizations on Commerce7

Have you ever spent more than you intended when shopping online because the perfect products kept popping up one after the other, and you just couldn’t say no? Well, that wasn't a coincidence! 

In the same way sales associates are trained to learn about their customers interests in a retail environment, e-commerce businesses can collect online behavioural data to better understand their customers. This data is then leveraged to create content personalizations which is a marketing method used to deliver a unique piece of content to a website visitor based on a specific set of conditions. By delivering targeted content to a user, the likelihood of them engaging with that content skyrockets. This is especially true for data driven product recommendations.  In fact, shoppers who click on recommendations are 4.5x more likely to add these items to their cart and 4.5x more likely to complete the purchase.

Amazon is a prime example of product personalizations done right (pun intended). The e-commerce giant generates 35% of its revenue through their use of product recommendations, and their annual net sales continue to grow rapidly, due in part to the way they integrate individualized recommendations into nearly every part of the purchasing process. 

With 63% of marketers observing increases in customer engagement and improved conversion rates when using personalized content, its not surprising that Amazon’s efforts have been so successful, and why many other e-commerce businesses have followed suit. Needless to say, personalized content is here to stay, and that's exactly why we created personalizations on Commerce7. 

What are Personalizations and How do they Work? 

Personalizations empower wineries to get the right content in front of the right customer at the right time. Whether they’re a first time visitor on your website, or a valued club member, personalizations give your winery the ability to align the content a user sees on your website with their level of brand engagement, optimizing their buying experience and ultimately increasing your revenue. 

Personalizations have three tiers: 

1. Personalization Blocks 
2. Options
3. Conditions

Let’s break down each one to get a better understanding of how it all works together: 

Personalization Blocks

A personalization block is a section of your website that can display unique content. You can create as many blocks as you like and place them anywhere on your website. The content that is displayed in the personalization block is determined by two things: The options within the personalization block and the corresponding conditions. (Don’t worry, we’re going to go over what those are in a second).  

Options

Options live inside of personalization blocks and are the different content options that can be displayed on your website. Depending on the conditions you put in place, and which conditions the visiting customer meets, one of these options will appear on your website for said customer. 

Conditions

Conditions are the criteria a customer must meet to be shown one of the options within the personalization block. Each option can have as many conditions as you’d like. Some examples of conditions include: 

• Customer > Is equal to > Anonymous (Meaning this option will only display if this is a customer without a customer account)
• Customer > Is equal to > First Time Customer (Meaning this option will only display if your customer has made one purchase from your brand)
• Customer > Is equal to > Repeat Customer (Meaning this option will only display if a customer has made more than one purchase previously) 
• Customer > Is equal to > Club Member (Meaning this option will only display if a customer is an active club member) 

Note: If a customer meets the conditions for more than one option, the sort order you input in the settings will determine which option appears on your website. These settings can be accessed in the marketing personalizations section of the admin panel in Commerce7.  Learn more here.

That’s great, but what would I use Personalizations for? 

I’m glad you asked! There are so many different ways personalizations can be used, from offering a customer a discount during their birthday month to promoting an upcoming event to local customers or simply displaying a customer's next club shipment, the possibilities are endless. With that said, let's take a look at how the Bartier Bros used personalizations to solve a problem on their website, and later to accurately market their products.

Before implementing personalizations, Bartier Bros Club Members would receive the club package reminder email, and would place an order on the website without editing or viewing the actual club package. The members did not understand that a package was pre-created in the system within their profile, based on their unique tastes and preferences. This resulted in duplicate purchases and frustration. To eliminate the accidental purchases, Bartier Bros implemented a personalization block for club members, clearly communicating next steps for their club package. They found personalization blocks to be an extremely effective tool for this purpose, and decided to add personalization blocks for first time and repeat customers as well to better market their products on their website.

Since implementing personalization blocks, Bartier Bros found that their "recommended to purchase" sales increased significantly, in addition to solving their accidental Club order problem.

This is just one example of the many possible use cases for personalizations. Having content flexibility means you can curate your website in a way that benefits your business, while giving your customers a distinctive online experience that helps your winery stand out from the crowd.

How to Use Personalizations to Cater to the Customer Journey

The customer journey on Commerce7 is based on the steps a consumer takes with your winery as they become more engaged with your brand, and it is a relatively simple one: 

• A new customer discovers your brand and visits your website.
• The customer becomes a first time buyer after making their first purchase from your brand.
• The customer becomes a repeat buyer, having made several purchases from your brand.
• The customer becomes a club member, and is an advocate for your brand. 

Every single one of your customers will fall into one of these categories, and as a starting point, we recommend using personalizations to create and display content that caters to each. Here’s how: 

Step 1: 

Have your designer create a personalization block on the homepage of your website by going to Developer > Personalization Blocks in your Commerce7 admin panel. 

Step 2: 

Create an option for each step of the customer journey inside your new personalization block by going to marketing > personalizations in your Commerce7 admin panel. See below: 

New Customer 

A new customer is someone who is an anonymous visitor to your website, is not familiar with your brand and has had little to no engagement. The goal with this option is to persuade this potential customer to make their first purchase. Take this opportunity to tell your brand story, educate the new visitor and promote some popular wines or staff picks to encourage them to have a look around. 

Option Setup: 

Title: New Customer
Type: Product Collection
Sort Order: 4
Collection: Select the collection of products you want to promote
Content: Add details about your brand story in this section
Applies to: One or more conditions
Item: Customer
Condition: Is Equal to
Customer: Anonymous 

First Time Buyer 

A first time buyer is someone who has made their first purchase from your brand. The goal of this option is to get that buyer to make a second purchase. The second sale is a lot more important than the initial purchase. In fact, there is only a 27% chance of them making a second purchase, but if you’re able to obtain it, the chances of them making a third goes up to 45%. Use this option to welcome the customer back by name and show them similar wines to their first purchase, and make them aware of any active deals or promotions. 

Option Setup: 

Title: First time buyer
Type: Product Collection
Sort Order: 3
Collection: Recommended for you (This will automatically recommend similar products to their first purchase)
Content: Add a welcome back message, referring to the customer by name. You can learn how to do this here and add in any one use coupon codes you may want to include.
Applies to: One or more conditions
Item: Customer
Condition: Is Equal to
Customer: First time customer

Repeat Buyer 

A repeat buyer is someone who has made more than one purchase from your brand. Typically, if a customer has made multiple purchases, they become a good candidate to join your wine club. With that said, the goal of this option is to promote your wine club and encourage the customer to join. You can use this as an opportunity to welcome the customer back by name and provide wine club information and benefits along with a CTA to join. 

Option Setup: 

Title: Repeat Buyer 
Type: General Content
Sort Order: 2
Content: Enter information about your wine club in this section. Include club benefits and a CTA to join.
Applies to: One or more conditions
Item: Customer
Condition: Is Equal to
Customer: Repeat customer 

Club Member 

Club members are at the top of the customer journey. Since they are at the top of the ladder so to speak, a great goal to work towards for club members is to increase their average order value. The best way to achieve this is to allow them to personalize their club packages. Based on our data, when a member is given the opportunity to change their package 24% will do so and this increases the average club package by $33. Take this opportunity to welcome your club member back by name, display their upcoming club package and provide them with the ability to customize it.

Option Setup: 

Title: Club Member 
Type: Club Shipment
Sort Order: 1
Content: Enter any relevant information about your club shipments including any associated promotions. 
Applies to: One or more conditions
Item: Customer
Condition: Is Equal to
Customer: Club Member 

With the four options above set up in your personalization block, your website would be able to serve your customers relevant content, based on their stage in the customer journey. This will create a catered, engaging experience for your customers, while simultaneously improving retention and generating more sales for your winery. 

The best thing about personalizations on Commerce7 is that there are so many different ways to use them. Get creative, try something new and find interesting ways to engage your customers! In the meantime, check out our documentation and recent Free Training Friday video to learn more about how to get started with Personalizations.