The UK has arguably been at the forefront of data-driven marketing for decades but when it comes to the holy grail of personalisation it seems there are just as many winners as losers, with some industries still struggling to join the dots, despite having huge banks of data.
So says a new study from digital experience platform provider Optimizely, which quizzed 1,000 UK consumers on the industries they felt provided the best personalised experiences online, ranking from “excellent” to “terrible”.
At the top of their game are the supermarkets which have emerged as the king’s of online personalisation, with one in five (21%) UK shoppers saying grocers provided an “excellent” level of customer experience, which although hardly a resounding recommendation, was far more than any other industry.
Not that the sector’s use of data has been without its critics. The UK Competition & Markets Authority is currently investigating the industry’s use of loyalty schemes. The probe, first launched in January, has already studied “tens of thousands” of supermarket prices, although has yet to find any evidence to suggest loyalty promotions are based on bogus savings for customers.
In terms of positive online experiences, entertainment, gaming and sports firms came in second (15%), followed by health and wellness (14%), banks and financial services (13%) and hotels and accommodation (13%).
At the other end of the scale, transport, specifically train operators, have come in at the bottom of the rankings, with 16% of consumers ranking the industry as “terrible” or “poor” for personalisation. Other sectors which has performed badly include utilities (15%), estate agents and property (15%), automotive (13%) and charity (13%).
As Optimizely points out, those operating in the online supermarket and grocery industry have access to vast amounts of customer data on shopping habits, preferences and demographics through loyalty schemes, online shopping platforms, and in-shop purchases. Through this data, they are successfully tailoring their offerings to meet individual needs and enhance customer satisfaction.
However, the report warns that to continue to evolve their personalisation strategies, companies will need to experiment. As many as three-quarters (75%) of UK marketers believe experimentation is important for creating personalised content, and those who fail to continue this sort of ongoing experimentation could quickly fall behind, the study claims.
Optimizely president Shafqat Islam said: “Supermarkets benefit from having access to a huge amount of data – from purchase frequency to brand preferences. But access to data means absolutely nothing if it is not used in the right way.”
“Other industries have the potential to improve their performances; many are sitting on similar data goldmines, they are just struggling to connect the dots in the same way grocers are.
“Through continuous experimentation and ongoing refinement of personalisation strategies, every industry can use first-party data to create meaningful digital experiences that resonate with every single consumer.”
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