Exclusive Retail Week research reveals only 14% of UK retailers view personalisation as essential to their ongoing customer strategies.
30% of retailers say they will never invest in personalisation, with only 14% viewing it as essential to their ongoing strategy.
In a new Retail Week’s report – in association with personalisation software experts Monetate – we spoke directly to the UK’s retail leaders to discover the sector’s understanding of the capabilities available to them, and whether they believe artificial intelligence (AI) can transform their customer experience.
By benchmarking new research results with data from 2016, Retail Week found that, among all the discussions around the importance of personalisation, little progress was actually being made. Download the full report here.
Knowledge gap
The findings have shown that personalisation techniques have barely advanced in the last 12 months.
A knowledge gap surrounding machine-learning capabilities within retail organisations is apparent from the research, with half of the respondents (51%) saying they’re familiar with machine learning and AI, but 57% saying their organisation has little or no knowledge of this tech.
“Personalisation is using everything that you know about your customer and their relationship with your brand, to drive a meaningful experience with that customer in each moment”
David Brussin, Monetate
David Brussin, founder and executive chairman of Monetate, believes that by taking advantage of machine learning technology, retailers can provide the fully personalised experience consumers crave, whether online or in-store.
“Personalisation is using everything that you know and ought to know about your customer and their relationship with your brand, to drive a meaningful experience with that customer in each moment,” says Brussin.
The personalised customer journey
Speaking at Retail Week’s recent Tech. event, Shop Direct’s retail and technology director Jon Rudoe echoed this point, stating that the etailer is using machine learning to determine the frequency and channels through which it communicates with its high-value shoppers, and to discover new ones.
“We’ve understood who those customers are through their purchase history, but understood other things about them that are represented in other parts of their digital exhaust,” said Rudoe.
39% of retailers might believe that personalisation is either not relevant or not particularly important to their business, but some experts clearly think that by embracing machine learning, the industry will be able to better adapt to the demands of the consumer.
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