From reading customers’ minds to analysing a shopper’s DNA, brands are going to extraordinary lengths to push the boundaries of personalisation.

As the retail industry innovates and invests, the bar is being raised even higher and higher.

Serving up product recommendations is no longer enough to stand out from the crowd as retailers battle to claim the loyalty of time-strapped shoppers who are demanding an experience that is relevant to them.

A growing trend is to bring website personalisation into stores. “Data-led personalisation is much easier online but it’s raising the expectation of in-store personalisation,” says Future Foundation head of innovation, Josh McBain.

Shoppers using the Barneys New York app receive push notifications with personalised content recommendations, including videos, look books and designer videos, as they move around the store

RichRelevance vice president of EMEA Matthieu Chouard agrees and says US department store Barneys is leading the field in omnichannel personalisation. Barneys, which works with RichRelevance to provide real-time product recommendations online, has used beacon technology to bring personalisation to its New York flagship store.

Shoppers using the Barneys New York app receive push notifications with personalised content recommendations including look books and designer videos, as they move around the store.

Customers also receive push notifications when they are near items that are in their shopping basket on their mobile or on their wishlist, encouraging them to buy.

Barneys store app

Barneys store app

Barneys and RichRelevance developed omnichannel personalisation, where push notifications have personalised content

The use of beacons to bring personalisation into the retail store is growing, and McBain says American Eagle has had success using it.

The US fashion retailer has worked with location-based start-up Shopkick to bring personalised messaging to shoppers in-store.

Feel-good factor

Customers receive a welcome message when they enter an American Eagle branch, as well as deals, discounts and product recommendations when in specific areas of the shop.

Customer experience consultancy Nunwood director David Conroy says great personalisation is not just about getting the right information to the right person at the right time, it should also have a psychological impact on the shopper: “It should make them feel valued and better about themselves.”

Conroy highlights hotel group Ritz Carlton, which uses its own Mystique CRM system to build a picture of its guests’ preferences, and uses it to make them feel special.

Fashion retailer Uniqlo has gone further, and looked to neuroscience to discover what products its customers truly want

Staff use the CRM system to tailor the experience and make sure guests are greeted with their favourite gin and tonic, for example.

High-end online travel company Black Tomato goes further, tailoring its holidays according to how customers want to feel, says Conroy.

It makes sure customers receive products personalised for their holiday such as maps and restaurant recommendations.

Fashion retailer Uniqlo has gone further, and looked to neuroscience to discover what products its customers truly want.

In October last year, Uniqlo’s Australian business worked with digital agency Isobar to launch UMood, a machine that analyses customers’s brainwaves to determine which T-shirt is right for them.

In-store, customers don a headset designed by Dentsu Science Jam – a company that commercialises scientific research – and are shown a sequence of images such as rippling waves, a dog or someone blowing confetti.

The Pharma Cafe in Dubai Airport has taken a similar approach and is reading DNA to find the perfect drink for its shoppers

The headset records brainwaves 20 times a second, which are analysed to determine the shopper’s mood. The mood is then paired with one of Uniqlo’s 600 T-shirts. “Uniqlo is literally reading shoppers’ minds to deliver the product that’s right for them,” says Conroy.

The Pharma Cafe in Dubai Airport has taken a similar approach and is reading DNA to find the perfect drink for its shoppers.

DNA is read via a hand scan at the entrance to the café, and a tailored “nutraceutical” drink is created using herbs, flowers and spices, which hold medicinal properties.

Location, location, location

Location-based marketing is also growing in popularity. McBain says location is one of the data sources that shoppers are happy to share.

About 50% of consumers said they used or were interested in services that use their smartphone location to send them deals to take advantage of nearby, according to research by Future Foundation and the Direct Marketing Association.

Facebook Place Tips

Facebook Place Tips

Businesses can write a customisable welcome note that appears at the top of the Facebook Place Tips feed and use it to promote items or share information

Social media giant Facebook is getting in on the act. It launched Facebook Place Tips last year to give users place recommendations based on their location.

“As people continue to use their phones everywhere and all the time – including while they shop and dine – there’s an opportunity for businesses to connect with customers online while they are in-store,” Facebook explained when it launched the product.

Place Tips gathers useful information about the business, such as posts from its Facebook page, upcoming events, recommendations and check-ins from friends, and shows it at the top of the in-store news feeds of visitors.

Sportswear brand Helly Hansen, working with personalisation specialist Monetate, used real-time weather data to promote its rainwear

Businesses can write a customisable welcome note that appears at the top of the Place Tips feed and use it to promote items or share information. Location data can also help retailers tailor their offer to the weather.

Sportswear brand Helly Hansen, working with personalisation specialist Monetate, used real-time weather data to promote its rainwear rather than skiwear during a particularly wet spell in Germany.

This resulted in a 170% increase in conversion rate over the period. IBM commerce solution consultant, Ross Stoner, says weather data can also be used to personalise offers in-store.

IBM worked with a large DIY retailer to serve up personalised offers on till receipts based on the weather at the store location.

Adapting to the weather is critical in retail and IBM has placed a big bet that this will drive personalisation. The tech giant bought hyperlocal weather forecaster The Weather Company last year to help launch new service Deep Thunder, which uses localised forecasts with historical weather data to help businesses predict the real impact of weather changes.

Finding a soulmate

Great personalisation can help make shoppers feel like their retailer of choice is their “soulmate”, according to Conroy.

He says Amazon is very adept at this. “We’ve found that shoppers speak about their relationship with Amazon in very emotional terms. The website fools the brain into thinking it is dealing with a human,” says Conroy.

Amazon does this through using shoppers’ names, showing their relationship history and using what it knows about its customers to recommend products.

“Much like humans it can surprise us with what it knows about us,” says Conroy. “One of our developers went to find a book on Amazon and it recommended a doughnut maker. How did Amazon know that this developer would be in need of a sugar fix?”

It transpired he bought the doughnut maker and said he’d found a “soulmate” in Amazon.

If retailers can surprise and delight through personalisation, it is clear they can build loyalty and, in the case of this doughnut-loving developer, a customer for life.

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