Recommendation Engines -- or Artificial Intelligence operated data filtering tools – suggest the most relevant products to a user, to make his/her shopping or browsing experience feel most personalized.
They are like those most helpful ‘shop counter guys’ who somehow sense your interests and lead you to just the sort of things that you were thinking of buying. And then they show you more things to go with the ones that you are buying, or are planning to buy. At the end of the shopping or browsing, you return with the feeling that that store can read your mind.
With the number of internet users growing just as much as the amount of information on the internet is, it is getting increasingly necessary for Ecommerce companies to present visitors and customers with products and recommendations that should seem customized for them. Here comes the role of Recommendation Engines.
When configured correctly, a Recommendation Engine can
(1) Present Personalized Suggestions
Recommendation Engines simulate those trusted friends and family of ours who know what we like, what we want, and what would suit us, better than we do. These AI driven tools suggest we buy a shirt to go with it when we buy a pair of trousers, or show visitors browsing through the crockery section of your site what cutlery might go best with the set that they are currently looking at. One suggestion leads to another, till a person realizes s/he has bought crockery, cutlery, table cloth, flower vases, and even lamp shades – when all s/he had intended to do was spend time ‘window shopping’ through your site. That is the power of the personalized suggestions that a Recommendation Engine can present before a customer or a visitor.
(2) Impress Visitors
Visitors to your site can be instantly impressed when they discover that they have been welcomed with an array of products right after their hearts. They can feel more special to receive great recommendations – like the sort of music that would suit their picnic; or the chocolates that could go with the bouquet that they were ordering. And how about some fragrance to go with that? Visitors can be thoroughly impressed. And, by the way, this can be one of the most effective ways of displaying your products and services – and getting people to come flocking to them. People especially patronize those sites that they know can reflect their tastes perfectly.
(3) Retain Customers
Customers are difficult to retain. The reason why Recommendation Engines are introduced in the picture. A visitor can become a customer when s/he gets what s/he has been looking for, and more. A customer can be retained when the quality of service and products is maintained, and better products and services are presented.
Often, a customer has to leave a site halfway through browsing or buying, only to return after a few hours – or days. It can certainly help when the site starts displaying products and services from the point where the customer had left off the last time. A reminder. A continuity. Recommendations can follow from that point. It gives the customer a feeling of being very special to the site to be ‘remembered’ thus. Presenting a customer with his/her browsing data from his/her previous visit is one way of ensuring s/he stays loyal to the site. Customer Satisfaction is the route to Customer Retention.
(4) Produce Reports
Producing reports is a very important part of any Recommendation Engine’s responsibilities. It is on the basis of these reports that a client can decide how to channelize a campaign, and what kinds of offers to generate so as to improve the sales related to slow moving products. A Personalization System should give the client the most accurate and current reports, so as to assist the client in taking crucial decisions related to his/her site, and create a drive in sales.
(5) Increase Revenue
It is common sense that your revenue is going to increase if you have more visitors, a higher conversion rate, and more and more satisfied customers. Personalized Product Recommendations are known to draw more customers and commerce than non-personalized product recommendations or displays.
To Conclude It would be relevant to mention here that as per a report by marutitech.com, 35% of the revenue of the famed Amazon.com is generated by its Recommendation Engine.
How would you like to harness Recommendation Engines to see your business soar?
Contact us, and tell us about your online store. We, at Ascentspark, can come up with a solution completely customized to boost conversions, CTRs, revenues, and other important metrics for your online sales.
