Use Data Insights to Connect with Ecommerce Shoppers

A few years ago, customer data was like water in the desert. Marketers and strategists would squeeze every last drop of the limited data they could find for actionable insights. Then came social media, user-generated data, and countless analytics engines that seem to know us better than we know ourselves. Now you can’t throw a rock without hitting a super-effective method of data collection. Using data to increase sales is easier than ever.

This is great news for online sellers, who would otherwise have to rely on guesswork to identify their customers. With an abundance of data streaming in from every direction, ecommerce merchants have all the information they need to know who’s buying what, when, and how they found it. While this is great, data collection isn’t what drives results. It’s what merchants do with their customer data that counts.

What is Data-Driven Ecommerce? 

Data-driven ecommerce is the process of making decisions for your sales and marketing strategy based on facts and data. In ecommerce, this data consists of customer behavior, marketing performance, sales trends, and product feedback and insights. 

To execute a truly data-driven ecommerce strategy, you need to actively seek out applications for the insights you derive from customer data. Consider how you can make a piece of content more targeted, a store function more relevant, or a conversion pathway clearer. Use your data to guide these improvements. 

By collecting and analyzing data, your business will be able to predict trends, adapt to customer expectations, tailor the online shopping experience, and improve your overall performance. Here are some examples of how you can leverage data: 

Discounts for Certain Customer Locations 

Use customer geographic data to apply dynamic, location-based pricing. This enables you to create promotions and offer special pricing in certain regions. 

Referring Page Discounts 

Running several campaigns at once? Use the source of your customer’s entry to your site to determine the pricing they see. 

Incentivizing Customer Action 

Offer incentives like discounts or free gifts that are associated with an action you want your customers to perform. Once the action is complete, the incentive will automatically apply. 

Why Data Matters in Ecommerce 

As an online merchant, you have access to all the customer information needed to deliver a spectacular online experience. To attract and retain your ideal customers, you need to be able to leverage that data to make the customer journey as easy and relevant as possible.  

Data can help you create a more personalized experience for customers. According to Coveo, 26% of shoppers will pay more for personalized recommendations. A seamless and highly relevant customer experience will be front and center to gaining customer loyalty. 

Types of Consumer Data  

To deliver relevance, your business needs to leverage solutions and tools that can properly and intelligently collect customer data in real-time. Here are examples of data that you can collect: 

Standard data 

Standard data include things like the customer’s name, email, age, company, device, browser, and other demographics. These identifiers are “sticky”, meaning that customers will not often change them when logging into sites. 

Engagement data  

Engagement data reveals the customer’s likes and dislikes (e.g. types of offers they opted into or designs they are more drawn to). This data can be used to more accurately understand the customer’s likelihood of engaging with particular products, programs, or offers. 

Behavioral data  

This data includes things like your customer’s history (e.g. their interactions across your site and previous purchases) and their actions during each stage of the buyer’s journey. Tracking and segmenting based on behavioral data can help you accurately interpret what makes your users convert.  

Satisfaction data 

This data measures the customer’s holistic experience with different elements on your site, which you can use to make improvements on your site that enhances the customer’s experience and their impression of your brand.  

Using Data to Increase Sales

As described above, data-driven dynamic content can be used to create a highly targeted, personalized experience for shoppers. While this can be excellent for increasing conversion rates and engaging shoppers, behind-the-scenes data usage is just as crucial to an effective, data-driven ecommerce strategy.

Here are just a few ways you can use data to increase sales:

• Analyze your visitor referral sources to identify high-yielding channels.
• Look for demographic and seasonal trends you can use to craft targeted promotions.
• Discover potential upsell opportunities by looking at products commonly purchased together.
• Assess the effectiveness of your content so you can focus on what works and improve what doesn’t.
• As discussed above, use customer location and activity data to create a dynamic, personalized shopping experience.

How to Use Data to Drive Sales and Improve the Customer Experience 

To truly deliver relevant experiences and bring value to each customer, brands need to be smart about how they use data. With data, your brand can do things like send emails with customized discounts and special offers, give personalized shopping recommendations, offer dynamic pricing, and present targeted ads. Some other things you can with data to drive sales include: 

1. Analyze shopper behavior: Analyze each visitor’s referral source to identify high-yielding channels. With data, you know where your best customers come from, what content they respond to, and what messaging is most effective. This insight can help you figure out what’s working and what’s not. 
2. Improve customer service: With data, you can track things like delivery times and customer satisfaction levels, and use these insights to identify and resolve potential problems before they occur. 
3. Provide a personalized experience: Look at demographic and seasonal data to craft dynamic, targeted promotions. You can also look at products that are commonly purchased together to discover potential upsell opportunities. 
4. Optimize supply chain and logistics: Stocking the right inventory can be a challenge for online retailers. Data can help you forecast trends and determine products that have the most demand, helping you have a more well-stocked online store. 

Don’t Forget: Data Privacy 

It’s important to remember that data-driven commerce is not a quest to extract every last bit of information on each shoppers. It’s more about using the right tools and technologies to gain insight on specific groups of customers and using these insights to tailor the online experience—all while keeping the privacy of each shopper intact. Be sure you comply with GDPR and CCPA guidelines. 

Driving Conversions on Your Ecommerce Site 

Now is the time for your business to capitalize on the growth of ecommerce. By using data to create personalized and relevant experiences, you can create a clear competitive advantage for your business and deliver true value to customers during each stage of their journey.