How can eCommerce learn personalisation from Netflix?

eCommerce is becoming an overcrowded landscape.

How can your brand differentiate itself when you're trying to stand out from the crowd and get noticed by potential customers online?

Through hyper-personalisation.

According to Accenture, 91% of customers are more likely to shop with brands that recognise, remember, and provide relevant offers and recommendations.

Gone are the days when you could just send an email mentioning a customer’s name and expect them to buy from you.

No one knows this better than Netflix — the world’s most popular streaming platform. They claim that a staggering 80% of their subscribers’ activity comes from recommendations.

Let’s take a closer look at what eCommerce retailers can learn from this giant.

Why Should eCommerce Retailers Learn About Personalisation From Netflix?

Netflix is a prime example of how digital transformation can lead to success. What started out as a DVD rental service in 1997 has now grown into a streaming powerhouse with over 200 million subscribers.

It's no secret why they're so successful — they've mastered the art of providing an outstanding, hyper-personalised customer experience. eCommerce store owners can learn a lot from Netflix's approach, and we’ll go over the five key ways that retailers can improve their businesses by borrowing from Netflix's playbook.

Hold Your Customer’s Attention

In an oversaturated market where consumers scan a website and leave it within 15 seconds, your biggest priority should be holding your customers’ attention.

In fact, Segment’s personalisation report revealed that 44% of consumers would become repeat buyers if they had a personalised experience with a brand.

From the moment your customer lands on your site they should engage with products unique to their shopping experience, like how Netflix caters to different audiences by having programming tailored for each of its viewers.

Remove Friction in The Customer Journey

Netflix doesn’t do out of stock and neither should you! As an eCommerce store owner, you know that the customer journey can be full of friction. Between finding the right product and checking out, many potential roadblocks can frustrate your customers and lead to lost sales.

Netflix terms, you'll encounter friction when you search for something that isn't available. Netflix doesn't want you to look for your movie elsewhere, so they look for similar films and recommend them to you right away.

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Do phrases like “Are you still watching?”, “Because you watched…” sound familiar?

Netflix has created a custom feed for each subscriber, tailored to their viewing habits and preferences. When the titles you search for aren’t available on Netflix's website or app, it helps users find similar ones with unique recommendations based on previous watch history, as well other factors like genre preference.

For instance, have you ever landed on a site looking for the perfect shoe, but then found it was not available in your size? In most cases, you would just leave and carry on with your day. But what if that same store curated only shoes that were highly close matches of what you’re browsing?

Similar to Netflix’s algorithm, Shopbox starts learning about your customer’s journey beginning with the first click. If the products your customer wants are out of stock, Shopbox integrates data like clothing size or other preferences and recommends ideal substitutes. We use this information to find products that fit seamlessly into the rest of their customer experience.

Keep Them Coming Back for More

Up until a year ago, Netflix held the customer retention crown among the streaming service giants with a rate of 74%. From recommending similar shows to sending hyper-personalised emails based on previous behaviour, Netflix’s primary focus is to keep its users hooked.

Almost half of the customers that experience personalised shopping experiences say they’ll become repeat buyers.

Your eCommerce store can learn so much from this strategy. Once you’ve learnt from your customer, make sure you make them feel remembered.

To keep up with shoppers' changing needs and tastes, you can show them items they've looked at in your store while adapting to their journey in real-time. Shopbox recently introduced features like ‘New for You’ & ‘Promotions for you’ to show shoppers offers and new products that are specifically catered to their taste.

Pick Up Where You Left Off

Netflix never forgets and neither should you.

If you have a Netflix subscription, you know that their "Continue Watching" feature is a lifesaver. Thankfully, we’re past the days where we have to rewind DVDs and figure out where we stopped watching.

These disruptive technologies are shaping both the eCommerce industry and customer expectations.

The good news is that only 15% of retailers have successfully implemented personalisation strategies. The even better news is that you could be a part of this statistic with Shopbox.

When a customer returns to your website, our algorithm greets them with their unique shelf. Not only can they revisit the list of items they already viewed, but also browse through similar products.

Instead of being reactive, you can be proactive with experience-driven and AI-driven commerce.

Stay Ahead of The Curve With A/B Testing

Netflix is always A/B testing featured shows, captions, and more to improve customer experience over time. They even dive deep into the personalisation of artwork for each of their members to highlight the aspects of a title that are specifically relevant to them.

Understandably, most of us can’t afford these levels of hyper-personalisation. But Shopbox comes close.

The future of customer service is AI-driven hyper-personalised experiences. At Shopbox, we’re constantly testing different variations on our platform to make sure you stay ahead in the game and offer your shoppers nothing but a top-notch shopping experience.

Empower Your Business With Experience-Driven Commerce

Netflix's ability to personalise the viewing experience has revolutionised their customers' experience and satisfaction. They do everything in their power to make viewers feel special, curate to their tastes, remove friction and keep them coming back for more.

As an eCommerce store, you can do the same thing by personalising the shopping experience for your customers. Shopbox uses AI to learn about your customers and curate a hyper-personalised experience from the start.

The results are simple. Boosted conversion rates, higher AOV and more repeat shoppers.

Book a customised demo today.

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