Email Personalization Best Practices for Grocery Retailers - DIGITAL IN FAST FORWARD - Liveclicker
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D I G I TA L I N FA S T FO R WA R D Email Personalization Best Practices for Grocery Retailers
D I G I TA L I N FA S T FO R WA R D
Email Personalization Best
Practices for Grocery Retailers
Grocery stores have experienced the fastest GROCERY APP DOWNLOADS
growth in digital adoption that they could ARE INCREASING
+ 218%
imagine. Last year, eMarketer predicted that
online food and beverage sales would grow 18.9%
by the end of 2020. On March 19, downloads of Instacart
Instacart, Walmart’s grocery app, and Shipt increased
218%, 160%, and 124% respectively last Sunday
compared with the year before.1 + 160%
Walmart’s grocery app
With constant stock-out problems, new curbside and delivery
options, and customer service overload, it can be difficult
to think about putting together a personalization strategy.
However, social distancing for at least the month of April, if
+ 124%
Shipt
not longer, means that consumers will be creating new online
shopping habits that will last for the long term.
The sooner grocery brands can ramp up their personalization
strategy, the more streamlined and effective their business
will be. And the more profitable. A recent BCG survey
found that customers spent 40% more per session when
personalization was present.2
1. Coronavirus will change the grocery industry forever, CNN
2. The Next Level of Personalization in Retail, Boston Consulting Group pg 2
DIGITAL IN FAST FORWARD EMAIL PERSONALIZATION BEST PRACTICES FOR GROCERY RETAILERS Start with data - big and small Tesco, a leading grocery brand in the UK, has been developing a big data strategy that sets them up for advanced modeling, which has set the company up well to communicate and triangulate strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic.3 That’s great for Tesco, but many grocery brands are not in the same position. While big data plans will inevitably get prioritized now that digital is a booming channel, implementing a Tesco-level operation could take months. Take note, personalization can still be very valuable without centralized big data to tap into. Grocery retailers can tap into the real-time data that they’re starting to collect now, and not wait until they have a big database full of rich customer profiles. Immediately available data like search and shopping information can also inform follow-up emails such as abandoned cart messaging. Weather data can help inform marketing content, such as warm meals for cold rainy locations. Loyalty card data can be used to show relevant savings, coupons and other offers. These data points can be used now to tremendous effect. Location-based messaging can help grocery brands communicate the most vital information to consumers now, and will be an important part of a long-term strategy. Customers are used to location-based targeting from other retailers, and will want relevant information for their own stores, cities and towns. 3. How Tesco uses Big Data in practice, Bernard Marr & Co. pg 3
DIGITAL IN FAST FORWARD
EMAIL PERSONALIZATION BEST PRACTICES FOR GROCERY RETAILERS
In the near term, each grocery store location
is subject to different hours, different special
times for seniors, different delivery and pick-
up options and different inventory issues.
And as restrictions ease up over the coming
weeks, location-based personalization will
allow different stores to share the correct
promotions and specials, and provide updates
on new offerings.
Search and shopping data should also be
saved for personalized follow-up messaging.
Brands should be storing search and shopping
data for anyone that isn’t able to immediately
purchase items that they want and offer to
send personalized email or mobile notifications
when products of interest are back in stock.
pg 4
DIGITAL IN FAST FORWARD
EMAIL PERSONALIZATION BEST PRACTICES FOR GROCERY RETAILERS
The growing role of advanced
personalization
A survey from Chain Store Age found that in Many grocery shopping sites already ask shoppers
coping with limited store operations, maintaining to log in and enter their loyalty information
personalized customer relationships and service as an easy first step to kick off a personalized
emerged as the biggest challenge, cited by (31%) experience. But, retailers should go further. With
of respondents.4 every shopping behavior at scale online now,
brands will get even more information about
Many personalization offerings have advanced products that people browse but don’t buy,
options built in, which can be switched on and compare, or put back. They can also incorporate
tested against more basic choices such as insights around recipes that were viewed and
segmented A/B testing. For example, store hours calorie information. With so many more data
notifications are best targeted at a basic segment elements to analyze, advanced personalization
level, such as a driving distance around a store can help evaluate and prioritize which behaviors
location. But, coupon offers can be based on past matter most to generating ROI from personalized
shopping behaviors, which could benefit from an messaging now and for the long term.
AI algorithm.
What’s more, advanced personalization can help
predict behaviors for new shoppers, which will
be especially vital in the next month as people
are still under social distancing rule. Predictive
personalization can help determine which offers
and discounts people will respond to best.
Starbucks used real-time data to send over
400,000 variants of hyper personalized messages
including food and beverage offers to its users.
Each offer is unique to the user’s preferences
based on their past activity on the brand’s app.
4. CSA Exclusive: COVID-19 reveals fulfillment, workforce, store challenges, Chain Store Age pg 5
DIGITAL IN FAST FORWARD
EMAIL PERSONALIZATION BEST PRACTICES FOR GROCERY RETAILERS
Dynamic email,
the communication lifeline
Email volume is spiking as people turn to their
digital devices for more and more communications.
In fact, Liveclicker has seen a 15% increase in some
personalized email interactions from February to
March 2020.
Grocery brands need to quickly adopt best practices
if they want to hold onto customers through
initial sign-up and beyond. With personalization
and segmentation, retailers can move beyond
email blasts to offer email series for each stage
of the customer journey, from initial signup to re-
engagement. These series can be personalized
based on triggers such as an abandoned shopping
cart or what products customers frequently purchase.
First and foremost, it’s important to amplify the
welcome email into a welcome series. Rather than
simply thank someone for joining, or send them
an email with their new account name, brands can
create a series of emails that should be personalized
based on shopping behaviors going forward.
Sainsbury’s in the UK offers new subscribers a link
to a password hint to make sure they don’t lose
them, and then provides personalized recipes and
location-based offers in their initial thank you email.
Retailers should also design additional emails to go
out in the coming days triggered based on behaviors.
For example, offering coupons if someone doesn’t
visit the site for a few days, or offering recipes to
someone based on the goods in their shopping cart.
After the welcome series, people can be segmented
into loyal customer email series, abandoned-cart
series, and re-engagement series that gives people
personalized offers and reminders.
pg 6
DIGITAL IN FAST FORWARD
EMAIL PERSONALIZATION BEST PRACTICES FOR GROCERY RETAILERS
Liveclicker makes it come together fast
Liveclicker offers a wide variety of personalization options for
email as grocery brands develop their strategy. In addition to
automated templates, drag and drop technology and easy access
to personalization data, Liveclicker offers a wide variety of features
to create engaging emails. Grocery retailers can create many
meaningful moments:
Embed a video in the welcome series to offer a tutorial on how
to access sections within the shopper’s account. Figure 1 Figure 1
Show how much a customer has saved since joining, or how
many points they have earned on a loyalty card, updated in real
time. Figure 2
Automatically grab the latest offers and coupons that are
available on the website or access data that might not be
available on the site but resides in another database that could
personalize email messages, such as for their abandon cart
triggers.
Figure 2
Pull content from social channels to share over email with more
customers. Figure 3
Sophisticated targeting allows grocery marketers to create one
version and simply apply the rules, automatically displaying the
right creative at the time of open.
Offer real-time countdowns to create a sense of urgency for
customers to take advantage of limited time offers. Figure 4
Figure 3
Save space with a carousel of products. With targeting rules the
images can be personalized based on customer data.
In the whirlwind days behind us and in front of us, grocery marketers will
often be overwhelmed with simple logistics as store hours change, supply
chains fall apart, and customers dramatically shift their product demands
and their shopping behaviors. For any brands that can shore up their digital
marketing approach to deliver relevant, personalized messaging, they will
reap fast rewards with higher conversion. What’s more, as customers’ lives
return to normal, grocery brands will have the pieces in place to have a Figure 4
robust online business for years to come.
pg 7
Become essential.
The Liveclicker platform improves marketing
results, reduces costs, and grants you the flexibility
you need to act with confidence in a disruptive
and tumultuous environment.
See how fast and approachable advanced
personalization can be.
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