Ace Your Product Recommendations to Grow Revenue

According to McKinsey, personalized experiences increase the likelihood of customer returns by 78%. However, product recommendations are often overlooked or managed manually, limiting their effectiveness. 

If you haven’t implemented product recommendations on your online store, it’s time to consider leveraging the benefits. The ultimate goal of every online store is to increase sales, and there’s no better way to achieve that than by showcasing additional products that align with your customer’s preferences. 

Furthermore, product recommendations create a personalized effect that enhances the overall shopping experience for your customers.

This post highlights several proven product recommendation strategies that provide real-life inspiration to help you get started. Let’s explore these strategies in detail:

Key Statistics That Prove Why You Should Get Started with Product Recommendations

1. 1. A chance to improve customer experience: According to a study by Segment, 71% of consumers feel frustrated when their shopping experience is impersonal. 

2. Drives revenue: According to a study by Barilliance, personalized product recommendations can account for up to 31% of e-commerce site revenues. 

3. Improved conversion rates: Research from McKinsey & Company found that product recommendations can increase conversion rates by up to 300%. 

4. Increased cart value: According to a report by Monetate, customers who interacted with product recommendations had a boost in average cart value by 5.5%.

5. Increased revenue: Research by Barilliance indicates that product recommendations can increase revenue by up to 31%. 

6. Meeting customer expectations: According to Accenture, 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands that provide relevant offers as well as recommendations. 

7. Reduced cart abandonment: A study by SalesCycle found that cart abandonment emails with personalized product recommendations had an average conversion rate of 22.2%. 

Product Recommendation Strategies by Page to Help You Get Started

1. Homepage: The homepage serves as a gateway to an online store. Displaying personalized product recommendations there based on the user’s browsing history, purchase behavior, and preferences and showcasing trending or popular products captures their attention.

2. Category Pages: Recommending similar or related products on category pages can help customers discover alternate options, encouraging them to explore more as well as potentially make additional purchases. Highlighting bestsellers or top-rated products in each category can guide customers toward popular and highly regarded items.

3. Product Detail Pages: Suggesting complementary products or items frequently bought together encourages customers to add multiple items to their cart, increasing the average order value. Displaying similar products purchased by other customers also inspires customers to consider additional items.

4. Cart Pages: Recommending products that the customer has recently viewed or shown interest in reminds them of items they may want to add to their purchase. Offering higher-priced or complementary products that align with the items in the customer’s cart entices them to upgrade their purchase.

5. Recommendations Everywhere: Implementing product recommendations throughout the online store, including sidebars, banners, and pop-ups, can enhance the customer experience as well as increase the likelihood of conversions.

6. Email Communications and App Notifications: Sending targeted emails or app notifications with recommendations based on the customer’s browsing history, purchase behavior, or previous interactions prompts them to revisit the online store and make a purchase.

Polish Your Product Recommendation Strategies by Segmenting Your Audience 

1. Looking for a similar style or color:

Cater to customers seeking specific style or color preferences. Similar style recommendations analyze browsing history to suggest items with a similar aesthetic while color-matching recommendations provide options based on the desired color scheme. 

A leading UK online fashion retailer, implements these strategies with their “You Might Also Like” feature, displaying products on their pages that share a similar style or color palette to enhance customer exploration.

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2. Looking for a complete outfit recommendation:

Platforms curate and recommend coordinated sets, including clothing, shoes, accessories, and grooming products, ensuring a fashion ensemble.

Additionally, by allowing customers to explore different product combinations to create unique outfits by suggesting items that can be paired together, you can create a new look for them.

John Lewis, a British high-end department store, exemplifies this approach. After selecting a product, customers receive personalized outfit recommendations curated by professional stylists, ensuring a cohesive and tailored look.

3. New and non-logged-in visitors:

Displaying popular or trending items based on overall popularity and current trends helps engage visitors without specific preferences.

Recommending top-selling products across various categories generally enables new visitors to explore highly regarded items.

Showcasing recently added products or new arrivals keeps visitors informed about fresh inventory while capturing their interest.

Zara, a global fashion retailer, implements these tactics by featuring popular and trending items on their homepage as well as highlighting new arrivals. This enables visitors to discover the latest fashion offerings, even without a browsing history.

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Product Recommendation Best Practices

1. Create bundles of top-selling products, bestsellers, and featured products to leverage the appeal of these items and increase their visibility. 

2. Offer recommendations after the ‘Add to Cart’ action with similar and related products. Present customers with recommendations to help them discover complementary items and increase the overall value of their purchase.

3. Consider seasonal buying trends: For e.g., suggest winter clothing or holiday-themed products during the winter for improved relevance and conversions.

4. Inject personalization in your recommendations: Leverage customer data such as browsing history, purchase behavior, and preferences, and businesses to provide highly relevant and tailored recommendations that align with individual customer tastes.

5. Make use of demographic data: Understanding and making good use of demographic data such as age, gender, and location enables businesses to offer recommendations that resonate with specific demographics.

6. Extend recommendations across channels: Consistent and cohesive recommendations across various channels create a seamless experience for customers and increase their exposure to relevant products.

7. Add social proof/FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) elements: Incorporating social proof elements, such as customer reviews, ratings, or testimonials, can instill confidence in customers and increase the likelihood of conversion. Additionally, creating a sense of urgency through limited-time offers or showcasing products in high demand can tap into the FOMO effect and drive sales.

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8. Introduce new arrivals: By highlighting fresh inventory, you can generate excitement, encourage exploration, and drive early adoption of new products.

9. Highlight deals and discounts: Including recommendations for products on sale or offering exclusive discounts can incentivize customers to make a purchase. 

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10.  Utilize Smart Product Recommendations with the help of ViSenze: To enhance the effectiveness of product recommendations, you must leverage advanced solutions like an AI-powered visual commerce platform that utilizes computer vision and deep learning to deliver intelligent and visually-driven product recommendations, improving the accuracy and relevance of recommendations.

Conclusion

Regardless of the size of your ecommerce catalog, implementing the right product recommendation strategy can yield significant improvements. This can reflect evidently in your key performance indicators and elevate customer satisfaction to new heights.

Moreover, the best part is that you don’t have to rely on manual efforts to achieve this. 

With AI-powered product recommendations, you can leverage advanced algorithms to specifically generate hyper-relevant and personalized suggestions effortlessly. 

Visenze’s Smart Recommendations system is a prime e.g. of how AI can revolutionize your recommendation strategy. It basically eliminates the need for manual interventions. Thus, don’t miss out on the transformative impact that AI can bring to your online store. Get in touch with us to embrace the future of smart product recommendations. Witness the remarkable results it can deliver!