Enhance the shopping experience with personalization

This tutorial outlines how you can create a personalized experience for your online shoppers.

You can personalize your own online store with:

Product recommendations is when products are dynamically served up based on the actions of your customer, like their browsing history. Product recos are tried and true because they convert.
Smart reviews are when reviewers add more info to their profile, like skin type, height, location, etc. These details give other shoppers a better idea of how the product relates to them and how it works. All in all, reviews add up to confidence and trust.
Immersive experiences use technologies, like Augmented reality and 3D images, to recreate that personal in-person shopping.
Easy returns are key. Having a simple and friendly returns process is an important part of closing the loop on the personalized experience.
Smart sizing charts help shoppers buy with confidence, knowing they’re getting the proper size.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Hi there. Let's get personal. I mean, let's talk about personalizing the experience for your online shoppers. Did you know that when Shopify asked buyers leading up to Black Friday, 59% said they'd be open to personalized product recommendations. Today we'll talk about how you can add this experience to your own online store. This is when products are dynamically served up based on the actions of your customer like their browsing history.

Product records are tried and true because they convert. Some Shopify themes have product recommendations built in. If you're using a theme that doesn't offer that feature, visit the Shopify app store and search Product Recommendation for apps you can use and quickly add to your store. Online shoppers have come to trust and rely on smart reviews. That's when reviewers provide more info to round out their profile.

Think about personal care and beauty retailer Sephora. Their reviews include detailed info like skin type and eye color of each reviewer. More info gives your shopper a better idea of how the product relates to them and how it works. Reviews can move into conversation forums too, giving shoppers a chance to banter back and forth. All-in-all, reviews add up to confidence and trust.

When shoppers can't physically come to your store, there are still ways to recreate that personal in-person shopping experience with immersive technologies. AR, augmented reality sounds pricey, but it's not. Shopify supports the technology. So you can add 3D images of your products to your site. This brings your product to life and gives shoppers a truer sense of size, scale, and detail, or even how the product will look in their very own space.

You can find a trusted 3D modeling partner in Shopify's expert marketplace. Another way to add a personal touch is to add on a free concierge service like chat or video call. This way you can instantly answer questions and be there for your customers like you would in person. You can easily add chat to your store with Shopify Ping or one of the many chat apps in the Shopify app store. From there, start the conversation and setup that video call.

A reality of online shopping is the returns. Having a simple and friendly returns process is an important part of closing the loop on the personalized experience. And your returns process doesn't have to be the same experience for every customer. Apps like Return Magic give your customers more ownership over the returns process and tailor each experience with smart rules.

So this one is really for clothing brands. As you know, shopping for clothing is personal and not all brands fit the same. To help shoppers, we recommend more personalized sizing charts like fit quizzes that ask people about their body shape and needs. The size chart apps in the Shopify app store will give you even more ideas on how this could work for your business. Beyond apparel size, quizzes and custom charts can be helpful in other categories like bikes, dog collars, car seats, and skis.

Well, there you have it. 5 great ways to add personalization to your shop. We've included a list of helpful links in the notes below to help get you started. Keep up the great work. Your customers will notice.

Some Shopify themes have product recommendations built-in. If you’re using a theme that doesn’t offer that feature, visit the Shopify app store for apps you can use and quickly add to your store.