Personalization alone is not enough

Personalization has become an indispensable part of e-commerce. There are many specialized software solutions on the market that enable online shop operators to address their customers in a personalized manner and thus optimize the customer experience throughout the entire customer journey. ODOSCOPE is one example. Our Customer Engagement Platform relies on data-driven, real-time personalization that activates all available data on a session basis and uses various AI modules to determine and display the most relevant products and content for each user in real time.

With such technically sophisticated solutions, today’s shop operator is very well positioned: On the one hand, they can address customers in a highly relevant way, and on the other hand, they can target their marketing activities as efficiently as possible by activating all available data.

But is that all? Is it enough to focus entirely and exclusively on the customer?

Taking business objectives into account in shop strategies

At ODOSCOPE, we believe that this alone is not enough. Customer centricity is without a doubt the best way to survive in the market. As without customers’ (loyalty) there is no business.

But what about the business objectives, the company’s specific strategies, the short- and long-term challenges for each phase of the company’s life, which are always at the heart of any company’s activities?

Anyone involved in e-commerce knows from daily practice that increasing the conversion rate (CR) at any price will not bring the desired success. On the one hand, there are the additional costs involved, which have a negative impact on the contribution margin, and on the other hand, a short-term increase in CR does not necessarily lead to a sustainable increase in sales. The sales promotion measures used with the salt shaker do not help the company.

The shop manager, marketing manager, etc., must therefore be able to actively incorporate the company’s specific goals into their shop strategies and take them into account in displaying user-specific content, as well as the needs and interests of their user/customer. In other words, they need to be technically enabled to input both into the display strategies and to have the display results calculated by sophisticated systems: their business goals in line with customer needs, and customer needs in line with business goals.

AI-driven assortment control: AI-powered merchandising

To do this, the underlying system must determine the best playout for each user in their particular situation, one that is relevant and does not lose sight of the business objective.

This sounds highly dimensional. And it is.

It requires fast, real-time analytics (and real-time in the truest sense of the word), fast databases and the right algorithms. Not to mention an interface that allows the business user to feed the AI with their own strategies and preview them in advance. In the process, the business user learns more and more about his products in the respective user/customer groups: The data shows which products work best with which customers and when – knowledge that every shop operator can use to develop new strategies.

Such AI-supported assortment control is also referred to in the literature as “AI-powered or AI-driven merchandising”. At ODOSCOPE, we understand this to mean the targeted use of sales promotions that create the perfect balance between business needs and customer needs. Technologically, this is made possible by a platform with integrated data management, the right AI modules and an intuitive user interface that can be used quickly and easily by representatives at all levels of the company.