E-commerce Recommendation System Hacks & Tools to Boost Sales

It's no secret that online shoppers prefer a personalized shopping experience. In fact, according to a report by Accenture, 91 per cent of consumers prefer shopping with brands that provide relevant products and offers. 

Fortunately, you can create a personalized shopping experience through the use of e-commerce recommendation systems. This powerful marketing strategy can improve your website's interface and drastically increase your conversion rate.

At UserLoop, we take a closer look at what an e-commerce recommendation system is, its various benefits, and four powerful hacks that'll skyrocket your conversions.

What is an E-commerce Recommendation System?

In a nutshell…

E-commerce recommendations are algorithm-driven systems that gather customer-specific data—such as behavior, demographics, and interests—to formulate a personalized browsing experience. 

By tracking visitor data, websites are able to create a personalized browsing experience for each user. For instance, rather than digging through pages to locate a particular product, the product is placed right in front of the visitor. 

However, not all e-commerce product recommendations require prior customer data. Even if your e-commerce store has little to no data, you can still create a personalized experience for your customers. We'll touch more on this later—but first, let's discuss some of the benefits of creating a personalized user experience. 

Why You Need an E-commerce Recommendation System

By utilizing e-commerce recommendation systems, you're able to create a seamless shopping experience for your visitors. Some of the benefits include:

• Increased customer satisfaction: because visitors have an easier time navigating your e-commerce website and finding the products they're seeking, they're more likely to return, increasing customer retention. 

• Increased engagement: suggesting relevant products and creating a personalized experience increases the likelihood your visitors will spend more time on your e-commerce website.

• Increased cart value: customers are more likely to purchase additional products when other relevant products are presented to them. 

• Comprehensive data: detailed consumer data will help you better understand your audience and create more effective marketing campaigns.

 

Many large-scale companies are already taking advantage of these strategies to increase conversions. Amazon, for instance, reported that 35 per cent of their sales are generated from e-commerce recommendations alone.

The Best Product E-commerce Recommendation Tips and Software 

Now, let's check out some of the top hacks and software that can help you gather valuable consumer data, enhance your website's user experience, and increase your conversions.

Take Advantage of Customer Surveys 

Gauging customer satisfaction in a brick-and-mortar store is relatively straightforward. However, it's a bit more complicated with an e-commerce website—where you have limited interaction with your customers. 

A great way to interact with your customers and gain valuable insights is through customer surveys. 

These surveys can be utilized at different stages in the shopping experience. For instance, 

• You could utilize a survey right after a customer purchases a product to determine their checkout experience. 

• You could also email a survey after a customer receives their product to determine their satisfaction with the product.

• Abandoned cart checkout surveys also provide insights into why customers left their carts.

The benefits of implementing customer surveys include:

• Boost your revenue by understanding what customers like and/or dislike about your website and products.

• Learn which marketing channels are your primary sources of revenue.

• Attain positive reviews and testimonials through emailed surveys.

• Gather vital customer data that can help improve your marketing efforts.

For those looking to utilize customer surveys, UserLoop is an excellent tool to do so. Providing customizable surveys and real-time customer feedback, UserLoop's powerful analytics can help guide your marketing efforts and improve your online store sales. 

Display Recently Viewed Items

It’s not uncommon for your website visitors to examine a product and then forget about it after exploring other areas of your website. 

However, you can remind visitors of the products they showed interest in by displaying a recently viewed product list alongside the subsequent pages they’re navigating. This e-commerce recommendation system is highly effective as it promotes impulse purchases and enhances the overall shopping experience.

Here's what a recently viewed product list looks like:

Recently Viewed Items, a popular e-commerce app, is an excellent option if you’re looking to implement this strategy in your e-commerce store. It’s easy to set up, has an array of customizable features, and is highly affordable at only $2.95/month.

Give Your Visitors Social Proof 

By definition, social proof is the concept that people copy other people's actions to emulate their behavior. But how does this apply to digital marketing? 

Well, when people see other people purchasing your products, it's an indicator that your product is worth purchasing, and it can benefit them as well. It serves as a recommendation that your product is worth buying.

This doesn't need to be testimonials or word of mouth (although these can be advantageous as well); it can be as simple as live pop-ups when someone makes a purchase on your site. These pop-ups are easily integrable and make for a highly effective form of social proof.

Here's an example of what they look like (you've probably seen them before):

One app that provides these types of pop-ups is TrustPulse. Beyond providing pop-ups when someone completes a purchase, they also provide other customizable pop-ups, such as current sales, newsletter sign-ups, testimonials, new products, and more. It's a little tool that can make a BIG difference in your sales. 

You can also use the free testimonial tool Senja to collect testimonials and turn them into embeddable widgets, images and a stunning Wall of Love.

Start Upselling and Cross-selling

Upselling and cross-selling are easily two of the most effective strategies for increasing your overall profits. According to SUMO, the average e-commerce website sees a 10-30% increase in revenue by utilizing these techniques.

Upselling is the practice of suggesting an upgraded, more costly version of a product a customer is interested in. On the other hand, cross-selling is the practice of selling additional products that may also interest the customer.

By utilizing strategic upselling and cross-selling, you can increase your average order value (AOV). It's also a great way to personalize the shopping experience and increase customer loyalty. 

An excellent tool to harness the power of upselling and cross-selling is Upsell Recommendations. Using powerful algorithms, this app can provide e-commerce recommendations based on bestsellers, personalized products, and more. Best of all, it's 100% free.

Create Personalized Email Campaigns 

Many underestimate the power of email marketing. It allows you to build credibility, increase sales, establish your brand, and strengthen the relationship between you and your customers. 

However, effective email marketing is more than simply blasting a generic email to all of your subscribers. It needs to be personalized!

Segmenting your customers into different categories based on their interests will allow you to create highly personalized emails that are much more likely to lead to conversions. 

A highly effective tool to segment your audience and create personalized emails is Klaviyo. This app offers pre-built email sign-up forms, more than 100 email templates, and detailed insights that allow you to optimize your email marketing efforts. 

Increase your Conversions with a Recommendation Engine for E-Commerce

Providing a personalized experience is quickly becoming vital in today's e-commerce landscape. 

E-commerce recommendations are powerful, as they lead to more conversions and a better user experience for your customers. By using product recommendation engines, you're able to gather valuable data that can help you make more informed decisions regarding the future of your marketing efforts. 

Looking for more actionable tips to acquire customer data and personalize your e-commerce store? If so, be sure to check out our article on the best questions to include when surveying your customers!