App Personalisation – a trend to watch out for!

In this smartphone-savvy generation, with over a billion people using apps to carry out their daily tasks, it somehow becomes inevitable to ensure that each individual is catered to differently. So how do mobile app development companies ensure of the same?

App personalisation! Personalisation tailors various content depending on the data received from the user. And thus, every version is different because of uniqueness of every individual.

"Think of it as targeted advertising, but with an even higher degree of specificity." (AppMakr, 2015) – With over 50% of transactions taking placing through mobile we evaluate the importance of offering a personalized experience to users on your retail app – App personalization and why?

First impression is the last impression. With smartphone users increasing every year, personalization becomes a key feature to ensure that the users are hooked to your app a tad longer. It can be a marketing strategy that can successfully take advantage of the rapid expansion of this ubiquitous selling channel.When the user comes to your app for the first time, his attention span is limited and he will be easily disappointed if it doesn’t appeal to his tastes. Thus, it is essential to make the first experience memorable.

According to data by the Criteo’s Q2 Mobile Commerce Report, mobile apps convert sales better than desktop sites, because they offer a better product browsing experience. With so many advantages, we’ve listed key areas where you can infuse personalization to make the overall experience better for your users –

Introduction

The most important – get to know your customers! At the very first stage, ask for their personal information and use this data to streamline the navigation process for your customer. This step complete, go on to collect ‘behavioural data’ which serves to form the fundamental of your user-preferences. This step is exactly like visiting a commercial store ; if you make the process easy and interesting, your customer is bound to come back! This step will help you provide a user-friendly experience which even if doesn’t lead to a sale, will definitely warm up your client for a future transaction.Make it self-customizable, making it easier for users to check-list their preferences. This will help you analyse what exactly the user seeks from your app and thus ensure a good customer base.

Personalised Content

Lets say, you want to buy ‘office-wear’ but instead the app shows you everything else. Would you prefer it? According to entrepreneur 2015, Pinterest sent out emails to everyone who had ‘pinned’ anything about weddings, however most of these were irrelevant as they were younger girl using them as inspiration. This is where exactly your on-boarding process becomes essential ; because you use the information initially acquired to deliver exactly what they want.

For eg, Newegg-a consumer electronics focused e-retailer in North America uses the same approach for their users. When a user, uses their desktop version for shopping, the same reflects in their mobile app as well! (AppVirality). Another shopping app, Myntra, stores your shopping experiences and sends you notifications when there is a drop in prices of similar products based on your past transactions. Also, it keeps a tab on your ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ and keeps the users aware of all the trending fashion.

"Segmenting is the key between analytics and marketing" (Localytics, 2015a).Use the data acquired in "Introduction" to create a list of target audience with similar interests. next step? Personalized in-app notification, messages and emails keep the customer hooked to your app and ensure interaction with them a personal level. Also, personalized messages telling your customers new updates related to their fields of interest will also keep them coming back. Another interesting feature, Starbucks app sends push notifications to users when they are in a vicinity of a Starbucks barista. This ensures your customers that you care about them thereby, increasing your sales.

In-app chat functions helps you take opinions from friends and family, interact with the customer-care and guide you through the app hassle-free. The Flipkart ping is one such app.

ConclusionWith millions of apps out there, how do you make sure your app stands out and creates an indeniable impact on your audience? Personalization ofcourse! The Filter (2015) comments that if the consumer believes that the app experience has been tailored to meet their needs, they are more likely to engage with the product or app. There are two sides to every coin ; on one hand you have successful stories like those of Nike+, Starbucks, Myntra, Flipkart to list a few, and on the other you have Pinterest who are yet to catch up. Summing up, if you get the technique right you are sure to deliver great user-experience and at the same expand your user-base!