What: The technology that exists for brands to offer customers individualized online shopping experiences is expensive and complex, leading to the slow adoption of true personalization.

Why it is important: True personalization offers retailers an opportunity to meet consumers expectations of a personalized shopping experience.

With apps like Tik Tok pushing content that keeps users glued to the app, customers today are more accustomed than ever to personalized content, except when shopping online.

While online retailers use customer data and the latest AI-empowered software to determine their inventory levels, there are few that are taking the next steps to offer individualized product recommendations and search results on their websites.

Only 20% of 100 brands and retailers in a survey said they customize product recommendations based on customer’s purchase history according to research from Manhattan Associates.

Implementing personalization in e-commerce is complicated, resulting in the slow adoption of true personalization. Algorithms that predict customers’ behavior must be built or software platforms can do the heavy lifting, but tech talent can be hard to recruit and AI-driven software platforms are costly.

Even among established brands, there aren’t many who have successfully managed to offer personalization. Retailers must fundamentally understand their customer and where they want to go before personalizing their website.

Collecting customers’ data, using surveys, and seeing how customers interact on the website are great ways to figure out customers’ preferences and make their shopping experience easier and more relevant. Some brands have seen success through offering consultation services with a customized skincare routine or a fit finder that suggests shoes that are the most likely to fit customers’ feet.

Will brands ever get product recommendations right?