New Epsilon research indicates 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalized experiences

Epsilon’s Digital Transformation Team Helps Brands Assess the People, Process and Technology Required to Deliver the Best Personalized Customer Experiences

DALLAS – January 09, 2018 – Epsilon®, a global leader in creating connections between people and brands, today revealed a new research report, “The power of me: The impact of personalization on marketing performance.” The findings aim to help brands better understand how personalization efforts can be used to enhance relationships with consumers, produce customer loyalty and positively impact the bottom line. The study was conducted in collaboration with GBH Insights, a full-service marketing insights and custom analytics practice.

According to the 2017 online survey of 1,000 consumers ages 18-64, the appeal for personalization is high, with 80% of respondents indicating they are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences and 90% indicating that they find personalization appealing. To dive deeper into the relationship between personalization and actual purchasing behavior, Epsilon linked the survey data to transactional data from Epsilon’s Abacus® Cooperative, which spans more than 2,700 members and billions of transactions. Findings from the transactional analysis indicate that consumers who believe personalized experiences are very appealing are ten times more likely to be a brand’s most valuable customer – those that are expected to make more than 15 transactions in one year. Additionally, those respondents who believe companies are doing very well on offering personalized experiences shop more than three times more frequently.

To help brands better assess and improve personalized customer experiences and maximize the ROI of their marketing efforts, Epsilon, which was recently named as one of the 14 most significant digital experience service providers by Forrester Research, has created a Digital Transformation team. As part of Epsilon’s Strategic Consulting arm, led by Kevin Mabley, SVP Strategy and Analytics, the Digital Transformation team leads brands through a digital transformation diagnostic evaluation to assess five dimensions of customer experience maturity including strategy, activation and orchestration, technology enablement, organizational culture and level of customer intelligence. The evaluation process, backed by Epsilon’s rich data expertise and industry-leading technology, advises brands on how to bring together their people, processes and technology and ultimately execute superior data-driven customer experiences.

“Digital transformation is no longer optional. It is required for brands to improve customer experiences and remain competitive. The research findings are further evidence that bringing together customer intelligence and customer experience to drive personalization has a direct impact on a brand’s bottom line,” shared Mabley. “Yet, many brands are still lacking the end-to-end digital maturity required to be successful, including a customer-centric organizational structure, connected and integrated marketing technology and actionable data-driven insights. I look forward to helping more of our clients become industry leaders in digital customer experience and enabling them to better serve their customers as a result.”

Additional findings from the report highlight personalization opportunities for specific industries:

Grocery/Drug Store Websites/Mobile Apps

• 90% of respondents say they are much/somewhat more likely to do business with grocery/drug store websites/apps offering personalized experiences but only 71% say grocery/drug store websites/apps are currently delivering personalized experiences very/somewhat well.
• Respondents ranked the following personalized experiences as the first- and second-most motivating to do business with a grocery/drug store: providing offers or coupons based on consumer’s physical location (29%); providing offers or coupons based on past purchases or preferences consumer set (29%); sending consumers customized communications (25%).

Travel & Leisure Websites/Mobile Apps

• 87% of respondents say they are much/somewhat more likely to do business with travel websites/apps offering personalized experiences but only 64% say travel websites/apps are currently delivering personalized experiences very/somewhat well.
• Respondents ranked the following personalized experiences as the first- and second-most motivating to do business with a travel and leisure brand: providing offers or coupons based on consumer’s physical location (35%); home page automatically shows best fares / hotel deals in frequently-travelled cities (32%); providing offers or coupons based on past trips or preferences consumer set (28%).

Automotive Industry Websites/Mobile Apps

• 86% of respondents say they are much/somewhat more likely to do business with automotive websites/apps offering personalized experiences but only 55% say automotive websites/apps are delivering personalized experiences very/somewhat well.
• Consumers ranked the following personalized experiences as the first- and second-most motivating to do business with an auto brand: storing purchase or maintenance history (49%); reminders of upcoming scheduled service needs (44%); allowing consumer to set up recurring maintenance for a vehicle (38%).

To learn more about what consumers really think about personalized marketing, click here.

About Epsilon

Epsilon® is an all-encompassing global marketing innovator. We provide unrivaled data intelligence and customer insights, world-class technology including loyalty, email and CRM platforms and data-driven creative, activation and execution. Epsilon’s digital media arm, Conversant®, is a leader in personalized digital advertising and insights through its proprietary technology and trove of consumer marketing data, delivering digital marketing with unprecedented scale, accuracy and reach through personalized media programs and through CJ AffiliateTM, one of the world’s largest affiliate marketing networks. Together, we bring personalized marketing to consumers across offline and online channels, at moments of interest, that help drive business growth for brands. Recognized by Ad Age as the #1 World’s Largest CRM/Direct Marketing Network, #1 Largest U.S. Agency from All Disciplines, #1 Largest U.S. CRM/Direct Marketing Agency Network and #1 Largest U.S. Mobile Marketing Agency, Epsilon employs over 8,000 associates in 70 offices worldwide. Epsilon is an Alliance Data® company. For more information, visit www.epsilon.com and follow us on Twitter @EpsilonMktg.

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