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Consumers say online recommendations are the worst

Written by Tom Ryan

Source: bestbuy.com

Three out of four online global shoppers worldwide fail to regularly see product recommendations that interest them, according to a survey sponsored by SAP.

When asked how often suggested recommendations actually interest them while shopping online, only 25 percent answered either “almost all the time” or “half the time.” By region, only six percent of U.K. shoppers said that they regularly see relevant recommendations with 14 percent in Japan and 17 percent in the U.S. sharing that sentiment.

“There’s a striking gap in what consumers are seeing as they navigate online marketplace,” said Chris Hauca, head of strategy and GTM (go to market) for SAP Commerce Cloud in a statement. “… Having a 360-degree view of the customer will enable meaningful recommendations and unique shopping experiences — something organizations should have in mind as they enter the holiday shopping season.”

The challenges come despite a recent study from BRP Consulting finding that 60 percent of retailers were able to identify customers online before checkout versus 23 percent at physical stores.

A study earlier this year from Segment, the customer data infrastructure firm, further found that consumers have higher expectations on personalization online than offline -  albeit disappointed at both.

Seventy-seven percent expect personalization from a “large online retailer” and only 23 percent felt they delivered. For a department stores, 51 percent expected personalization and 17 percent felt they delivered. Forty-seven percent expected personalization from a “big box retailer” and 12 percent felt they delivered.

An Adweek article from earlier this year found personalization expectations online extending beyond product recommendations to content. Brendan Witcher, principal analyst for ebusiness and channel strategy at Forrester Research, said, “All of these companies are trying to do this sexy personalization stuff, but the truth is they haven’t done the unsexy work of capturing, organizing and using customer data to create truly relevant experiences.”

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