Recently, new research from SALESmanago found that, despite 99% of marketers recognizing the importance of personalization, many fail to properly implement it during one of the most crucial periods for ecommerce brands, Black Friday.
The research also touched on other issues that many ecommerce marketers struggle with around Black Friday, such as turning customers into repeat buyers and or acting too slowly in response to data.
Key Research Findings
While nearly every one of the more than 150 ecommerce leaders surveyed in this SALESmanago study was aware of how important personalization is, 27% of respondents say they struggle to personalize offers around Black Friday.
These numbers show that there’s a major gap between being aware of the importance of personalization, and being able to deliver it successfully.
While there are several potential reasons for this gap, one may be just how busy companies are during these peak shopping periods. In the study, 47% of respondents said they are time-poor or just coping with current workloads, showing that a limited capacity for taking on more work may be a barrier that’s holding some companies back from personalizing more offers.
In addition to personalization challenges, the research also highlighted that 25% of respondents fail to convert new customers into repeat shoppers, and 24% act too slowly on real-time data.
The Importance of Personalization
Whether you’re in competitive periods like Black Friday and the holiday season or not, it’s impossible to overstate the importance of personalization. According to the SALESmanago survey respondents:
- 51% report improved customer retention due to personalization.
- 46% see higher engagement rates thanks to personalization.
- 41% have increased revenue as a direct result of personalization efforts.
The results also found that over a third of marketers (37%) are planning to try out new personalization techniques in 2026, such as advanced visualization tools and customer journey mapping.
Beyond this study, other research shows just how crucial personalization is becoming to ecommerce success. For example, according to McKinsey, personalization can:
- Reduce customer acquisition cost by as much as 50%.
- Increase revenues by anywhere from 5-15%.
- Improve marketing ROI by 10-30%.
Also, consumer research from TransUnion found that 39% of U.S. consumers expect brands to personalize their online shopping experiences with targeted marketing, product recommendations, and tailored messaging.
Useful Tips to Improve Your Personalization Efforts
While knowing the importance of personalization in ecommerce is great, it’s only half the battle. As shown in the SALESmanago survey, nearly every marketer knows it’s important, but the key is being able to implement it successfully.
Here are a few helpful tips to improve personalization, not only around Black Friday, but also in general:
- Offer personalized and dynamic product recommendations, based on a customer’s purchase history, browsing history, or the searches they’ve made on your site.
- Group your customers based on preferences, demographics, or online behavior to help deliver more personalized experiences effectively at scale.
- Send out personalized promotions or discounts based on customer behavior or product preferences. This may include offering discounts on products related to past items a person has bought, or providing a deal on a product the customer previously viewed or has in their cart.
- Create a data-driven loyalty program. Not only do customers enjoy being rewarded for their loyalty, but it also provides you with plenty of first-party data, including when the customer purchases products, what they buy, what they use loyalty points on, and more.
- Offer a birthday or anniversary discount, as it’s an easy way to build a stronger relationship with customers and make them feel valued. This may be a free product on their birthday, or an exclusive discount that they get to celebrate the anniversary of their first purchase.
