Point of Sale, Retail Technology, Retail Trends
Avoiding the Creepy Factor In Hyperpersonalization | Retail Pro Blog
Is hyper-personalization creepy or cool? A recently released Accenture study, “Retail Hyperpersonalization, Creepy versus Cool,” finds that the answer largely depends on which demographic you’re asking.
By and large, Millennials seem more into with retailers personalizing messaging. Boomers less so. For example, nearly three times more Millennials (17.2 percent) than Boomers (6.2 percent) think being reminded while shopping about needed items is “cool.” Also, 41 percent of Millennials say they’d welcome retailers stopping them from buying electronics that are not right or are outside their budgets.
Gender influences the perception of what constitutes acceptable personalization as well. Accenture reports that 34% of male respondents think receiving suggestions personalized to account for their families’ food preferences is “creepy.” However, 40% of female respondents consider that type of personalization “cool.”
Some forms of personalization are generally welcomed, though not universally. For example, these implementations are widely considered “cool”:
- 82% enjoy discounts or loyalty coupons;
- 59% welcome promotional offers based on items that the customer may be considering or lingering over;
- 54% like receiving suggestions for items that complement merchandise that the customer is currently browsing.
- 36% of shoppers do not want to be greeted by name when walking into a store;
- 42% don’t want recommendations based on their health issues;
- 46% don’t want to be dissuaded from a purchase by a sales associate with preexisting knowledge about what the customer currently owns.