Personalization Techniques For Online Stores

An ecommerce company recently approached my team to do an email audit as they were facing challenges with low open and click-through rates. After analyzing their email account, here are our main recommendations to revive their email marketing channel: 1. Strategic Email Segmentation: Currently, your emails lack personal relevance due to a one-size-fits-all approach. This is a crucial area to address. Action Plan: Implement segmentation based on purchase history, engagement levels, browsing behavior, and demographic information. 2. Personalized Content Creation: Generic content won't cut it. Your audience needs to feel that each email is crafted for them. Action Plan: Develop emails specifically tailored to the different segments. This includes curated product recommendations, personalized offers, and content that aligns with their interests. 3. Subject Line A/B Testing: Your current subject lines aren't doing their job. You need to be implementing ongoing A/B subject line tests, as this is low-hanging fruit to improve your open rates. Action Plan: Regularly test different subject line styles and formats to identify what resonates best with each segment. Keep track of the metrics to inform future campaigns. 4. Mobile Optimization: A significant portion of your audience reads emails on mobile devices. Neglecting this is causing a decrease in your email engagement rates. Action Plan: Ensure all emails are responsive and visually appealing on various screen sizes. Test your emails on multiple devices before sending them out. Additional Campaign Strategies We Recommend: - Launch a Monthly Newsletter: This should include new arrivals, style guides, and user-generated content. It’s an excellent way to keep your brand in the minds of your customers. - Seasonal Campaign Integration: Tailor your campaigns to align with holidays and seasons. This approach can significantly boost engagement and sales during key periods. - Re-Engagement Campaigns: Specifically target subscribers who haven't interacted with your brand recently. Offer them unique incentives to rekindle their interest. Next steps: 1. If you found this helpful, please leave a comment and let me know. 2. If you own/run/work at an Ecommerce company doing at least $1 million in annual revenue, message me so my team can audit your email channel to see if there's a good fit for working together.

We generate hundreds of ABM landing pages for our named accounts with deep personalization with Clay and Webflow. We see contacts from named accounts engaging with these pages and often get messages like "wow how did you do this?" For the past few months, we have been dogfooding this feature and now we're excited to launch for every Clay user. Here's how we did it: ⓵ We created our named account list in Clay based on very specific data points that are relevant to our business. We segmented these accounts into tier 1, 2, and 3. ⓶ We identified specific data points about these named accounts that could inform how Clay can be used. ⓷ We created a CMS template in Webflow that maps items with specific columns in Clay. ⓸ We generate rows in our Clay table as companies hit our named account criteria and automatically create pages within the Webflow CMS. Then, as people from these companies visit our site, they see a banner saying "see how X can use Clay." The fun is in the details though... here are some levels of personalization we're using: ✅ Brand name and logo in the heading ✅ Brand color in the background of the page. You can set a default color as well in case the color is black or white. This is the case with screenshot from the Carta page shared below. ✅ Tech stack personalization: in our case, if the company uses Salesforce as their CRM, we should them a Salesforce section. But if the company uses HubSpot, we then show HubSpot instead. ✅ GTM model personalization: if the company has a self-serve motion, we talk about enriching self-serve sign-ups. If they are mostly sales-led, we talk about enriching form-fills. We have a few resources on how you can set it up. I'm actually doing a webinar with the Webflow team next week to showcase how we built this. I will share a few resources in the comments.

“70% of our marketing time is spent on recovering abandoned carts. On WhatsApp.” That was the single biggest takeaway from a customer call yesterday, for me. A French retailer selling bespoke fashion worldwide. Here’s what they told me: "WhatsApp messaging isn’t cheap. Everybody knows that. But we believe in the channel. We know it’s our best shot at being seen. At being heard. At carving a space right where our customers live, next to their friends and family.” So they stopped treating abandoned cart reminders like afterthoughts. Instead, they built campaigns that command attention. And I’ve never seen anything like them. 🔥 Campaign #1: The After-Dark Discount Window Instead of sending a routine cart reminder, they unlock a private discount window at 10 PM. Why? Because late-night browsing isn’t rational, it’s emotional. Customers who opt-in get an exclusive deal during this nocturnal shopping spree. 💰 Campaign #2: Shoppers Name Their Price They don’t shove a price at the customer. They hand over the pricing power. Shoppers reply with a price they’re willing to pay. If it falls within range, it’s approved. This campaign has the highest engagement numbers I’ve EVER seen on WhatsApp. 🎥 Campaign #3: Staff Wearing the Carted Item Forget static product images. They broadcast videos of staff members wearing the item, describing the fit and fabric. It kills doubts. It brings the product to life. It makes buying feel effortless. For every $1 spent on WhatsApp cart recovery, they make $30 back. Why? Because they treat every abandoned cart like a full-fledged marketing campaign. No lazy nudges. No generic messages. Every interaction, memorable. WhatsApp marketing is wildly profitable—if you refuse to take shortcuts

Remarketing is often the misunderstood middle child of performance marketing. Let’s break a couple of myths🔨 🎯 One size fits all fits probably no one:  I’ve seen many companies burn money on campaigns that don’t recognize that every section of their audience has their own motivations. Why, if I had a penny for every time I visited a site with no intent to purchase their product at all, only to spot a “Schedule a Demo Today” ad by them on whichever site I visit, I’d probably be the richest guy in SaaS! I read somewhere that 84% of users either ignore or are put off by retargeting ads! Shows how important it is to get it right. Start doing these things: - Segment visitors by page depth (1 page vs 3+ pages) - Track time-on-site thresholds (>2 min = higher intent) - Create separate campaigns for pricing page visitors vs. blog readers Tailor your content based on your audience’s behavior and stage in the buyer journey (URL path visitors, action completers, cart abandoners) 🎯 Retargeting works like a mosquito coil:  Retargeting is not plug and play, and it typically doesn’t stop with one level. Retarget for all customer stages. Not only demo and trial signups. This insulates your prospects from leaving the funnel midway. We’ve had cases where we spent thousands of dollars on a retargeting campaign only to make zero sales. But here’s what happened afterward ⭐ : When we triggered another retargeting campaign for the warmer folks from the previous campaign, giving them BOFU content, we made sales. A lot of it! What’s to learn here? You’re unlikely to be bet on with just the first touch point. You have to build that awareness consistently. Create a 3-tier remarketing structure: > Tier 1 (Cold): Educational content, industry reports > Tier 2 (Warm): Case studies, comparison guides > Tier 3 (Hot): Free trials, demos, limited-time offers Build custom audiences for each segment, assign specific content types to each, and implement frequency caps based on ‘bucket temperature’. Also, the focus should also be on increasing the credibility of your company rather than only pushing them towards the CTA. Here's one customized Google + LinkedIn campaign strategy we used for a client recently. What are some retargeting tactics that’s worked for you?

Personalization at scale is the holy grail of ecommerce. Many brands try this, but their attempts end up feeling artificial or breaking under load. Then I saw what UnionBrands accomplished with FERMÀT. What makes their case particularly interesting is the inherent tension in their business model. With brands like Gladly Family (baby gear) and BravoMonster (luxury RC cars), they're essentially running multiple distinct businesses under one roof. Each brand serves completely different customer personas - imagine the complexity of speaking authentically to both RC car collectors and parents shopping for family-friendly gear. Here's how they approached this challenge using FERMÀT: 1. Persona-Driven Experience Architecture → Each audience segment gets its own tailored journey → The messaging adapts naturally across collector, racer, and gift-giver segments → Brand integrity remains strong while speaking to specific buyers 2. Seamless Ad-to-Cart Alignment → Seasonal offers feel authentic and contextual → Their beach-themed funnels mirror specific UGC content → The narrative flows naturally from first impression to purchase 3. PR-Driven Funnel Optimization → Press coverage leads to custom-built experiences → Publication audiences see perfectly aligned messaging → Direct attribution captures real PR impact Their results validate this approach in remarkable ways: • First week of launch: FERMÀT funnels drove 3X the revenue of their website • PR placement performance: Their collector-specific funnel hit a 14.29% conversion rate when UnCrate featured Bravomonster • Seasonal campaigns: Their beach-themed funnel achieved a 4.56 ROAS What I find most compelling is how they've reframed the personalization challenge. Instead of rebuilding their core site for every audience segment, they’re creating AI-powered FERMÀT funnels to create targeted experiences that preserve brand integrity while delivering true personalization. As Jen Johnson Latulippe, UnionBrands founder, puts it: "FERMÀT allows a smaller team to get bigger results, faster. We can create a whole shopping experience in a few hours without having to touch the website."

Your highest-intent prospects aren't all the same person. I was reviewing several of our recent BOF campaigns and I was reminded of the fact that: The closer someone gets to conversion, the more your messaging matters. But most marketers treat high-intent audiences like they're all the same person. They're not. Someone who abandoned cart yesterday needs different messaging than someone who's been browsing for three weeks. Someone on mobile at 2pm needs different creative than someone on desktop at 9pm. Here’s what you should do: 1️⃣ Understand intent decay patterns. We've tracked this across client accounts - purchase intent has a half-life. After someone shows buying signals, you have roughly 72 hours of peak conversion opportunity. Day 4-7, intent drops 60%. By week two, you're basically starting over. Many advertisers waste this window with generic "complete your purchase" messaging. 2️⃣ Segment your BOF audiences by recency, not just behavior. Recent cart abandoners get urgency-focused creative. Week-old browsers get social proof and reviews. Month-old prospects need fresh product education. Same goal, different psychology. We've seen 40%+ ROAS improvements just from this basic segmentation. 3️⃣ Rotate creative elements based on engagement, not calendar. Most teams mess up by refreshing on schedule instead of performance. Monitor micro-signals: when CTR drops 15% from peak, when frequency hits 2.5x without converting, when engagement falls while impressions climb. Don't wait for Meta to flag fatigue. 4️⃣ Test messaging depth, not just messaging type. Generic "20% off" performs worse than "still thinking about those running shoes?" for cart abandoners. Specific beats generic at every intent level. We use AI to personalize hooks based on browsing behavior, and it consistently outperforms broad creative by 25-35%. Most BOF campaigns fail because they treat high-intent traffic like low-intent traffic. You've already done the hard work of getting someone interested. Don't waste it with lazy messaging.

Ever wonder why most shoppers never finish checking out? Nearly 70% of carts get left behind. Feels personal, right?   The truth: shoppers bail because what they see doesn’t 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 made for them. Static pages and generic product blocks just aren’t cutting it.   𝗗𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 fixes this.💡   When your store adapts in real time, → Shoppers spot products that fit their vibe → Banners shout out sales and bundles that matter to them → Every touchpoint feels personal, not random   We've seen it firsthand. Conversion rates double. Bounce rates drop. Customers actually come back.   𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀: ✅ Show recently viewed products upfront ✅ Personalize offers based on browsing history ✅ Use urgency—like “selling fast”—only for 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑡 items   People want to feel seen, not sold to. It's not about tricking them into buying. Make every visit feel like it was designed 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚, and your abandoned cart problem shrinks.   Are you personalizing content for your visitors yet, or still rolling with the same template for everyone?   https://lnkd.in/g-GPkvCW   #eCommerce #ConversionRate #Personalization #CRO

CLIENT: How should we time our Klaviyo Abandonment flows? ME: Here's my general rule of thumb: Generally, the more intent a customer has in buying... The quicker you should follow up with them if they don’t buy. Here's what I mean: 👉 Active on Site Abandonment Definition: Someone landed on your website, but hasn't landed your product pages. These people have low intent. They might've: – Accidentally landed on your site – Browsed through your collection pages – Checked out your blog Chances are, they might come back to check out your products again... So we don't have to follow up with them so quickly. ✅ Time to follow up = 4 hours 👉 Browse Abandonment Definition: Someone landing on your product pages, but didn't add to cart. These people have medium intent since they have: – Checked out your website – Likely gone through a collection page – Looked at a specific product they were interested in Could they come back and add it to their cart? Sure, but let's follow up with them promptly in case they're looking at competitors. ✅ Time to follow up = 3 hours 👉 Abandoned Cart Definition: Someone added a product to their cart, but hasn't gone to the checkout page. These people have high intent since they have: – Looked at a specific product – Determined it was a product they wanted to buy – Added the product to their cart But for some reason they haven't reached the checkout page. We'll give them a shorter amount of time before following up. ✅ Time to follow up = 2 hours 👉 Abandoned Checkout Definition: Someone who's reached the checkout page, but didn't complete their purchase. These people have the highest amount of intent since they have: – Added product(s) to their cart – Decided they were ready to buy – Entered the process of entering their shipping & CC info But they didn't buy. These people are red hot. If they haven't Completed Checkout within 1 hour, you absolutely need to follow up with them. ✅ Time to follow up = 1 hour Most split tests I’ve run for timings confirm this. As for follow up emails, it’s better to at least follow up once a day or else they’ll forget what they were shopping for. I personally couldn’t tell you what I was shopping for 2-3 days ago, and most people couldn’t either. CLIENT: Wow, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the breakdown! ME: No problem :)

Most brands drown in the process of personalizing too much. I recently worked with a brand that went super deep into this, making users create detailed customer profiles through their pop-up with specific interests. Their welcome series was completely segmented, if you clicked on "couches," you'd only see couch-related content throughout the entire sequence. Most people would think this hyper-personalized approach is “cutting edge”, and leave it alone. This left a TON of revenue on the table since it limited their brand discovery. After looking at the data, we tested a different approach right away. We featured best sellers of the brand, highlighting each of them with individual product categories underneath the existing segmentation. By keeping the personalized elements but introducing best-selling products across categories, we significantly lifted engagement and revenue metrics. It’s simple: - Customers don't always know your full product range - Limiting visibility to one category restricts discovery - Your best-sellers have proven market engagement regardless of initial interest - Site exploration leads to higher average order values The welcome series absolutely crushed it with this strategy. We also found that their original strategy worked better in the post-purchase flow. Customers are more inclined to accept other offers of the same category after they purchased a product, rather than getting bombarded with 100 different couches at the beginning. The key takeaway here is to test the balance between personalization and data. Testing will always be King. Don't always assume that extreme personalization is always the answer, sometimes a hybrid approach delivers the best results.

I’ve audited over thousand ecommerce email flows and I can spot a mistake in 10 seconds. The most common one? “Add to Cart” is treated like a step. Let me explain. Brands build abandonment flows around this logic: “Oh they added to cart. Let’s remind them” But “Add to Cart” is actually a micro conversion. It tells you intent and even identity. Yet most flows just say: “Hey! You forgot something” No segmentation. No context. No personalization. Try this instead: • Segment by cart size: Big cart = bundle messaging. Small cart = urgency. • Segment by product price: High ticket? Remind them of value, not speed. Low ticket? Use scarcity. • Segment by SKU category: Abandoned cookware? Highlight how it simplifies meal prep. Left gym gear? Push transformation angle. Even better? If they always abandon without purchasing, they’re not forgetful. They’re price sensitive. Start testing offers. Turn your “reminder” emails into sales machines. Because Add to Cart isn’t just a behavior. It’s data if you’re listening.