In this article we talk about how you can use customisation to both improve customer experience on your website, as well as being able to have a greater degree of involvement in the creation of the products they buy from you.
We also explain the differences between customisation and personalisation below
Customers appreciate they ways in which you demonstrate you understand them, and their needs and preferences. Website customisations is one way you can create establish and maintain this personalised touch. The benefits of implementing website customisation options include:
These benefits can work together to ultimately drive conversions and increase revenue. Website customised helps you connect with and engage with your audience in a way that builds brand and loyalty.
There are many different ways your website can be customised to create a better experience for your customers and to showcase and promote your brand identity. Some websites enable users to change the layout or appearance of a website, allowing them to set their view with their preferred settings. An example of this would be offering both light and dark mode options.
Customised themes can be offered at special times of the year, or in line with specialised brand or marketing campaigns. Frequent visitors to your website will often enjoy the ability to change how the site looks or feels, and it can help a marketing campaign to gain momentum.
Users may appreciate the ability to personalise content recommendations, filter options, and notifications based on their interests and preferences. It does not take long for a customer to assess whether your website is of interest to them or not.
When users log into, or frequently visit your site, they appreciate being provided with content, stories and products that are relevant and of interest to them. Content customisations enable users to both filter out unattractive content or be delivered with tailored content in response to previous views, page visits or purchases.
The addition of customisable widgets also allows users some control over the content they see. One example of this is the addition of an accessibility widget, which enables viewers to alter settings on your websites to meet their personal accessibility requirements. Widgets like this may offer settings through which users can alter:
People with low vision may not be able to read text at a standard size on your website. Some people find that flickering animations or video cause problems, or can be distracting for users. Accessibility customisations enable visitors to your website to use the site in comfortable and accessible way.
Whatever your industry, if you’re seeking to access and expand into global markets, then website language translation capabilities are a must. Offering multi language translation services on your website is a great way to get your brand to wider audiences. Even if your site is highly visual and full of rich images of your products, customers always appreciate being able to access technical specifications, product guides and descriptions in their own language.
The availability of translated information also helps customers from abroad feel more confident about payment and refund processes. Having language customisation options helps legitimise and build trust amongst your customers.
Websites can also leverage location customisation to deliver highly personalised experiences to their visitors. One notable strategy involves the use of geo-targeting, allowing websites to dynamically present content, products, or services based on the user's precise location. By tailoring the displayed content to align with the visitor's geographic location, websites can provide a more relevant and compelling user experience, increasing the likelihood of engagement and conversion.
Location customisations can also be used to adapt or adjust currency, based on a customer’s location. This level of personalisation ensures that visitors are presented with content in their preferred language and are shown pricing in their local currency, contributing to a seamless and user-friendly browsing and purchasing process. For companies in e-commerce, location customisation plays a crucial role in providing accurate shipping options and estimated delivery times based on the user's location. By factoring in regional shipping considerations, such as specific delivery methods and local logistics, a website can offer transparent and tailored shipping information, enhancing the overall customer experience
Location customisations can also help deliver region-specific promotions to customers, or showcase local event opportunities, such as links with physical stores.
Privacy customisations can also be enabled to provide users with the ability to manage their preferences regarding data collection, targeted advertising and communication preferences.
These options often instil confidence in security-conscious customers and website visitors. When it comes to privacy, websites can provide users with comprehensive privacy settings that allow them. This empowers users to control the information they share and the type of interactions they have with the website.
In terms of security, websites can implement robust data encryption protocols to protect sensitive information transmitted between the user's device and the website's servers. This helps safeguard personal and financial data from unauthorised access or interception. Additionally, websites can employ secure authentication methods, such as two-factor authentication, to add an extra layer of security and verify the identity of users, thereby preventing unauthorised access to sensitive accounts or information.
Communicating these practices in a transparent manner helps users understand how their information is handled, fostering trust and confidence in the website.
Product customisation enables your customers to adjust and tweak elements of your products or services, so that they end up with something that is unique to them. Simple customisation options we often see on websites are showing different colours or materials for products. When product customisation options are enabled on your website, customers can choose items from a range of predefined options to order a product that aligns with their preferences.
Product personalisation typically refers to the process of tailoring a product to meet the specific preferences or needs of an individual customer. This can include adding a customer's name or personal message to a product, selecting specific features or options based on their preferences, or offering unique variations of a product based on individual requirements. personalisation options on your website involve tailoring a product to the specific individual.
The benefits of offering personalisation options for your products on your website include:
Customers may want to be able to see how a customised product will look before they purchase. If you sell products that can be varied in colour, pattern and size, customers may wish to see images of how these various available combinations might look. An example scenario could be for a company producing blankets shaped like butterflies.
The blankets come in small, medium and large, and with three types of butterfly designs, each available in one of four base colours. A customer might wish to compare the image of a large, orange monarch butterfly design with a medium, purple peacock butterfly design. They want to be able to see their changes reflected in real time as they alter the setting options. By offering customisation options for customers to experiment with, they can get a sense of their purchase options. This leads to a greater understanding of how the product will look when they receive it.
Another example of customisation of products is offered by a popular flower delivery. Their website enables customers to pick through a series of options, bouquet, box or vase, pick any combination of flowers, plus foliage and to choose a tailor-made delivery
These capabilities are generated through product configurators or virtual product customisation interfaces. The product configurator enables the options to view the various options available for customising a product to a certain design or specification. It helps the customer to view and assess all of the available purchase options. This also helps reduce the risk of misconfigurations, through which a customer orders a product with a combination of specifications that isn’t actually available.
Another benefit of enabling product configurations is that it will provide you with great insight into which products and in what combinations are performing well. This can help you make decisions about which products or order more stock for, or to consider discontinuing. Product configuration options have proven particularly useful for businesses in these industries:
Tools like those offered by SnapFish, Vistaprint and Officeworks enable you to upload your own photos and use them in calendars, photo books or on printed mugs, keyrings and canvases. Other services enable you to add an image to a cushion, drink bottle, umbrella mouse pad or jigsaw puzzle. Customers can see how these products will look before ordering. These customisable products are popular as gifts and thank yous.
According to Pimcore, “We are also at the beginning of the "mass customisation" megatrend. Customers want to customise their products precisely to their imagination, and they want to be unique.” That’s why Pimcore provides a product configurator enabled through the Pimcore Configurator Management System.
Pimcore's robust API-first architecture and adaptable data models enable you to effectively manage customisation options for extensive product collections. This service is made possible through effective GraphQL interfaces.
The integrated commerce features within Pimcore enable efficient management of orders and associated customer profiles. Particularly beneficial for complex B2B pricing mechanisms, customer-specific pricing, product assortments, and configuration contexts, a versatile data management system such as Pimcore's PIM/MDM provides considerable advantages.
We work with businesses which have large number of products and digital data to manage.
At Stimulus, we specialise in building solutions for modern businesses! Work with us for improved workflow and enriched information data and content flow that will make your business more agile and efficient in the digital space. Ask us how we can improve your digital and omnichannel experiences through Pimcore!
Consumer expectations about websites are constantly evolving. Today, people expect websites to load quickly, be easy to navigate, and provide relevant and personalised content. They also want websites to be secure, mobile-friendly, and accessible on various devices. Overall, there is a growing demand for a seamless and enjoyable user experience across all websites.
Pimcore facilitates website creation through its comprehensive content management, data integration, customisation, multi-channel publishing, digital experience management, ecommerce capabilities, and SEO and marketing tools. This makes it a valuable platform for organisations seeking to build and manage engaging and effective websites.
Pimcore offers robust ecommerce features, allowing organisations to build and manage ecommerce websites seamlessly. It provides product information management (PIM) and digital asset management (DAM) capabilities, essential for ecommerce operations.
Pimcore facilitates the management of digital experiences by providing tools for creating engaging and personalised customer journeys. It enables the delivery of targeted content based on user behaviour, preferences, and demographic data.