Ecommerce brands have a massive $2 trillion opportunity in the next five years if they can effectively implement and scale personalization strategies. However, a new report from Mastercard reveals that 50% of brands worldwide are not dedicating the necessary resources to make this a reality.
According to the “State of Personalization Maturity in Ecommerce” report by Mastercard, there are surprising gaps in strategy and metrics within these organizations. While 67% of brands acknowledge that personalization is a top priority and plan to invest more in it, only half of them have dedicated personalization support. This leaves the other half relying on ad hoc resources or operating without them entirely.
The report highlights that without a centralized team focused on personalization, brands struggle to drive efforts effectively across various functions of the organization. This fragmented approach can lead to stalled progress despite initial successes. The report emphasizes that greater resourcing is a key lever to scale personalization efforts successfully.
Another significant issue identified in the report is the lack of a unified strategy among brands. 57% of brands worldwide admit to not having a singular audience strategy for ideation, execution, and analysis. This siloed approach results in channel-specific personalization efforts that are less effective compared to a cross-functional, multichannel strategy based on an aligned audience strategy.
Moreover, measuring the impact of personalization efforts remains a challenge for many brands. Over half of them do not have clear key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure personalization efforts explicitly. Instead, 40% rely on conceptual KPIs like increased revenue or improved add-to-cart rates, making it difficult to link campaign metrics to larger business goals.
In the Americas region, personalization and marketing teams generally have fewer resources, leading to more collaboration within the larger marketing function. While this fosters data collection and sharing, it hinders the agility that comes from a centralized, independent personalization team. The report emphasizes that processes alone are not enough and that resource investment is crucial for progress and momentum.
Overall, the report underscores the importance of adequate staffing to execute and iterate personalization strategies effectively. While many companies have strong data analysis, testing, and reporting processes in place, they need the right resources to drive these initiatives forward successfully.
The survey, conducted across different regions, includes insights from C-suite executives, marketing professionals, UX/CX experts, product managers, analysts, and developers. The full report can be accessed on the Mastercard website, requiring registration.
In conclusion, ecommerce brands have a massive opportunity to leverage personalization for business growth, but it requires dedicated resources, a unified strategy, clear KPIs, and adequate staffing to drive success in this space.