Back when eCommerce was something new, customers expected little more than being able to find what they were looking for, as if they were in front of a digital shelf. Today, expectations are much higher and customers expect to have a seamless, personalized shopping experience online, not unlike walking into a store and having a salesperson understand their needs and suggest relevant products.
Understanding a customer's needs in an online environment is quite a challenge, as you can't read their body language or ask open-ended questions (for now). However, eCommerce does have a big advantage over brick-and-mortar retail: data!
By collecting information about which products the customer has previously viewed, added to cart or even bought, it's possible to gain an increasingly better understanding of their needs and interests, and recommend other products accordingly. That's what edrone's Recommend scenario does for you, automatically!
Our system collects data about each client and, using Machine Learning, determines the best product recommendations for clients with similar behaviors. This means that:
The more data you collect, the better the results will be over time; and
You can theoretically have as many different product recommendations as the number of clients. That's the true "segment-of-one" in action!
NOTE: this scenario "takes time" to achieve the best results. Customers are eligible to receive Recommend messages after taking each of these three actions at least once: viewing a product; adding a product to cart; and placing an order. Also, please note that the recommended products are determined automatically by the system, therefore you will have no control over them.
If you wish to make specific product recommendations, please see our other ready-to-use automation scenarios.
How to set up the Recommend scenario
To begin, log into your Workspace and go to Automations > Ready Flows > Recommendations scenario. The first page will be just an example of actual recommendations the system might make, so let's move on.
Click on the NEXT: ADJUST button or select ADJUST from the progress bar on the top of the screen.
Step 1: Adjust
In this section, you will determine how many messages you will send, and which action(s) will trigger them. You are able to send up to three automatic messages:
After product view
After add to cart
After order
You can also determine how long you want to wait between each message, in order to avoid spamming your customers.
All periods are set in days and hours.
After making your choice, click on the NEXT: LANGUAGE button to continue, or select LANGUAGE from the progress bar.
Step 2: Language
On the LANGUAGE section, you will see on the left side an overview of your customers (audience size, number of languages, and most popular language).
Based on this information, you can choose whether you want to send your Newsletter in only one language (Single language), or more than one (Multi language). You can choose as many languages as you want.
NOTE: Language information is collected automatically by edrone from your customer's browser language settings. This means that it is not linked to a specific location. For example, if a customer lives in France but their browser is set up in English, they will be considered an english-speaking customer.
Click on the NEXT: SENDER button, or choose SENDER from the progress bar.
Step 3: Sender
Here, you will set up who is sending the email: Name, E-mail, and Reply-to E-mail. You can input new data, or choose from a predefined sender (for example, the same sender you have previously used in for other newsletters).
Remember to use an address with a verified domain!
Click on the NEXT: DESIGN button, or choose DESIGN from the progress bar.
Step 4: Design
On this section, you will design your email. Click here to learn how to use the new Drag 'n' Drop Editor. If you chose more than one message on step 1, you will be able to choose which email you wish to create by selecting from the MESSAGE TYPE drop-down menu on the top-left of the screen.
NOTE: For this scenario to work, you will need to use the Recommended Products dynamic element (star icon). Other dynamic product recommendation elements will also be available, as well as any other visual element available by default on the Drag'n'Drop editor.
To continue, select COUPONS from the progress bar.
Step 5: Coupons (optional)
It is possible to add coupons to any email. You can choose between Static (same coupon for all customers) and Dynamic (each customer gets a unique coupon). We recommend using Dynamic coupons whenever possible.
Regardless of your choice, you will need to upload a CSV file with your coupons. If you need help with creating them, there are several free online coupon generators.
Once your files are ready, click on UPLOAD (CSV). Select which column contains the coupons, check the box if you wish to ignore the first line of your file (column titles, for example). If everything is OK, click on CONFIRM COLUMN. A green confirmation message should appear at the top right corner of your screen.
Click on the NEXT: REVIEW button or choose REVIEW from the progress bar.
Step 6: Review
Send a test email to double-check if everything is working properly. When you're ready, click on the RUN button, and you're done!
Step 7: Reports
To view your Recommend scenario's performance, go to the REPORTS section on the progress bar. Here you will find the main metrics such as Engagement revenue, Sent, Opened, Clicked, Orders, Orders with Coupon, Unsubscribed, and CTR. Please note it is possible to filter the results by date and message.
Need more help?
If you have any further questions about the Recommend scenario, please do not hesitate to contact us at hello@edrone.me or via chat