Supermarkets lead in online personalisation, beating all sectors

Supermarkets have emerged as the leading sector for personalised content in the UK, based on new research by Optimizely. This study, which surveyed 1,000 UK consumers, assessed various industries on their ability to provide online personalised experiences, with respondents ranking them from Excellent to Terrible.

The findings indicate that 21% of UK shoppers consider supermarkets to offer an Excellent level of personalisation—more than any other sector. Transport services, particularly train operators, ranked lowest, with 16% of respondents rating them as Terrible for personalisation. The data arrives amid the British government's plans to re-nationalise the country's railways following persistent service disruptions and industrial disputes.

The research also included insights into other industries. Entertainment, gaming, and sports were ranked as Excellent by 15% of respondents, followed by health and wellness at 14%, banks and financial services at 13%, and hotels and accommodation at 13%. Conversely, besides train services, utilities, and real estate, 15% of consumers rated them poorly, and the automotive and charity sectors both received a 13% Poor/Terrible rating.

Supermarkets' high ranking is attributed to their extensive use of customer data from loyalty programmes and online and in-store transactions. This data enables supermarkets to customise their offerings to cater to individual preferences, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction.

Shafqat Islam, President at Optimizely, emphasised the significant role of data in personalisation, stating, "Supermarkets benefit from having access to a huge amount of data—from purchase frequency to brand preferences. But access to data means absolutely nothing if it is not used in the right way."

Despite the positive outcomes in some sectors, the research underscores the necessity for continual experimentation in personalisation strategies. Around 75% of UK marketers acknowledged that ongoing experimentation is crucial for creating personalised content. Optimizely’s findings suggest that without this, industries risk falling behind in meeting consumer expectations.

Mr Islam pointed out that many industries possess vast amounts of valuable data but often struggle to utilise it effectively. "Other industries are sitting on similar data goldmines; they are just struggling to connect the dots in the same way grocers are. However, through continuous experimentation and ongoing refinement of personalisation strategies, every industry can use first-party data to create meaningful digital experiences that resonate with every single consumer," he added.

Optimizely offers tools that combine testing, AI-enhanced optimisation, and customer data management to assist marketers in developing and deploying personalised experiences. These services aim to drive both revenue and brand loyalty by creating one-to-one digital interactions tailored to the needs of individual consumers.