E-commerce optimization baffles online marketers, web analysts and CMO’s alike, on their rigorous, and seemingly endless, journey to increasing conversion. A growing trend on the market dictates that effective E-commerce optimizers constantly broaden their methods and approaches through which user engagement data is leveraged.

Traditionally, the front lines of commerce are the physical brick and mortar stores and the face-to-face encounters between salespeople and shoppers. This engagement makes it easier to discern customer characteristics. It allows seasoned salespersons to adjust their selling approach accordingly, in order to positively impact a sale.

In the world of E-commerce, it has become apparent that digital marketers are attempting to address the challenge of developing a tailored customer experience through the notion of personalization.

As the online world matures, the drive towards a two-way communication between organizations and their audience continues to increase. This has become evident with the introduction of real-time chat assistance and Voice of Customer (VOC) feedback tools. These innovations allow E-shoppers to finally have a direct communication channel with vendors in the digital shopping arena.

The real question E-commerce optimizers should be asking themselves is: Are we basing our decisions on assumptions or guesstimates that stem from potentially flawed logic of what certain online triggers and behaviors indicate to us or are we using real and accurate customer behavioral data to determine our clients’ personas? Unfortunately, today most would answer the former rather than the latter. The reason being that data extracted from traditional tracking tools can be limited and too often does not lend itself to creating clear-cut, practical next steps.

Digital marketers and optimizers are the modern day Sherlock Holmes of the web: They utilize available tools to make sense of clues left behind by visitors. The techniques of traditional commerce have entered a new era of cross-channel alignment, where the gaps between online and offline channel experiences are blurring and the exciting future of shopping is well on its way!

To learn more about how you can optimize your E-commerce channels, check out our Research Paper on Online Personas: Optimizing the E-commerce Experience.