The holidays are around the corner. People are wondering what to get their loved ones. Personalization rarely goes wrong and many retailers, even big ones such as Ralph Lauren, are allowing it in their online stores.

Shoppers are now more aware of what they buy and use, and in a world that celebrates individuality, providing customization is essential to have a successful online business. Offering personalized gifts, even if for a short period of time, such as during the Christmas season, could be a great differentiator. 

The possibilities are endless, from an engraved perfume bottle to a bathrobe with someone’s initials, from widening your color selection to expanding your size range.

Personalized gifts have plenty of advantages, for both companies and consumers alike. In this article, we bring you the top 5 benefits of personalized gifts for eCommerce businesses.

#1 – Lower return rates

Product returns are a problem for most online businesses, wouldn’t you agree?  They usually can mean that: 

• Product photography is not a faithful representation of the real thing;
• Not enough information about the products;
• The product was damaged or defective;
• The customer experienced buyer’s remorse.

20-30% of all products ordered online are returned as compared to 8.89% in physical stores. Return rates are an important indicator of customer dissatisfaction and they are incredibly harmful to the environment. 

Besides the added transportation and pollutant emissions, returned items are usually considered unsellable by companies, which means they just end up in a landfill or an incinerator. They are wasted.

The chances of returning a personalized gift are much lower. Shoppers are empowered from the very beginning to create something which resonates with them and with the person they are buying for.

The result is a unique product thought and created for a special someone.

#2 – Competitive advantage

According to Harvard Business Review, when buyers are given the chance to customize their desired products, they buy more and are more likely to recommend the brand to other people.

This can represent a good extra source of revenue, using the resources you already have, and set you apart from the competition.

The online shopping landscape is definitely overcrowded, So it’s important to offer personalization options that stand out from your competition. To achieve that, make sure you provide high-quality customization and a good buying journey. A 3D configurator can help you with that, so you can nail personalized gifts.

#3 – A pop up store is born

As mentioned before, personalized gifting can be something you integrate into your business proposal, or it can be something that only happens a few times a year. Brands such as Rituals, for example, do it.

A digital pop up store is the perfect way to enable personalized gifts for some time. What is it?  It’s basically a little store on your website where you offer, for a limited time, a unique and exclusive product. What is more exclusive than a fully personalizable made-from-scratch item? 

#4 – An extra source of income

People are willing to pay more for a customizable item. They also tend to buy more from those who provide personalization.

Personalized gifts can be a good source of income by allowing shoppers to personalize your existing stock. From engraving to accessorizing, you have a lot of possibilities to get there.

3D configuration is a great way to do it, especially with Expivi. Why? Because it’s a CPQ configurator. This means that it configures, prices and quotes. After the integration of the 3D product configurator on your website, the customer can personalize the item, view it in a realistic way, and personalize it as a quote is immediately created. The client then pays and a Bill of Materials with the desired personalization is sent directly to production. All involved parties are connected through one platform.

#5 – A great marketing asset

Personalized gifts can be used in a million different ways when it comes to marketing. Social media is one of them. You can easily create valuable content using what your clients will share.

There is nothing like receiving an item created especially for you and sharing it on Instagram. All you have to do afterward is re-share it, and the leads will follow. It’s also a good way to start a new campaign and use it in your paid media strategy.

Personalized gifts will allow you to do market prospect since you’ll be receiving information regarding your product that you didn’t before. For example, you can know which colors your clients chose more often, what sizes are more popular and what type of engraving font is picked more regularly. 

Interactions coming from personalization create valuable data from which brands can design more relevant experiences. Creating therefore a chain reaction that leads to higher customer loyalty.

Would you like to know how to make a 3D product configurator work for your business? Ping us!