Last month, a friend sent me a message, sounding both amused and a little uneasy. “Rupesh,” he said, “I looked up noise-canceling headphones yesterday, and now every app is showing me ads for them!”
I laughed because this is the world we live in now. Big names like Amazon, Walmart, and even smaller platforms like Etsy are all racing to nail personalization. They want to make your shopping experience so seamless that you’ll keep coming back. But here’s the challenge: how do they do that without creeping you out?
For eCommerce leaders, this is a tricky question: How can we personalize the shopping experience without being too pushy or invasive?
Personalization is powerful. Studies show it can drive serious results. For example:
It makes sense—customers love it when brands “get” them. McKinsey research shows that 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions.
But there’s a downside. That same study found that 76% of consumers get frustrated when personalization doesn’t happen. (McKinsey & Company)
This is where things get complicated.
One of the D2C brands we work with once got hit with a wave of negative feedback. Their retargeting ads were everywhere—Facebook, Instagram, random websites—so much so that customers felt they couldn’t escape. It was a classic case of overdoing it.
And they’re not alone. A KPMG survey found that 68% of consumers feel brands know too much about them.
The breaking point often comes when brands aren’t clear about how they’re using customer data.
Even industry giants have stumbled. Remember when Spotify was criticized for how their hyper-personalized playlists seemed to dig a little too deep into users’ habits? It’s a fine line between making a user feel special and making them feel spied on.
At Ergode, we’ve partnered with over 1,500 brands worldwide, and helping them walk this tightrope has been a big part of what we do. For example, one marketplace we worked with saw an 18% increase in cart conversions after tweaking their personalization strategy to be more customer-friendly. Here’s what worked:
These steps didn’t just improve the user experience—they boosted sales and built trust.
Done right, personalization delivers real results:
These numbers make it clear: personalization isn’t just a trend—it’s a must. But it has to be handled with care.
As technology evolves, the line between helpful and intrusive will keep getting blurrier. AI tools are becoming smarter, analyzing every little detail of customer behavior. For businesses, the key takeaway is simple: focus on trust.
When personalization is about helping your customers—not just pushing them to buy more—it builds loyalty. And that loyalty isn’t just good for your reputation; it’s good for your bottom line.
So, let me ask you all, how’s your brand managing this balance? The future belongs to those who can tailor experiences thoughtfully, without crossing boundaries.
Cheers,
Rupesh
