Consumer Behavior

Consumers love personalization yet wary of data privacy

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December 8, 2022

Consumers appreciate personalization when it comes to marketing but have concerns about data privacy.

That's a top finding of a CommerceNext study conducted in partnership with The Commerce Experience Collective, Bizrate and Coresight Research.

The news comes at a time when retailers are striving to become more engaged with consumers and tailoring marketing and communications to customers. Personalization has proven to drive customer loyalty.

The survey polled over 1,000 shoppers of different ages and income on desire for personalization throughout e-commerce experiences and willingness to exchange personal data for personalization.

The study revealed 66% of consumers prefer to buy from stores that know them and their preferences and 60% of those surveyed also agreed that relevant product recommendations were important to them.

But 87% of these consumers are very concerned about how retailers are using their personal information and data, while 67% will only share data if they know it is being safely stored, according to a press release on the findings.

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of shoppers in the 30-39 age group are more likely to buy from retailers that know them, while older consumers (60+) are more likely to be concerned about how their data is being used.

"Personalization is important to shoppers — retailers that can offer more relevant shopping experiences through recommending products or customized customer communications gives brands a competitive advantage," CommerceNext co-founder Scott Silverman said in the release. "This report also shows that customers have strong concerns about the security of their personal information, which suggests that retailers should be doing more to let customers know about how they are keeping customers' information secure."