We live in continuously changing times. On one hand, 91% of online shoppers say they are more willing to purchase from brands that personalize their shopping experience and offer relevant products.

On the other hand, users are concerned about their privacy and expect the brands carefully manage their data.

Should you personalize the shopping experience on your ecommerce store? If yes, how can you align personalization with user privacy?

Should you personalize the shopping experience?

Definitely yes.

Personalization provides many benefits for both businesses and customers.

It uses data about a user’s search history and other factors to tailor search results to meet their needs. Ultimately, personalization provides users with a more relevant and satisfying shopping experience.

Businesses that deliver highly relevant and personalized shopping experiences usually notice an average 20% increase in revenue and save up to 30% of business costs.

Besides, the happier the customers with the shopping experience, the more loyal they become. Increased customer satisfaction and trust can lead to more positive word-of-mouth and social media sharing.

And that is worth it.

And yet, there is a price attached to it: user privacy.

With the rise of customers’ privacy concerns, you must align personalization tactics with their privacy. How can you achieve that?

How to align website personalization with user privacy?

The first and most critical step is to be transparent.

Customers expect brands to handle personal information transparently and to respect users’ choices and preferences.

So, to align website personalization with user privacy, you should follow a few best practices.

Ask for consent

Before collecting or using any customer data, you should ask for their consent and explain how you will use it for personalization. Communicate what data is being collected, how it is being used, and who it is being shared with.

You should also provide users with options to opt-out or change their preferences at any time.

Follow the regulations

You should follow the relevant laws and regulations regarding data privacy and protection, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union or the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States.

These laws require you to inform customers about your data practices, respect their rights, and protect their data from breaches or misuse.

Also, pay attention to other regulations, especially if you operate in Europe. For instance, you must indicate the usage of product ranking algorithms (if you use them). Read more about the Omnibus directive here.

Prepare a privacy policy

90% of online shoppers are more likely to trust a company if it has a privacy policy.

If you don’t have one, prepare it. Have a clear and comprehensive privacy policy that explains how you collect, use, share, and protect customer data. Update it regularly to reflect changes in your data practices or the law.

A privacy policy can help you build trust and transparency with your customers and comply with legal requirements.

LupaSearch personalizes the shopping experience without violating user privacy

As an AI-driven ecommerce search, LupaSearch personalizes the shopping experience without disturbing user privacy. It uses artificial intelligence and natural language processing to understand the user’s intent and preferences based on their queries and feedback.

Besides, unlike other platforms, LupaSearch does not use purchase history for personalizing the experience. LupaSearch’s AI algorithm counts what’s trending among many users and suggests the most popular and suitable products for each query.

This ecommerce search uses user search history only from a single session. If a user leaves the website, the tracking stops, and the user’s data is deleted.

That’s because the people behind LupaSearch believe that the user-relevant shopping experience should never invade user privacy.

After all, if it works without invading it, why should one choose to do it?

Contact LupaSearch product consultants and request a free demo to start providing a user-relevant shopping experience that does not invade privacy.