Personalization Glossary
A/B testing? Recommendation models? The personalization engine space uses several acronyms that may seem daunting, so we're here to help. You can find definitions to the most common e-commerce customer experience optimization terms here!
Minimum Viable Product
Minimum viable product (MVP) is a concept from Lean Startup that stresses the impact of learning in new product development. Eric Ries defined an MVP as that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort. MVP can also be the version of a product that has enough features to attract early-adopter customers and can help the product developers receive user feedback at the earliest to iterate and improve the product through its launch stage. The word ‘Minimum’ has to be conceived as the opposite to get this concept right. Here is a formula that will add more sense to this claim:
The Minimum Viable Product = Product with only essential features with maximum value + maximum amount of validated learning with least efforts
PURPOSE OF A MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT (MVP)
1. To propel your product’s Go-to-Market with a smaller budget
Startups and new entries to the market are the ones who find MVPs to be most useful, just because it gives them the leverage to enter the market with a smaller budget and lesser risks. Launching a new product with a minimal budget has become common, thanks to MVP, companies can tackle failures by rectifying the errors and weaknesses afterwards without having to incur a loss.
2. To find and reach the right audience
One of the key goals of an MVP is to effectively narrow down the right segment of the audience as its users. It will be a big challenge for any well-established company to reconsider who their ideal audience is, at any given time. The reason why it is challenging is that companies don’t often know where to start or restart. This is when we go back to MVPs as they are most often the best starting point to finding the right audience. With the aid of an MVP, a company can reach its best segment of the audience by drawing the suggestions depending on the knowledge and time.
3. To collect impartial user feedback
User feedback and customer experience are and will continue to be buzzwords for good reasons. Gathering user feedback, be it positive or negative is key for any business, especially when it’s a new business. However, it still remains to be an impossible practice for many businesses. Companies that have planned an MVP skip the tension as they target only the specific group of users to collect quality feedback and responses, keeping the process simple yet effective.
HOW TO BUILD A MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT (MVP)
1) Defining the problem that is trying to be resolved
2) Finding the simplest way to solve the problem
3) Prioritising the features of the product
4) Build, Measure, Learn
MVP IN PERSONALIZATION
It is simple to process the advantages of a product that was built from the ground-up as a unified platform. Baseline product-market fit for a personalization stack includes a platform that can personalize content and layout, provide recommendations, automate testing and deploy behavioral messages.
Multi-Step Checkout
The approach to eCommerce website design in which the checkout process is spread over multiple pages. This goal of multi-step checkout, as against one-step checkout, is to guide visitors to conversion by providing a transparent, linear experience that permits them to specialise in one step at a time.
Pros of Multi-Step Checkouts
Guest Checkout. Not all customers have time or want to create a customer account in order to check out. They give retailers the ability to add a guest checkout option.
Email Collection. Splitting the process into many pages and steps allows retailers to collect insightful customer data. Retailers can still collect a customer’s email address at the beginning steps of the checkout even if the customer decides to abandon the cart without completing the purchase.
Layout. Having more than one page in the checkout process enables you to cleanly display form fields and shipping options. There may be arguments of having multiple short pages is better than having one long page of customer forms because it appears less intimidating and easier to fill out.
Analytics. You can leverage the power of Google Analytics to find out where customers exit your check out process when you have a multi-step checkout.
Cons of Multi-Step Checkouts
Time. Customers may abandon the purchase if they feel that the process is too long.
Length. It’s best that checkouts be restricted to three or four steps. Checkouts that have too many steps will cause shoppers to abandon the cart and your business will lose a sale. It is best to showcase the checkout progress in order to grant customers the visibility on the remaining steps left before completing the purchase.