The emerging market demands an enjoyable user experience, that compounds as they share personal information. When a consumer opts-in and a brand immediately asks for a phone number and email, while practical, it is impersonal.
What’s trending right now is creating memorable, and more importantly, personal experiences for customers as their relationship with your brand grows. Modern brands are asking questions to expand the new relationship. They want to learn “How can I help you?”
One brand that exemplifies this shift to personalization is Stitch Fix.
Stitch Fix has personalization down to a science. They begin the experience with a personalized style quiz. Stitch Fix says right up front that the goal is “to create a style profile so your personal stylist can get to know you.” My personal stylist…How cool is that?
They ask you questions about everything from pattern and fit preferences, to what types of details you like, and what’s your go-to accessory style. This allows them to develop a unique monthly or quarterly gift specifically designed for you. 
If one, some, or all five items your personal stylist chose for you aren’t exactly what you’re looking for you can return them. And provide feedback on why the items didn’t work. Thus, improving your next curated collection.
If you wanted to refine your style profile further to ensure your collection every time, you can share your Pinterest board with your personal stylist.
Beyond the purchasing cycle relationship, Stitch Fix also has a content heavy blog. They post avant-garde fashion tips; they openly answer style questions from their community, all written by their team of personal stylists, to educate consumers on fashion trends.
So how does personalization transfer to your marketing plan? Katrina Lake, Stitch Fix founder, says it’s all about the experience you create for the consumer. Stitch Fix offers a personalized shopping experience from beginning to end that people naturally want to talk about and share with their network.
Personalized experiences can also be created through custom web pages that display different content based on each consumer’s purchase or search history; same with personalized product recommendations. And since just about everyone is on social platforms, companies can interact and engage with consumers on a personal level.
This does not mean the trend in retail is to start every consumer relationship with a quiz. The trend that is transforming retail right now is tailoring each prospective customer’s buying journey to their unique preferences. Personalizing an experience is a way of showing someone you are listening to them. Companies like Stitch Fix value taking time to listen and improve the consumer experience over all else and are seeing major rewards in emerging market loyalty.
