The Power of Product Recommendations: 30 Must-Know Statistics

If not, you are unfortunately leaving lots of cash on the table 😢. Today, product recommendation engines are one of the most common and effective approaches deployed by leading online retailers to deliver relevant customer experience and drive sales.

"Product recommendation engines analyze data about shoppers to learn exactly what types of products and offerings interest them. Based on search behavior and product preferences, they serve up contextually relevant offers and product options that appeal to individual shoppers — and help drive sales."

- Salesforce

A powerful recommendation engine, like Clerk Recommendations, is smart enough to meet customers’ needs and demands, and it is designed to drive engagement, improve conversions, boost sales and increase profits.

The proofs?

Here're 30 latest product recommendation statistics and trends that will help your e-commerce business convert more customers and sell more products in 2022.

The state of e-commerce recommendation engines

1. The recommendation engine market is expected to reach USD 15.13 billion by 2026, and it was valued at USD 2.12 billion in 2020, registering a CAGR of 37.46% during the period of 2021-2026.

2. As product display can influence online shopping behaviors, around 71% of e-commerce sites offer product recommendations. The number is even higher in Nordic countries: 90% of shoppers reported finding recommendations on the homepage of e-commerce sites.

3. Although product recommendations should be placed everywhere across the e-commerce site for maximum effectiveness, many online retailers are not doing so. According to a study conducted in the Nordic countries in 2021, 81% of shoppers reported not finding any recommendations on the product listing pages (search results or category pages) of e-commerce sites.

The impact of product recommendations

4. 54% of retailers claimed that product recommendations act as the key driver of the AOV (average order value) in customer purchase

💰 After implementing Clerk’s recommendation engine, Natural Baby Shower experienced 21% increase in AOV and 31% increase in basket size 🔥 Check out the full case study and video story right here 📚📹.

5. Research from Salesforce shows that shoppers that clicked on recommendations are 4.5x more likely to add these items to their cart and 4.5x more likely to complete the purchase.

6. A study by Monetate set out to quantify the sales impact on product recommendations. They compared shoppers who saw a recommendation but didn't engage with those who engaged with a recommendation. The research found that shoppers who engaged with a recommended product had a 70% higher conversion rate during that session.

7. Even shoppers who clicked on a product recommendation but didn't buy anything had higher engagement rates. These shoppers were 20% more likely to return to the site later.

8. Shoppers that clicked a product recommendation are nearly 2x more likely to come back to the webshop: 37% of shoppers that clicked a recommendation during their first visit returned, compared to just 19% of shoppers that didn’t click a recommendation during their first visit.
   
   
   ‍
9. ‍Salesforce Research found that product recommendations account for only 7% of e-commerce traffic but make up for 24% of orders and 26% of revenue.
   ‍
   ‍
10. 49% of consumers said they have purchased a product that they did not initially intend to buy after receiving a personalized recommendation.
    
    ‍
11. Personalized product recommendations are estimated to account for more than 35% of purchases on Amazon.
    
    ‍
12. Product recommendations can account for up to 31% of e-commerce revenues.

Personalization: the top trend in e-commerce product recommendations

12.89% of digital businesses are investing in personalization. These companies include big names like Coca-Cola, Netflix, Sephora, Fabletics, USAA, and Wells Fargo.

14. As per Accenture’s recent study, 91% of consumers say they are more likely to shop with brands that provide offers and recommendations that are relevant to them.
    
15. 72% of consumers say that they only engage with personalized content.
    
16. According to Salesforce, consumers are more than twice as likely to view personalized offers as important than unimportant … and 52% expect offers to always be personalized!
    
17. Personalized homepage promotions influenced 85% of consumers to buy.
    
18. Personalized shopping cart recommendations influenced 92% of shoppers online to make a purchase.

Here’s an example of how Munk Store utilizes Clerk Recommendations to increase cross-selling activities:

Munk Store’s customers love these personalized product suggestions, as up to 58.8% of them buy products via recommendations powered by Clerk.

19. And a lot of customers are willing to share their data for a personalized experience: As Accenture’s recent study shows, 83% of consumers are willing to share their data to create a more personalized experience.

20. According to Harvard Business Review, consumers are 40% more likely to view items that are recommended based on the information they’ve shared with the brand.
21. Personalization matters not only to individual shoppers but also to business buyers. Studies found that 73% of B2B buyers want personalized experiences, similar to the B2C-like customer experience. For instance, Carlsberg leverages Clerk Recommendations to optimize B2B e-commerce customer experience, and the results are amazing:

22. In fact, 98% of marketers say personalization advances customer relationships. In particular, 55% of marketers say the top benefit of personalization is increased visitor engagement and improved customer experience.
    
23. Salesforce Research surveyed 15,600 consumers and business buyers globally. In this research, 84% of consumers say being treated like a person, not a number, is very important to winning their business.
    
24. More happy customers = more sales. Marketers see an average increase of 56% in sales when they use personalized experiences.
    
25. Companies using advanced personalization report a $20 return for every $1 spent. Yes, that’s a 2000% ROI!
    

Bad personalization can hurt your business!

26. 74% of consumers are frustrated by website content that isn’t personalized.
    
27. Worse still, 66% of consumers say encountering content that isn’t personalized would stop them from making a purchase.
    
28. Your poor personalization efforts may result in losing customers to your competitors. As 47% of consumers check Amazon if the brand they’re shopping with doesn’t provide product suggestions that are relevant.

Last but not least, here’re two more pro product recommendation tactics:

29. Don’t forget to integrate personalized product recommendations in your marketing emails. 📧 With 81% of online shoppers surveyed saying they would be likely to make a purchase, and perhaps additional purchases, after receiving a personalized product recommendation marketing email.

30. Nearly 90% of customers do research before making a purchase. In this case, you can use Clerk’s Content Recommendations to help your customers with their product research and turn your blog into a profit center.
    
    

After reading all these research-backed statistics, are you excited about deploying personalized product recommendations to convert more customers and sell more products? If yes, get started by talking to one of our specialists today 👨💻👩💻: