Posted by Erin Schroeder, Copywriter & Online Specialist

“It’s all about the customer” is a pretty common strategy among businesses, but recent trends point toward taking this mission even further with a more personalized approach.

We’re seeing it more and more often these days as companies tailor their sales efforts by target audience and work really hard to win over new and existing customers.

A great example is an e-mail offer I received from Old Navy last week.

I’m a bit old-fashioned in that I still do a lot of my shopping in-store even though I absolutely love the convenience of online ordering. The things that discourage me from filling up my cart at home: wondering if I’m getting the best price available, paying those extra shipping and handling fees and dealing with the hassle of returns.

So how perceptive would it be if a retailer addressed all of these things in a single email offer?

For starters, I had my choice among three sales (labeled a “DIY Deal” in the header – pretty clever, huh?). And instead of including only the standard sliding scale variety where savings are based on spending, Old Navy threw in an option of 30 percent off all regular-priced merchandise, too. (This was especially nice as I seem to be that person who ALWAYS gravitates to the one thing on the rack that’s not marked down.)

Plus, in addition to the DIY deals and good prices, I was greeted by messages about free shipping with a minimum order and free returns on all orders.

Bingo! As I scanned this glorious email and itched to start browsing the online catalog a.s.a.p., I realized that Old Navy hit everything on my checklist, and I felt as though the email was written just for me.

This is the exact effect retailers and other businesses are shooting for today in their quest to cater to the individual instead of the masses.

The bottom line?

The more we pay attention to our customers’ wants and needs and do our best to deliver on them, the better chance we’ll have in making the sale.