The Evolution of E-Commerce Personalization: 5 Shifts to Power Your Brand’s Next Chapter
Personalization is no longer optional. It’s a customer expectation.
But innovation has slowed in surprising ways. Through Mastercard Dynamic Yield’s personalization maturity studies over the last three years1 we are highlighting five shifts shaping the landscape - and how your brand can turn them into opportunity.
1. Make Personalization a Core Priority
Half of companies don’t have a dedicated personalization team.
The opportunity: Brands that treat personalization as a function - not a project - see more sustained results.
Action: Assign ownership. Build or borrow a dedicated team to ensure continuity and ROI.
Maze can act as an extension of your team, filling the talent and bandwidth gap.
2. Build Smarter Processes for Stronger Outcomes
Brands have doubled down on efficiency - 65% now turn test data into actionable insights, up sharply from 2023.
The opportunity: Solid processes are becoming the backbone of successful programs, enabling brands to move faster without unlimited resources.
Action: Codify your testing and learning. Document, circulate, and share results so every team benefits.
Maze accelerates this by installing proven frameworks from day one, so you quickly generate insights that drive continuous improvement.
3. Unify Audiences to Amplify Impact
67% of companies still lack a single, unified audience strategy.
The opportunity: Breaking silos and aligning on one customer view creates the foundation for true omnichannel personalization.
Action: Adopt one segmentation strategy. Ensure every channel and team maps to the same customer view.
Maze builds shared audience frameworks that unlock omnichannel consistency. Our cross-functional approach ensures marketing, merchandising, and customer experience teams work from the same playbook.
4. Activate Data to Unlock Everyday Value
66% of brands use multiple data sources, yet 41% struggle to fully act on them.
The opportunity: Collecting data is no longer the challenge - operationalizing it is.
Action: Activate, don’t just collect. Build systems that make customer data usable in daily decision-making.
Maze connects CRM, offline, and behavioral data into actionable profiles that fuel personalization.
5. Elevate KPIs to Drive Strategic Growth
45% of companies now set clear KPIs, but only 25% tie them directly to business goals.
The opportunity: When metrics align to enterprise outcomes, personalization earns stronger investment and leadership support.
Action: Tie KPIs to growth levers. Connect metrics to retention, LTV, and revenue growth to demonstrate clear ROI.
Maze connects personalization metrics directly to business outcomes through strategic KPI frameworks that demonstrate clear ROI.
The Path Forward
The brands that win don’t just collect data or run isolated tests - they build the structures, systems, and strategies that unify their efforts and prove business impact.
What leading brands are doing now:
- Making personalization a core function, not a side project.
- Aligning on one customer view across every channel.
- Operationalizing data so it drives everyday decision-making.
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Elevating KPIs that link directly to growth.
By embracing these shifts today, brands position themselves to thrive in the AI-powered future of personalization - where every decision can be amplified, and every customer interaction can drive exponential value.
And Maze can help you get there.