The pandemic has changed the way we shop online. McKinsey, 5 years after the COVID-19 pandemic, found in their report that the behavioral habits consumers developed during lockdown have become “sticky” and are now part of their everyday expectations. Simply put, consumers now demand not only the convenience of technology but a seamless, personalized, and frictionless experience across all touchpoints.
This evolution of preferences has put pressure on retail brands to innovate urgently. Alla Nikolus, an experienced Product Analyst and Senior Data Scientist, helps brands make decisions and transform online sales using data analytics. In this article, the expert shares her strategies for adapting sales flows to meet the needs of modern users.
Mapping the Customer Journey Through Data
“I see the customer journey not as a straight line, but as a complex network of interactions across digital touchpoints. Keeping this in mind makes it easier to integrate behavioral analytics into my work,” says Alla Nikolus, Senior Data Scientist, when speaking about mapping the customer journey. She has applied behavioral analytics to leading retail brands, uncovering hidden obstacles in the purchasing process. For example, Alla analyzed clickstreams, heatmaps, and session recordings to identify exactly where users abandoned their purchases.
One such case involved a checkout funnel where a multi-step process led to unnecessary drop-offs. Through structured A/B testing, Alla introduced simplified solutions that reduced friction and significantly increased conversions. “Customer frustration → data analysis and testing → actionable solutions — this is the flow every modern brand should embrace,” she emphasizes.
Alla also leverages data from multiple channels to build a unified customer view, as web sessions, mobile apps, email campaigns, and loyalty programs merge into a single stream of information, creating a comprehensive picture of customer behavior. At Macy’s, she combined loyalty program data with transaction data to segment customers and identify when and why engagement declines after initial purchases. This enabled her to develop personalized retention strategies that encouraged customers to make second, third, and subsequent purchases.
She is confident that only an integrated approach to multi-channel data can expand boundaries and deliver a truly holistic view of customer behavior. Brands that adopt such a strategy will be able to anticipate customer needs and design new solutions for retention in the near future.
Optimizing Conversion with Experimentation and Personalization
Another area where Alla Nikolus has made a significant impact is conversion. She achieves this through a combination of experimentation and personalization grounded in data analysis.
The data scientist never rolls out major new features without A/B testing. Nikolus applied this method before approving checkout flow redesigns and CTA placement adjustments for other product departments. One such initiative involved simplifying the checkout process: Alla tested different layouts, button placements, and other interface elements to determine the optimal solution. The update, launched only after testing, reduced checkout complexity and increased the number of completed transactions. “Facts, facts, more facts — not assumptions. Otherwise, your product will have an uncertain outcome built on uncertain ideas,” says Alla Nikolus.
As noted before, personalization has become a defining expectation for modern consumers. People don’t just want “convenience”, they want experiences tailored to them. Data analytics plays a crucial role here as well. Nikolus analyzes behavioral and transactional data to customize product recommendations, delivery options, and promotional offers. In one case, she identified that a major brand’s loyalty program saw declining transaction rates after the first purchase — customers would buy once but rarely return. By testing several targeted offers, she successfully reignited customer interest and boosted repeat online orders.
“Testing is essential to ensure that new features integrate seamlessly. Personalization, too, is achieved in part through continuous experimentation,” says data scientist Alla Nikolus. Brands that embrace data analytics will be better equipped to adapt more quickly to evolving customer demands and shifting market conditions.
Reducing Returns and Increasing Loyalty Through Predictive Analytics
Another way to use data in retail is to predict customer behavior. Alla Nikolus uses her methods for this purpose: analyzing historical purchase patterns, comparing the effects of loyalty programs, and identifying interesting patterns and strategies. For example, predictive analytics helped Nikolus identify the risk of returns for certain products because customers had previously abandoned them at the checkout stage.
Loyalty program data has also become a source of customer retention. It allowed her to segment customers into groups and develop special, personalized offers for each group. The result is increased repeat purchases.
Using these methods, Alla helps brands resolve issues that may seem socially motivated, but are actually related to technically optimizing the product for consumer needs.
Building a Data-Driven Retail Future
Retail’s future is closely tied to companies that utilize data as the foundation for all their decisions, rather than as an additional tool. Businesses that incorporate analytics into their customer engagement, loyalty, and product development strategies see increases in customer satisfaction and profitability. More competitiveness is ensured through ongoing optimization, experimentation, personalization, and prediction.
According to Alla Nikolus, “Data-driven thinking is about building agility to tackle tomorrow’s challenges, not just about solving today’s problems.” Brands that adopt this strategy will gain their customers’ long-term trust in addition to experiencing faster growth.
Rashan is a seasoned technology journalist and visionary leader serving as the Editor-in-Chief of DevX.com, a leading online publication focused on software development, programming languages, and emerging technologies. With his deep expertise in the tech industry and her passion for empowering developers, Rashan has transformed DevX.com into a vibrant hub of knowledge and innovation. Reach out to Rashan at [email protected]
