Every online store owner will have a time in his life when they will have a moment like this: somebody came to your online shop, had a look around and even purchased something. It feels great. However, there is a more difficult question afterwards: will they ever return?
The reality is that, the majority of them will not. It was not that your product was bad, but you have left them a feeling that they have no need to go back to whatever they encountered. In a world where people are 1000 clicks away to making a purchase, it is easy to get one to make a purchase once. Being able to make them reappear - that is the game.
And those brands that play that game successfully are united by one aspect: they are obsessed with customer experience.
What Customer Experience Means (It Has Got More Than a Nice Web Site)
Customer experience does not simply mean what your homepage looks like or how quickly your checkout will load - but these are important. It is the entire emotional process which a person undergoes with your brand, starting when they first see your advertisement to the time that they either have your product in their hands and all that follows.
All of the touchpoints count:
- Their curiosity to see what the ad is about had to make them click.
- So simple and quick to locate what they wanted.
- Did your product page in fact answer their questions?
- The level of ease (or discomfort) of the checkout.
- Whether their packet came on time as you said it would.
- What you did when something had gone wrong.
When all these moments are summed up in a positive way, something strong will occur- the customers will not think of you as an online shop anymore, they will think of you as their shop. The basis of loyalty is that change.
The easiest method to audit your experience is to pose three questions, through the eyes of your customer:
- Was it easy? Could they search, purchase and get what they desired without rub-a-dub?
- Was it enjoyable? Was it not only functional, but pleasant?
- Did it seem credible? Did they feel safe, at each step, giving their money and personal information?
When any of these comes up wanting, you are inviting a competitor to come and stroll in.
Why It Is Getting tougher (and more expensive) to Chase New Customers.
Read this as a wake-up call to most ecommerce businesses; it is much expensive to find a new customer as compared to retaining an old customer. There are estimates that the ratio is between five to seven times the cost of others. And with the cost of digital advertising ever rising, and consumer attention becoming more and more fragmented, that divide only grows.
In the meantime, a loyal customer does something that the new one is incapable of doing - he continues to appear without your necessarily paying to attract him back. They are converted more easily as they have already confidence in you. On average, their order value is more likely to be higher. And when they love you they spread the word, and create word-of-mouth that cannot be duplicated by any ad budget.
The slightest change in the customer retention, even 5% can make a disproportionate increase in revenue since you are not merely saving a customer, but an increase in the value of every dollar that the customer was willing to spend with you.
The calculations are not very difficult. Most businesses FAIL in the execution.
First Impressions: You Have 3 seconds.
Whenever a new visitor visits your site, he/she is making a snap judgment. Within a couple of seconds, they have already made their mind up as to whether this is a place they should explore or a place to jump ship. You do not have to tell them, just to show them your design.
This does not imply that your site should appear as though it was a 100,000 dollar site. It implies that it must be clean, credible and clear. A visitor must immediately know what you are selling and why it is worth considering and what you are to do.
Some of the things that would kill the first impressions like a bullet are:
- Web pages over 3 seconds to load (particularly on mobile)
- Disorganised designs with excessive details competing.
- Unspecified copy which does not clearly tell what you are selling.
- Popups that get discharged prior to an individual having a look around.
- Stock images that are unrelated to your brand and generic.
On the other side, a good design, straightforward value proposition and a page that loads quickly can leave one in an instant state of relaxedness - the very state of mind you want them in when making the decision to purchase.
Navigation That Gets out of the Way.
No one visits your shop in order to have fun with the navigation. They go there to find a particular thing, or to explore and see what they never thought they desired. It is your task to make both of them experiences painless.
Good navigation is intuitive- it simply works. The bad navigation is highly apparent, with the form of frustrated users who are unable to discover what they are seeking and go.
The following are some of the principles that are likely to make a difference:
- Always have a rational category structure. Do not form divisions that will make sense to you in your mind but which will not make sense to a customer. Imagine how a person will obviously explain what it is they are seeking, and create your framework around what they say.
- Make search really useful. The number of ecommerce sites where search can be done and provide irrelevant results or even crash on small misspellings is really surprising. Investing in a good search experience: autocomplete, filters, smart suggestion, etc. will pay off in a short time, particularly when dealing with larger catalogs.
- Minimize the number of purchases clicks. Any additional process between I want this and I have bought this is a chance to allow doubt to infiltrate. Streamline the path.
Selling Product Pages You Can Sell Yourself With.
Consider your product page the sales-person of your dreams - the one that is present 24/7 and who must provide all answers that a customer may have before he/she is comfortable to make a purchase.
These are the fundamentals; good pictures in various angles, an honest and clear description, price, size or choice of variant, and shipping details. However, there are the best product pages.
- Be more benefit-oriented, not feature-oriented. Features are the description of what something is. The reasons why it is important lie in benefits. One of its features is waterproof. The advantage is that it can be used in the rain without any concerns. Customers buy benefits.
- Allow your customers to talk. One of the most effective conversion tools that can be used by ecommerce brands is reviews and ratings. A product that has 200 reviews and a 4.3-star rating will nearly always win over an otherwise identical product with no reviews - since social proof dispels uncertainty. Bad reviews should not be concealed, either; a combination of positive and negative reviews actually makes it more credible.
- Speculate on questions by using a FAQ section. What are the most frequent causes of hesitation of people on this product? Provide answers on the page. Questions about size and fit, questions about the material, question about returns, compatibility questions, and similar questions, do it in the first place and see your conversion rate soar.
Personalization: How to make each customer feel like you created a store just for him or her.
The most enjoyable shopping experiences are personal — as though the store has some insight into what you are interested in. The silver lining is that with the current ecommerce tools this is more than ever possible even with small brands.
- Visited recently things remind customers of the point they had stopped and minimize friction on their way back.
- Recommendations based on browsing or purchase history as "you might also like" can raise average order value, as well as allow a customer to find out what they truly desire.
- One to one email messages that call on what one has viewed or purchased are more reminiscent of helpful service than mass marketing.
- The fact that you know and appreciate the relationship is demonstrated when you divide your promotions into segments which offer returning customers various incentives than those of first time visitors.
The implicit meaning of personalization is easy to understand: You have been heard. It is a sense that can create loyalty quicker than nearly anything.
Checkout: Good Intentions Go to Die.
One of the most annoying ecommerce metrics is cart abandonment since, it involves individuals intending to purchase something - and not doing it. And even the most usual causes are altogether avoidable.
Costs that are discovered on the final step. An obligatory account creation prior to purchase. There was a lengthy five-page checkout procedure. A form of payment that does not work well on a mobile. These are not trifles, but betrayers of trust.
An excellent checkout process is straightforward, clear, and speedy. Certain details that it is worth doing right:
- Early show all costs. In case of a shipping cost or tax, display it as soon as you can - preferably on the product page or cart. When it is not a deception, surprises at the last stage are deceptive.
- Make it mobile-first. Most of the ecommerce traffic is through mobile devices. When check out on a phone is cumbersome, you are missing out on a big chunk of your potential income.
- Have various payment options. Credit cards, e-wallets, buy-now-pay-later alternatives - various customers have various tastes. The higher the number of choices, the less reason someone will have to turn.
- Include a progress bar. Assuring customers that they are on step 2 of 3 will help them feel less anxious and will keep them going.
Shipping and Delivery: The Moment of Truth.
Whatever you invest in the experience of your customers on your web site, there comes a time when your customer walks off the screen and just waits. The way you handle that wait period is gigantic in influencing their repeat purchase.
The foe here is uncertainty. The customers may not require the quickest shipping speed, but they must be aware of what they are getting and they should receive it.
- Establish achievable time lines of delivery and exceed them.
- Proactive shipping notification.
- Be proactive in communication to customers.
- Provide valuable delivery options where feasible.
The After Sales Experience: At Which Loyalty is Really created.
This is a paradoxical point: the relationship with the customer is weakened in most cases following the acquisition than preceding it.
- The post delivery follow up emails can be as basic as inquiring whether all is received well.
- Ensure convenient reviewing.
- Surprise occasionally.
Returns: The Policy People Check Before They Buy.
- Ensure that your policy is accessible and comprehensible.
- Process refunds quickly.
- Get to know what returns.
Customer Support: It is not a Cost Center, a Brand Asset.
- Ensure that support is readily accessible.
- Enable your support team to go out there and find solutions.
- Track common issues.
Emotional attachment: The Loyalty driver that cannot be talked about.
- Be truthful with your story.
- Engage the community with your brand.
- Publicly recognize your customers.
Loyalty Programs: Rewarding the Right Behavior.
- The rewards are tangible and valuable.
- The program is simple to comprehend.
- It promotes the action which is beneficial to both parties.
- It does not only incentivize customers but makes them feel acknowledged.
Mobile Experience: It Is now the Standard.
No more mobile version of your store that is subsidiary to the desktop version.
Test on the actual devices.
Continuous improvement with Data.
- Analytics
- Heatmaps and session recordings
- Surveys and NPS scores
- Customer support tickets
9 Retention Killers.
- Over-engineering the design.
- Hidden fees.
- Ignoring negative reviews.
- Making generic irrelevant emails.
In summary: Experience Is the Product.
In the modern world of ecommerce, quality of the products and competitive prices are a given. They bring you into the game however, they do not win it. The total amount of experience which makes the customers feel understood, appreciated and actually well-serviced is what creates a long-term business.
Brands which are expanding are not those that have the largest budgets or most glitzy products. It is they who have prioritized their customers in each interaction, whether it is the initial ad view or the fifth repeat purchase, and thus see this as a chance to build trust.
