Isn’t it mind-boggling that the world of online shopping is expected to hit a whopping $6.4 trillion by 2024? – Oberlo
Gone are the days when online shopping was just a cool option – now, it’s the heartbeat of consumer culture.
Imagine this: you’re scrolling through a website, looking for that perfect pair of sneakers, and suddenly, a notification pops up with a recommendation that’s eerily spot-on. That’s the magic of a personalized online shopping experience, and we’re here to spill the beans on how to make it even better.
As businesses strive to distinguish themselves in this competitive landscape, one key tool that emerges is the retail feedback platform. This platform serves as a vital link between retailers and customers, enabling a more refined and enhanced shopping experience.
With this digital shopping frenzy in full swing, it’s high time we talk about something crucial: how to make your online shopping experience a total breeze. We’re not just talking about the usual stuff – we’ve got 9 juicy strategies up our sleeves that are backed by hard-hitting data and real-life tales of shopping triumphs. From mind-reading recommendations to seamless deals, get ready to upgrade your online shopping game.
1. Website Loading Time:
You must target to keep your website loading time 2-3 seconds or less; otherwise, your customer will jump off your competitor’s site. So, be fearful of that back button! The same goes for mobile users, where studies have exposed that approximately ⅔ of smartphone owners in the USA employ their phone to purchase something online.
Why is it important?
Websites that don’t launch within 2-3 seconds lead to a plummet in user satisfaction. The frequent abandonment of carts can measure this reduction. Approximately 51% of users in the USA pointed out that poor loading time is the biggest reason for cart abandonment. It implies that having a sluggish website reduces traffic and potential sales. But when you maintain the right loading time, it affects SEO; your website will be placed on the first page of the SERPs.
The biggest online retailer, Amazon, has demonstrated that every 100 milliseconds of delay costs them 1% in sales, and according to Walmart, they have seen increased conversion rates of 2% for every second to minimize load time.
What can you do about it?
In case poor mobile experience drives your customers away, you need to pay heed to these:
- Compressing images and text
- Verifying your website’s speed
- Mobile optimization
- Website design
2. Use SSL and HTTPS
HTTPS has become the primary industry norm for online safety. Hence, those e-commerce websites that keep using the conventional HTTP protocol might suffer negative repercussions and hazards to their online security. Moreover, previously, businesses employed HTTPS only for their payment gateways, which dealt with secret information.
Why is it important?
Because of the surging password safety issues, e-commerce store owners are transforming their sites with SSL certificates. It secures the payment areas and protects the other pages of the website. If your e-commerce website does not have one, you should buy a low cost SSL certificate from authorized resellers or reputed certificate authorities.
A study shows over 90% of online small enterprises are reportedly vulnerable to data breaches. Hence, you must account for the site security as it helps protect your customer’s data! Moreover, Google decided to flag websites to those who don’t have the padlock symbol in the address bar. If website owners don’t adhere to this norm, renowned internet browsers will penalize them by showing a “Not Secure” notification beside the URL.
What can you do about it?
You can add an SSL certificate to your website with the below-mentioned steps:
- Request your CSR, aka Certificate Signing Request
- Type the common name or URL
- Give the legally-registered name for your company
- City, state, and country name for your registered business
- CSR generation
- Set up your SSL by requesting it
- Crosscheck your SSL request
- Download the SSL files and install SSL
3. Cheer your customers up
To provide outstanding customer service, you must promptly, effectively, and pleasantly respond to your clients’ demands. In the retail industry, that can entail keeping in mind and valuing returning customers, establishing a local rapport with customers, using your product expertise to beneficial utilization, and more.
Why is it important?
Boosting the customer retention rate by 5% surges profits by approx. 25%, according to HBR. Ecommerce companies that perceive the significance of retaining customers work diligently to offer a top-notch customer experience to their existing shoppers.
For example, one brand that has mastered boosting customer service and support in retail is Zappos. By connecting and listening to their customer’s needs and fixing issues, this brand has created a positive customer-oriented working atmosphere that allows them to deliver a top-notch customer experience. Accenture surveyed that approximately 66% of customers shift their fidelity when encountering poor customer service.
But Zappos is regarded for its exceptional customer support, and they boast of an easy and generous return policy, letting customers return products within 1 year. This is how Zappos has established a committed and loyal customer base by concentrating on remarkable customer service.
What can you do about it?
You can cheer your customer by:
- Creating impactful loyalty programs
- Using cutting-edge technology to customize experiences
- Adding post-buying follow-up
- Using customer surveys and feedback
How can you retain your customers?
Some of the most delightful strategies for e-commerce stores to retain their customers are the following:
- Send swag items or complimentary gifts, for example, mugs, t-shirts, pouches, or keychains, to your dedicated customers.
- Give loyalty points after your customers buy redeemable products.
- Give your clients hand-made thank-you gift cards.
4. Deliver tailored customer experience
Everyone is living in the era of customization. But tailored emails are no longer serving the purpose! You must customize the shopping experience across the buyer’s journey regarding different variables. Utilize algorithms for recommendation to offer tailored product suggestions based on the user’s current location, past purchases, and surfing activity.
Besides that, e-commerce stores may use exit intent pop-ups, abandoned cart texts, and discounts to ensure that your customer experience game is adequate. As a crucial part of customization, your e-commerce website must sync with the local market.
Spotify is a one-stop music streaming library that employs AI to create an ultra-personalized customer experience. Thanks to artificial intelligence, every user of Spotify receives a customized listening pleasure that helps them stay on the service while remaining linked to peers and musicians. The popularity of Spotify is owed in large part to its customized playlists. In reality, tracks suggested by AI account for 30% of Spotify plays. This music streaming platform used three core AI technologies to propel its recommendation software: collaborative filtering, audio models, and NLP.
How can you do it?
These are the best strategies to deliver a highly customized customer experience:
- Create customer profiles
- Make a customer-oriented vision statement
- Train staff to be customer-facing
- Create a self-service experience
- Provide support via social media
- Amass and employ customer feedback
- Assess your service offerings daily
5. Always be there for your customers
Giving your consumers the option to get in touch with you immediately is a convenient way to improve the overall customer experience online. Installing an on-demand chat software for your customers is a requirement if you operate a web-based company. This live chat may give businesses instant feedback on their goods, prices, and website performance.
The Amazon crew has received recognition for the excellent customer service they deliver. According to a American Customer Satisfaction Index poll, as of 2019, approximately 80,000 consumers had positive experiences with Amazon. It has made it possible for the business to continuously rank at the top of a person’s list when considering a web-based shop or retail.
One of the best impacts of top-notch customer support of Amazon is Transparency and customer empowerment. These two successful techniques have helped Amazon become a household name in customer service. Amazon solely concentrates on product sales and looks for solutions to help customers make decisions while purchasing. Additionally, leaving comments on an item’s page is acceptable, providing customers with knowledge tailored to their preferences.
6. Demonstrate the trendy products to your customers
Bestsellers should be prominently displayed on your website for various reasons, not the least of which is to influence some customers through the persuasive nature of recommendation. Products nearly always gain popularity for a particular reason, whether related to utility, excellence, or patterns.
Your masterpieces have a good reason for being so popular. Even while novelties are alluring, buyers tend to gravitate to what other people have bought and recommended.
Multiple groups can get one representation of consumer data and react to the same discoveries thanks to Tableau for Salesforce Customer 360. One of its numerous advantages is its capacity to combine distinct purchasing patterns to obtain an accurate impression of a good’s demand. You may use Tableau to show data understandably so that the entire team can benefit from the findings. This information can be used to sell well-liked products to various target markets, providing better personalization and a higher return on investment.
7. Allow your customers to try on products virtually
You may be surprised to learn that 53% of customers report they have ceased making purchases from an online merchant because of an unpleasant experience or because another vendor provided more satisfactory service! Virtual try-on has become an absolute norm nowadays to boost the customer experience for online shoppers. This strategy helps customers see if the products look good on them or not.
Utilizing augmented reality technology, you may bring customers’ desires to life. Customers will buy with greater assurance and contentment if they can see precisely how their newly purchased furniture will fit in their home.
According to the most recent IKEA Life at Home study, more than 60% of consumers have had to adjust how their homes operate due to the pandemic, and 84% of consumers feel that having authority over their living environment is crucial. IKEA customers are also increasingly purchasing items for their dwellings through online retailers, and they wish to improve their shopping adventure with some of the enchantments they can find at IKEA virtual stores. Customers may easily and quickly design appealing, functional, and time-efficient places with the help of IKEA Kreativ. With this technology, IKEA has created a better life at home.
8. Upsell and cross-sell
Providing your clients with products that are suitable to their needs is an effective way to improve the online experience. Be careful not to overwhelm customers with unrelated items; instead, promote the things that will enhance their shopping basket. Make worthwhile incentives with a distinct CTA.
The regularity of your messaging needs to be taken into account because persistent upsells may drive away customers. You may bind individuals to your e-commerce site and turn them into regular clients by providing worthwhile discounts and complementary goods.
This retailer has leveraged cross-selling and up-selling via product recommendations:
With the help of secondary comprehensive shots and large, enticing imagery of goods, Gina Tricot does remarkably well. Other suggestions include items from a similar line, like pants and supplemental Style With “Styla med” items that happen to be carried by the identical model.
9. Know how your customers are feeling throughout their journey
Every day, brands alienate important, devoted clients. Highly successful companies use customer satisfaction statistics on CSAT Platforms to uncover buried chances for development to address this problem. After one adverse customer service encounter, 80% of customers will quit selecting your product over that of your rivals, revealed the latest HubSpot Research report. On the other hand, 86% of customers are prepared to fork over more for superior service. Therefore, you may retain customer fidelity by assessing and measuring vital customer satisfaction KPIs and discarding service-based pain points.
Making sure your consumers are happy at every phase, from their early understanding and appreciation of your goods and services until their initial buying, preservation, and campaigning, is essential to converting them into devoted, permanent brand supporters. Feedback has to be appropriate and fast. You can keep track of the level of customer satisfaction with the help of different KPIs. These are the KPIs to know how your customers are feeling throughout their journey:
- CSAT , aka Customer Satisfaction Score
- CES, aka Customer Effort Score
- NPS, aka Net Promoter Score
- Customer Retention Rate
Conclusion
Poor customer service can result in substantial losses in money. As customers gain additional authority, their demands will rise. Regardless of the extent of the company you own, having a suitable approach in place and putting the finest customer experience principles into practice allows you to boost conversion and fosters engagement and trust.
Author bio: Stefan Smith, Head of Marketing, brings 11+ years of marketing expertise. A visionary leader, he has sculpted impactful B2B and B2C campaigns, propelling brand growth. His innovative product marketing strategies set industry standards. A prolific thought leader, Stefan’s insights inspire through keynotes and articles.
