8 Sure-shot Ways to Improve Ecommerce CX that Builds Lasting Relationships

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eCommerce help desk

Is your competitor’s e-commerce business climbing up every week, and you’re trying to find the secret sauce behind it?

Do you know what’s really making all the difference? Yes, the products they sell. But of course you know the way they treat their customers. The experience begins from the very beginning when they start interacting with the business.

According to a study, 86% of customers are ready to pay more if they’re happy with the service. In other words, a good customer experience can bring more customers to your business who will stay with you for a longer period of time.

To win the heart of customers, you need to provide them with a clear, simple, and hassle-free customer experience (CX). 

So, today  we will discuss how to improve your ecommerce customer experience. Before delving deeper, let’s get a brief idea about what customer experience is. 

What is customer experience?

To be precise, customer experience is the customers’ perceptions of how your online ecommerce business treats them. It entails every interaction between your business and the customer. Customer experience captures how they use your service/product, their interaction with self-service options, their feeling while they browse your website, etc. 

Customer experience is comprised of three things-

  • Customer service– It includes customer success, customer support, and self-service support. These are the touchpoints when one customer interacts with the team.
  • Technology– This is how your product works and its related interactivity points.
  • Design– This entails the design, marketing, and feelings your brand creates for a customer. 

Ways to improve customer experience 

Is building an excellent customer strategy a culture of value, or it’s a simple series of strategies?, the latter is important for your business. However, giving respect to the customers’ values will stand as more effective as the customers will have an amazing experience regarding your product/service.

From eCommerce ticketing system (for resolving an issue) to tracking orders with real-time tracking, there are a plethora of ways to improve the customer experience. Here you go- 

1. Personalize the customer experience 

Personalization is not confined to putting customers’ names on emails and sending them newsletters weekly. Ads, product offers, and other deals should also be relevant to the user. Otherwise, they will lose interest in your product/service. It may happen that they will opt for other options, which means you lose that customer. 

Personalizing customer experience examples 

According to an ebook, retailers who spent their precious time personalizing their website have spectated 15% better sales in their final sales revenue report. You can do it by doing these-

  • To provide users with clear and effective information about product delivery and shipping charges, you can use geolocation. 
  • Capture the product-browsing history of your customers. Based on that, present them with a list of recommendations. A CRM or customer relationship management software will be helpful in performing the task efficiently. 
  • Based on the customers’ interest, offer exciting discounts for a limited time. This will create a sense of urgency in your customers’ minds. 
  • Send a customized message with every purchase. 
  • Ask the feedback about using the product/service. 

2. Make your website user-friendly

If the customers are redirected towards a poorly designed e-commerce website, you will lose your first impression there. In turn, it will influence their decision whether they will participate in the entire buyer’s journey or not. Your website won’t be great in terms of providing a good customer experience if it lacks- 

  • Slow site speed
  • Lack of proper navigation
  • Lack of advanced product filter options
  • No product categorization 
  • Doesn’t have compelling CTAs

How to create a user-friendly website?

Creating a user-friendly website will not only make the customer experience better, but it will also impact your overall sales. In turn, you can expect a hike in sales percentage. Here’s how you can make your website user-friendly-

  • Keep the content simple
  • Make the mobile version easy to navigate 
  • Balance the whitespace 
  • Use legible fonts 
  • Improve the website’s load speed
  • Clear the bugs in a regular interval 

3. Seamless checkout experience 

A complex purchase process can lead to cart abandonment. Simple and clear checkout process is one of the great perks while shopping online. Buyers want an uncomplicated and stress-free buying experience. According to a survey, customers find themselves strenuous while filling out the same information again and again on a checkout page. 

On that note, a seamless checkout experience would eliminate the last-minute hassles for your customers. 

How can you create a better checkout experience? 

  • Include checkboxes
  • Give a clear overview of the product 
  • Allow multiple payment gateway options 
  • Enable guest checkout option 
  • Ensure cross-device functionality 
  • Explain the timeline of shipping 
  • Eliminate unnecessary distractions during the checkout 

4.  Optimize your website for mobile 

According to a report, 65% of e-commerce traffic comes from mobile devices. Therefore, you need to optimize your ecommerce website for smartphones. 82% of the visitors will leave the site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load the site. 

How to optimize an e-commerce website for mobile?

  • Make the mobile version simple and clear for a seamless operating experience 
  • Make sure all the buttons and links are working properly 
  • Ensure the website is loading quickly 
  • Incorporate intuitive checkout processes 
  • Avoid invasive ads and pop-ups
  • Eliminate heavy content 
  • Avoid autofill and scrolling fatigue 

5. Build attractive product pages 

Product pages are the heart of your eCommerce website. You showcase your products here and their related details. Your product page should be appealing to your customers. It must have captivating visuals, descriptive copy, and clear navigation. All these elements on the product page will make it comprehensive for the buyers. Handle client inquiries from many channels – in one location-with eCommerce help desk to ensure prompt resolution and increased satisfaction.

How can you make your product page attractive? 

  • Use high-resolution product images
  • Show clear pricing 
  • Ensure that there are persuasive CTAs. 
  • Write descriptive product descriptions
  • Provide product descriptions
  • Make sure the content is SEO-optimized. 

6. Provide fast and free shipping

Free shipping options could be like the “cherry on the cake top.” It could help your business by winning the hearts of your potential customers. According to a report, 82% of customers prefer free shipping rather than spending bucks for the same. On top of that, fast and free shipping would make your business more profitable as the customers will place more orders. 

How do your customers know about delivery status? 

  • For a better customer experience, you can enable the options like email, text messaging, and call lists. 
  • You can send different notifications that entail order processing, shipping, in-transit, and out-for-delivery
  • Display the estimated delivery date and time. 
  • Customizing the notifications will help your customers to detect the message quickly. Also, they will read the same with great interest. 

7. Engage your customers across multiple channels 

Interacting through multiple channels with customers could be the cornerstone of receiving more potential leads. Not only that, users will interact with your brand through various touch points. It includes a website, social media platform, live assistance team, and in-store team. So, if the customer has any queries, they can resolve them, as there are many channels. It is also known as omnichannel marketing. 

How to deliver a superb omnichannel customer experience? 

  • Identify your customer needs and serve them through various touch points. 
  • Onceknowabout your customers’ needs, map out the buyer’s journey and act accordingly. 
  • Make sure your content is optimized as per devices. 
  • You should offer omnichannel customer support to interact with your customers at various touchpoints 
  • If you have any physical store, place the same in the omnichannel cycle. 

8. Provide product support 

As there are numerous customers purchasing products online, they will need customer support to resolve issues. Providing the same will make your store more authentic and reliable. Therefore, you will be a step closer to building a great customer experience that benefits your business. 

How would you provide excellent customer support? 

  • Listen to your customer queries and solve them accordingly
  • Communicate clearly
  • Be honest if things go wrong 
  • Show your customers empathy
  • Go the extra mile 
  • You can integrate e-commerce customer support software into your existing CRM. It will help to detect technical issues quickly and efficiently. 

Reviewing the top takeaways 

  1. Building trust and connection with your customers are the cornerstone of improving customer relationships. 
  2. Bear in mind that a mobile-friendly e-commerce website will help you get the maximum traffic when browsing your website across various devices. If the user is satisfied with the mobile view, chances are higher that they will purchase from you. 
  3. Personalizing the customer experience will help to win the customers’ minds, as a significant percentage of them wants something unique based on their needs. 
  4. Finally, resolve your customers’ queries at their earliest stages. Therefore it will help to build a solid relationship between you and your customers.