Thisiswhereecommercedevelopmentbeginstooverlapwiththeoperationalsideofyourbusiness.
Datacollectedoverthelastfewyearshasrevealedalotofusefulinformationthatcanbeusedtotailoryourecommercesitetotheneedsandexpectationsofyourcustomers.Herearesomeofthethingsthatonlineshopperslookforspecificallywhenmakingapurchase:
Thekeyheretoensurethatalloftheseelementsareaccessibleforusers.Thenumberoneruleofecommercedesignistoremoveasmanyobstaclesasyoucanfromthepurchaseprocess.
Whencustomersareunabletolocateakeypieceofinformationrelatingtotheirpurchasedecision,thiscreatesanunnecessarypinchpointinyoursalesfunnel.
Itmayseemlikeagiventhatconsumersexpectexcellentcustomerservice,butonlineshoppersexpectmorethanonewaytogetintouchwithyourbusinessiftheyneedto.Customersneedtotrustanonlineseller.
Makeyourcustomerserviceoptionshighlyvisibleonyoure-commercesite,andofferasmanyavenuestoreachsomeonefriendlyandknowledgeableasyoureasonablycan.Youneedtocoveravarietyofdemographics’expectationsandlevelsofdigitalliteracy.EspeciallyconsideryourInternationalvisitors.
Someshoppersprefertomakeaphonecallandspeaktosomeonedirectly,whileothersprefermakingcontactthroughemailorlivechat.Thesearealloptionstothinkabout-ifyouareofferingaphonenumbermakesurethatsomeonewillbetheretoanswerit.
BItisimportantthatyouhavesystemsinplacetokeeptrackofthecustomerservicerelatedinteractionsthatyouhavewithindividualshoppers.
Whileminimisingclutterinyourdesignisanecessity,it’salsoimportantforyourcustomertohavetheinformationtheymightneedonagivenpageataglance.
Additionally,itshouldbeaseasyaspossibleforuserstofindrelevantpagesonyoursite.Ingeneral,eachpageshouldbeaccessiblefromanyotherpagein1-2clicks.
Creatinganavigableecommercesitecreatesacoupleofextrachallenges.Foronething,customersarelikelytomovebackandforthbetweendifferentexperiences/productswhilethey’retryingtomakeadecisionaboutwhichtobuy.Customersmayalsowanttoreviewwhichitemsthey’veplacedintheirbasketsofar.
Thisrequiresutilisingdrop-downmenusfornavigation,orallowingcustomerstoviewthenumberofitemsandthecurrenttotalofwhattheyhaveintheircartfromanypage.Makesurethatanypotentialextracostsrelatedtoshippingordeliveryareoutlinedclearly.
Productpagesshouldconsistofahigh-qualityimageoftheitem,personalizationoptions,abriefdescription,priceandtheavailabilitystatus.Ifapplicable,listorlinktoreviewsfromothercustomers,aswellasrelateditems.
Readingotherreviewscanincreasethelikelihoodthatabrowsingshopperchoosestobuy.
Mobileshoppinghasseenatremendousamountofgrowthinrecentyears,withconsumersmakingpurchasesfromtheirsmartphonesortablets.Shoppersutilisingmobiledevicesdosobecauseofdiscountsorspecialdealswhichareavailablethroughmobilesources.
Manyonlineshoppersalsolookforsomekindofsocialmediapresence,particularlyFacebook,YouTubeandTwitter,fromonlineoutletsthatofferuniquedealstofollowers.Thisisalsoanexcellentwaytotargetrepeatcustomers
Customerswhohavemadeapreviouspurchaseonyoure-commercesitewillspendovertwiceasmuchtimeonarepeatvisittothesitethannewvisitorswill.Naturally,thismakesthemmorelikelytomakeapurchaseaswell.
Assuch,thebestwaytogrowyourecommercebusinessistofocusonyourcustomers’averagelifetimevalue(ATV).Essentially,thisisthetotalamounttheaverageuserspendsfromtheirfirstpurchasetotheirlast.
Thiscanbeimprovedbyimprovingyourcustomerretentionrate,sothatyourusersstayloyaltoyourbusinessforlonger.Alternatively,youcanmaintainyourretentionrate,andincreasetheaverageordervalueofyourcustomers,throughupselling.
Offeringsalesandspecialincentivestocustomersthathavepurchasedwithyouinthepastmakesthemmorelikelytocomeback.They’realsomorelikelytomentiontheirpositiveexperiencewithyourwebsitetootherpeople.
Thereareanumberofwaystodothis.
Oneistoofferuniquediscountswhichrewardcustomerloyalty.Youcanalsocreateareferralmarketingprogram,torewardcustomerswhorecommendyourproductstoafriendorrelative.