If you want to make your eCommerce more profitable and competitive, you need to provide potential customers with outstanding services meeting their expectations. What is eCommerce customer experience, and how can you improve it? Keep reading to discover 8 effective methods!
What is online customer experience?
In a nutshell, online customer experience denotes how your customers perceive your company, its activities, and its effectiveness. Online businesses with high CX usually have better recognition and attract more loyal customers. It’s natural that customers who like you continue to shop at your store and share it with others.
In the world of online shopping when every industry is extremely competitive, improving customer experience is a must if you want to stay in business. User expectations are constantly rising, so providing positive CX is a necessity that can help you gain a competitive edge over your market rivals.
Why should you care about online CX?
Are you wondering whether you should actually care about customer experience? If so, keep in mind that living up to the expectations of potential buyers may allow you to attract them to your store for longer. Moreover, it can have a positive impact on elements such as:
- customer loyalty,
- customer retention,
- brand recognition,
- customer lifetime value,
- brand equity,
- referrals and reviews.
All this will ultimately translate into higher revenues and greater development opportunities. As you can see, monitoring the e-commerce customer experience and doing your best to improve it can bring numerous benefits to your business.
Improving customer experience – 8 methods
How to improve the online customer experience? There are a few suggestions you can take into account:
1. Make a positive first impression
As you probably know, you can’t make the first impression twice. If potential customers encounter problems at the very beginning of their adventure with your store, they’ll probably choose your market rivals instead. Make sure that your website is intuitive and transparent. Troubleshoot potential errors and create a team of engaged employees willing to help customers if they send inquiries.
2. Analyze your e-commerce
As a business owner, you probably aren’t the most objective person. Evaluate your online store in terms of its design, and functionalities. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Is the design of the online store appealing and eye-catching?
- Are users able to easily find necessary products and information?
- Does the website load quickly and properly (also on mobile devices)?
- Is the page intuitive? Does it provide all the necessary information?
- Can potential buyers easily add products to the cart and continue their customer journey?
- Is shopping enjoyable?
- Is there any customer support?
3. Make your store intuitive and user-friendly
If you are wondering how to improve customer experience online, you should probably start with the basics, meaning your page design and transparency. To keep users on the website for longer and to encourage them to finalize transactions, make sure that both the shopping and checkout processes are intuitive. Nobody likes online stores that load for hours, and are filled with incorrect links, errors, or intrusive pop-ups.
4. Treat customers personally
Personalization is more vital than you think. Addressing customers directly when sending them newsletters or product offers is a great way to improve customer experience and show people that you care about details.
5. Provide support
Benefit from solutions like live chats, contact forms, or hotlines to ensure that potential buyers can always reach out to you when they’re in doubt. Try to answer their questions in a timely manner, as your competition never sleeps. Professional support can help you convince users that they should make a purchase at your store.
6. Adapt your website to mobile devices
The percentage of users who shop via mobile devices increases every year. We buy while commuting to work, or sitting on the couch and watching TV. Your website design should be responsive to guarantee that users who shop on smartphones and tablets are able to access all the necessary elements and navigate the page effortlessly.
7. Take care of customer reviews
Social proof is more powerful than you think. Improving customer experience isn’t possible without taking care of positive reviews written by former buyers. Encourage shoppers to leave comments when they finalize transactions, appreciate their feedback, and display the most comprehensive reviews on your website.
8. Make your return policy transparent and customer-friendly
When describing your terms and conditions, or return policy, use understandable language to ensure that everyone gets you right. Allow customers to return products for free, give them more time, and present yourself as an open-minded entity for whom customer satisfaction is of utmost importance.
The takeaway
Knowing how to improve customer experience will allow you to refine your website and business strategy so that it meets the expectations of potential buyers. Don’t wait and implement necessary changes to gain a competitive edge over your market rivals and to make your online store more profitable.
Want to learn how to measure customer experience? Check out the 10 metrics described on our blog!
