“It’s estimated that there will be 2.05 billion global digital buyers in 2020.”
– Oberlo
This is about 25% of the world’s population – there’s never been a better time than now to start your very own e-commerce store. There are quite a few important components to ensure your online store is successful, and one is customer experience.
57% of online shoppers say they’ve stopped buying from a merchant because of a bad experience, or a competitor that offered a better one.
– BigCommerce
It is important to ensure your online store visitors experience is seamless from start to finish on both mobile and desktop browsers – and with so many companies moving online, your audiences have more than just your online store to choose from. Every interaction matters – from the emails you are sending to the layout of your products.
Benefits of considering your customer’s online experience
One of the largest benefits of considering your customers experience is strong customer retention and loyalty. It is vitally important to gain loyal customers, as according to statistics from BigCommerce, “The success rate of selling to existing customers is 60–70%, compared to a 5–20% success rate with new customers.” When you’ve gained this type of customer, they will begin to start sharing their positive experiences about your brand – both online and with family and friends. The means free advertising for your business because you’ve considered your customers’ experience.
In addition, did you know that it can cost up to five times more to acquire a new customer than to sustain relationships with your existing. What are you doing to ensure your client isn’t just a buyer, but a raving fan?
Tactics for great online user experience
1.
Know your customers – Provide platforms for your customers to give their feedback on so that you can gain valuable customer data to improve your website experience. Google Analytics is also a great way to find out more about who your customers are, their preferences and behaviour on your site.
2.
Make your products easily accessible – Integrate product categorisation and product filtering to make it as easy as possible for your visitors to find what they are looking for. This can be done through categorising and filtering your products according to colour, gender, items, occasions or brand.
3.
Build great product pages – Provide a balance of information and graphics to ensure the visitor is not overwhelmed, but receives the necessary information to make the purchase right away. Build your story to keep your audience on the edge of their seats in anticipation for the next piece of information! This can be done when introducing a new product or service offering or creating a climax for the competition you’re about to announce. Instead of just introducing the product, share an interesting fact, statistic or a new feature to leave your audience in anticipation for the next release of information.
4.
Solicit customer feedback and highlight reviews – Customer reviews help to gain trust, especially from first time buyers, this can persuade or deter the visitor from making the purchase.
We hope this has helped to explain why your customer’s experience on your e-commerce website can literally make or break your business. It’s not a quick fix but a constant journey of tweaking what’s working to make it better and changing what’s not working or pushing people away.
If you’re serious about your e-commerce business and prepared to invest in the long-term then we welcome you to get in touch so we can help you on his exciting journey!
