The Keys to Creating a Great eCommerce Customer Experience

Nowadays, shoppers have countless ways and places to buy goods and services. But their attention span is shorter than ever, so online retailers struggle to attract and retain their attention.

Research reveals that 53% of customers state that they no longer buy from an online store because they had a bad experience or found a competitor offering better services. The issue boils down to one factor; companies fail to understand the customer experience in eCommerce. People find it easier than ever to start an online store, they create a website, and that’s all. However, launching a successful retail business takes more than creating a website. To make sure clients know about their brand and come back, they need to put resources and effort into providing them with the best customer experience possible. 

Customer experience is defined by the methods by which a business communicates with its public at each step of the buyer journey. Considering that the eCommerce sector continues to clutter, retail stores need new ways to retain their clients. They can improve and maintain conversion rates by enhancing customer experience. This blog checks the main ways in which retail stores can improve customer experience. 

Provide easy mobile shopping

People nowadays use their mobile devices more than ever, so you should provide them with the opportunity to shop on the go. Design the website to be responsive to all devices or create an app for your retail business, so people can choose which option they prefer when engaging with your brand. It’s paramount to ensure that the customer service you provide to online shoppers is frictionless because they have plenty of options to choose from, and you don’t want the lack of responsiveness of your website to deter them from picking your website. 

A great idea is to create a survey to ask your visitors for their opinion if you should design an app they could use on their mobile devices, or if they prefer a responsive website. Provide a discount code for their next order if they fill out the survey. 

Build a community

Communities are crucial for online stores as they help them grow. A community is a group of people who love your products and would never choose one of your competitors. Your community is the end of what values your brand promotes, what it represents, and what it does. Its members are brand ambassadors for your products and services and convince other people to try and buy your products and services. 

Use social media to build and engage with your community because it’s essential to show them how much they mean to you, to encourage them to advocate for your brand. Ask them to leave reviews for products and rate your services to let prospects know how qualitative they are. 

Keep the online store secure

Websites have always been a common target of cyberattacks. Your website could be a treasure trove of personal and financial information about your customers for cybercriminals. You can face data and financial loss if your business is breached because your clients could claim compensation. Data breach victims often collaborate with companies like Data Breach Law to assist them in getting fair compensation, so you should protect your company from a compensation claim, or worse, a lawsuit. 

When running an eCommerce business, you must ensure that your clients data stay between you and the client only, and no third party processes or stores them. You are responsible for any breach of confidentiality if you let another party access your customers’ private data. 

Focus on navigation and website search

Your shoppers should be able to navigate your website easily. When you design the online store, limit unnecessary clicks and integrate features that prevent customers from losing their interest in your brand. Website developers recommend investing in high-quality site search technology to improve customers’ experience and enable them to find the item or service they’re looking for easily. Site search is one of the most neglected parts of the customer journey, and yet it impacts it the most. Search provides website visitors with a facile way to connect their intent with your content. 

Make checking out simple

Your clients don’t want to waste their time trying to figure out what steps they must follow to purchase products from your website. They want a simple and straightforward experience. One of the most important things online websites fail to do, which highly impacts customer experience, is making the cart process streamlined and effective. Your website visitors are trying to give you their money, but you need to make it easy for them to do it. So, create an easy-to-follow checkout process to help customers figure out where they are in their purchasing journey and what steps they have left. 

Ensure they can access the shopping cart in the final step to recheck the list of products and decide if they want to keep everything or add something new. Attention spans are quite short when it comes to online content, and if your clients find it takes more than three clicks to place an order, they may abandon the cart. 

Reduce abandoned carts

Statistics show that around 88% of shopping carts are abandoned over all sectors, globally. To improve eCommerce sales, you need to identify the obstacles that prevent your public from buying from your website. Do they think the checkout form isn’t reliable enough? Are they unhappy with your return policy? 

It’s recommended to offer several payment options from which your clients can choose. Also, allow them to decide how and when they want to receive the order because some people prefer to work with particular shipping companies. Contactless pickup and home delivery gained great popularity over the last few years. 

Also, you should know that sometimes shoppers forget their shopping carts, and you can remind them to recheck them by sending them a link directing them to their profile on your website. You can also provide them with a discount code to encourage them to place an order. 

Final words

The cutthroat competition in the retail industry makes it more challenging to attract and retain clients, so ensure you provide a top-notch customer experience to boost your chances to engage more prospects.