Providing customers with a satisfying ecommerce experience has never been more important.
However, many businesses focus more on snappy design and what they need — instead of what’s important to the customer, helps to improve the experience, and encourages customers to return.
Below, we take a look at how you can provide an exceptional customer experience.
What is customer experience?
From discovering your business through to purchase and beyond, the customer experience takes place at every part of their journey.
In the world of ecommerce, competition is tough and new competitors spring up daily. This makes the customer experience more important than ever.
Why is it important for ecommerce?
PWC’s Future of CX
study in 2018 found that for 73% of shoppers, experience plays a huge part in their purchasing decision — just behind price and product quality. In fact, 65% of US customers found a positive shopping experience more influential than great advertising.
In the highly competitive ecommerce market, providing a positive experience is key to ensuring you don’t lose sales, while increasing conversion rates and repeat customers.
Even when consumers love a company or product, 59% walk away after several bad experiences
, while it only takes one bad experience for 17% of customers.
How can online retailers create a good customer experience?","nodeType":"text"},
This is why you need to provide a service that goes above and beyond at every step of the journey, which can be done through:","nodeType":"text"},
· ","nodeType":"text"},Navigation - ","nodeType":"text"},
making your online store easy to navigate will allow customers to find products they want quickly through categorization and filtering. 80% of customers
abandon purchases because of bad website navigation.
· ","nodeType":"text"},Speed - ","nodeType":"text"},
check your pages regularly to ensure they’re loading properly. If pages take more than 3 seconds to load, up to 53% of potential customers
will abandon the page.
· ","nodeType":"text"},The checkout - ","nodeType":"text"},
From guest checkouts for convenience to a range of payment options, such as PayPal or Klarna, this will make the experience easier. Don’t force people to create an account here, as many shoppers will abandon their basket – 43% of US shoppers
won’t give personal information to companies.
· ","nodeType":"text"},Helpful content - ","nodeType":"text"},
shoppers need as much information as possible. 65% research products beforehand
, highlighting the need for informative and helpful blogs, guides, and video content.
· ","nodeType":"text"},Providing reviews - ","nodeType":"text"},
Similar to the above, utilise your reviews to help build trust and credibility with your customers.
· ","nodeType":"text"},Human contact - ","nodeType":"text"},
Customers want to speak to people, and 59% of customers
feel companies have lost the human touch, and while chatbots are available, over half of customers
said they can cause frustration. So, make access to a real person simple if it’s needed.
· ","nodeType":"text"},Shipping - ","nodeType":"text"},
Getting the product to the customer on time is a huge part of their experience. 75% of customers now expect free shipping
, with 85% saying they prefer this over fast shipping; however, they still expect it within seven days.
· ","nodeType":"text"},Copy - ","nodeType":"text"},
Use simple and effective copy to sell the product in language that’s easy to understand for everyone.
· ","nodeType":"text"},Coupons - ","nodeType":"text"},
Helping to drive traffic and bring in new customers, 96% of consumers
have used coupons in the past 90 days. However, make sure they work as this can lead to abandoned baskets.
How does your ecommerce platform affect customer experience?
The fastest ecommerce sites load in around 0.5 seconds, and as we mentioned earlier, anything over three seconds can cause customers to leave.
The speed of your website will become more important as we move forward, with Google incorporating Core Web Vitals
, which includes site speed, into their search rankings. Online stores built on bloated and slow legacy platforms are likely to find themselves dropping down organic rankings as a result.
Opting for a fast, lean, and extensible platform like Aero lets you create the store you require. It gives you the option to link to the best third-party services, whether it’s a scheduling platform like Hootsuite, or a blogging platform like WordPress to provide informative and helpful content to customers.
The right ecommerce platform should also allow continued access to the backend of your store. This will enable you to customise URLs and copy to ensure excellent SEO, making you more visible in search rankings.","nodeType":"text"},{"data":{},"marks":[{"type":"italic"}],"value":"
Working with Aero
Aero was built with the end user — your customers — in mind. That means it’s fast, easy to navigate and simple to check out. As a retailer you also have the power to customise your store, to make the customer journey a brand experience to remember.
To find out more, get in touch
with the Aero team today.
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