Nowadays, most people shop online. But does it always meet client satisfaction? Everything from household goods to electrical appliances is available on online shops.
Improving client satisfaction is critical for any business. Happy consumers are likely to shop again. Such customers are even more likely to invite their friends and family to buy things from a shop they prefer.
Providing an excellent shopping experience is the best way of keeping current and new clients. However, many firms do not know the correct way of making eCommerce shopping, fun, and enjoyable.
The Seven Steps to an Excellent Shopping Experience
It is not easy to get and retain customers. However, there are some things you can do to boost satisfaction rates among your clients.
Here are the seven main ways to provide a good presale and post-sale experience:
Have a welcoming system for new clients.
Most online shops these days prompt first-time shoppers to open an account. Ecommerce businesses require a system that welcomes their new clients once they sign up. Such consumers should receive a reception message acknowledging them for signing up.
It is essential that every client feels that your enterprise values and prioritizes them. New customers should get appropriate attention as well as help. Assisting buyers in their purchase process simplifies the whole purchase process for them.
New clients should receive a reception email as soon as they register into your customer base. Once the ecommerce firm gets the purchase order, an email should be on its way to the consumer.
Individualize the whole purchase experience.
Shoppers are diverse. Different people have different preferences. Ecommerce businesses should work towards offering a personal experience to each consumer. Communicate with the client on a personal level.
Firms can use several strategies to be closer to their shoppers; they include:
- Providing a platform where clients build an account containing all their information
- Addressing shoppers by their actual names
- Sending reminders on products they may like
- Using audiovisual emails and messages to appeal to the consumers
Using these strategies and others helps to pique the interest of the customer. Collect the information that you need. Communicate with them consistently, but do not overemphasize that you need a consumer to make a purchase.
Confirm all Orders.
Customers expect to receive “order confirmation” information as soon as possible. Some businesses tend to delay and keep the client in the dark when it comes to such information. Delays in a purchase request and shipping confirmation can frustrate clients.
You must ensure that all order confirmation happens quickly, and a notification reaches the client through multiple platforms. Details on the shipping time should reach the client on a real-time basis. If the tracking of the shipment is possible, then this information should be available to the customer.
Provide useful information relating to the products that you sell.
A significant way of improving client satisfaction is by giving helpful information on all your products. Details on how to use, maintain, and store products help consumers in understanding the best way to enjoy the merchandise.
Ecommerce businesses can create a blog on their main website that contains information on products that they sell. Tips and guides on the blog will help in increasing audience engagement.
Emails can also be a great way of giving useful data to buyers. Informational emails should reach the client immediately after they purchase a product.
Proceed with marketing and sale offers even during low seasons.
Some Ecommerce companies only flaunt offers during high shopping sprees. Firms assume that most sales happen during the holidays. However, this is not the strategy for a business looking to attract and maintain long-term buyers.
Although high sprees are a profit-making time, enterprises should strive to make sales throughout the year. Businesses should have personal bargains for their clients, such as flash sales and birthday offers. Business anniversary offers and clearance sales can also help in attracting customers to make purchases.
Create a loyalty system.
A loyalty system is a process in which customers get points or discounts for being faithful to a firm. Clients require to sign up to the system and earn points or discounts once they achieve a certain threshold. Loyal buyers can save money and get bonuses in the future.
Both the business and shoppers benefit from this system. Clients get cheaper purchases while the company receives additional sales that boost its revenue. Buyers do not have to wait for the festive season to make bulk purchases as they will earn points and discounts throughout the year.
Request for product feedback from the consumers.
Requesting feedback is something that many firms forget to do. Product feedback information can help improving client satisfaction. First of all, it shows that you care for the client’s needs. Second, it allows the business to understand the customer’s shopping experience.
Gathering information directly from the client is a sure way to refine the shopping process. It helps you identify the loopholes and mistakes hindering client satisfaction. Without feedback, it may not be possible for the business and its staff to know where they go wrong.
Since the customer is often right, their feedback helps in correcting errors that may affect future sales. A simple questionnaire or email can help in getting accurate responses on purchases. Businesses should never compel consumers to give them feedback. It should be a voluntary process.
Customer Support is King
The quality of your customer support—or how swift and helpful you are when a customer needs help— can impact client satisfaction.
Always be there to make the most of this second chance to correct any mistakes that happen in your ecommerce shopping process.
A poor experience, coupled with a lack of support, can be a major cause of customer churn, which is the direct opposite of client satisfaction.
Because your customer support agents meet directly with your clients, train them to represent you well in the various contact avenues—whether through a helpdesk platform or live chat feature.
In closing
Keeping consumers happy is an efficient way to keep them loyal to your brand. Improving client satisfaction can be confusing if you don’t know how to do it right.
But with a clear plan and strategy, it is possible to ensure that you make new customers and maintain old ones.