There are many definitions of the customer journey, all of which have varying degrees of validity. However, all of the best ecommerce retailers understand that the customer journey involves the specific behaviors that lead customers to a store, drive them to interact with products and make purchases, and motivate them to revisit the store and spend in the future.
Ensuring a pleasant customer journey is a critical component of whether or not an ecommerce retailer succeeds or fails. As a result, the following 6 tips are great ways to improve the customer journey and secure more profits for your business.
1. Go Mobile
Having a beautifully-designed, interactive website is definitely important when conducting business online. In fact, as many ecommerce platforms operate without a physical store location, the website essentially serves as the storefront and creates the first impression as to whether or not they will have a pleasurable shopping experience.
However, arguably more important than having a stunning website is having a top-tier mobile shopping app that allows customers to quickly and conveniently handle all of their shopping needs. Many modern customers will spend significantly more of their personal time on their mobile devices than on a desktop or laptop computer, with 85% of people stating that their mobile devices play an important role in their everyday lives.
Due to this infatuation with their cellphones, customers are more likely to shop while browsing on their phone than taking the time to sit down at a computer and shop. In fact, a 2019 study discovered that customers make 108% more purchases on apps than on websites and are willing to download an app for added convenience and features. Some of the reasons customers express for their increased willingness to shop via a mobile app include:
- Greater login convenience
- Saved searches and purchases for a more personalized shopping experience
- Better formatting to fit screens than website browsers that require significant scrolling and enlarging to effectively navigate
While the speed and convenience of mobile shopping apps are undoubtedly beneficial to the customer, their significance for the merchant cannot be understated, either. Some of the ways that mobile apps help increase profits over traditional website browsers include:
- Fewer abandoned carts. Some 70% of all online shopping carts are abandoned, with account login and creation required when purchasing via a traditional website being one of the main causes of turning online shoppers away
- More impulse purchases
- Easier to follow links to other products and build large carts
- Greater brand recognition by having the store’s app on the home screen of mobile devices
2. Provide Elite Customer Service
A recent study by Forbes revealed a stunning statistic: customer attention spans are decreasing by 88% every year, with most modern companies having less than 8 seconds to pique a customer’s interest sufficiently before losing them forever. In the modern ecommerce atmosphere, it is easy to add a shopify store locator or general search return field to fulfill a potential client’s need.
While having elite marketing and product offerings is obviously essential in capturing a customer’s attention, poor customer service is the most direct path to losing it. Although customers have more autonomy than ever in browsing for products, they usually need significant help in getting guided down the correct path. And even when customers think they know what they are doing, they often don’t. A whopping 30% of all online purchases are returned, compared to just 8.89% of those purchases made from physical storefronts.
Therefore, it is critical that ecommerce retailers be equipped with the best customer service infrastructure in the industry to handle customer concerns. While there is no doubt that automated features, such as chat bots, a robust FAQ section, and comprehensive video series is a great place to start in giving customers 24-hour support for their inquiries, it cannot be the only solution. Technology itself will not be able to answer every question, every time, and businesses increase their risk of customer defection if automated customer service options are not able to address their unique need. Some 67% of customers describe frustration with not being able to fully describe their issue through automated customer service channels, so it is critical that ecommerce businesses have a healthy mix of automated and live human resources to help address customer needs.
3. Keep Brand Image at the Forefront
As mentioned, customers have more control than ever in who they shop from, with a worldwide network of ecommerce suppliers just a click or swipe away from fulfilling their needs. With that, businesses must be more adroit than ever in their marketing and branding efforts in order to appeal to an increasingly discerning customer base. Some key issues and points of differentiation that matter to contemporary customers include:
- Climate change – customers want to see that the companies earning their business are following sustainable business practices
- Social justice – customers want to see that businesses support inclusion, diversity, and are representative of their society
- Interactivity – customers want to feel like they are a part of the company and their feedback is valued as part of the organization’s future
- Social proof – customers value businesses with a strong social media presence who can relate to them through their preferred channels of communication
- Safety – the COVID-19 pandemic really brought this to light, with 69% of customers wanting diverse offerings and multiple channels to help in this regard
- Personalization – modern customers want to feel like they have a unique, one-of-a-kind relationship with the company as opposed to being part of a nameless mass
While these well-defined customer expectations can make it easier for ecommerce businesses to find their niche, they must remain consistent to avoid alienating their client base. One misguided ad or a single cryptic social media post can cause businesses to lose millions of dollars worth of credibility, so it is critical that everyone from marketing to sales to service are all on the same page to achieve a unified brand that matches company–and client–expectations.
4. Cross-Sell When Possible
It can exhaust a business’ resources to locate, nurture, and sell to a new customer. Therefore, it is essential that customers leverage existing customers as much as possible.
A great way to achieve this is through cross-selling. Cross-selling is the process of offering complementary products and services that can build on or enhance the product the customer initially purchased, such as through warranties or customized accessories. Not only can cross-selling make each customer more profitable, but it can improve how a customer experiences a product, increasing the likelihood that they will offer a positive review or follow-up purchase.
5. Have a Delivery Infrastructure That is Second to None
There is no shortage of studies revealing the pressures modern businesses are under to provide free delivery. The National Retail Federation reports that 75% of surveyed consumers expect free shipping on orders, even for baskets less than $50.
The problem for most small businesses is that free delivery is not a sustainable practice. When paying for shipping costs out of their revenue, many businesses will quickly be forced to cease operations due to the missed profit targets. This has led to many companies looking for ways to soften the blow, such as increasing the price of products to offset delivery costs or offering incentives for customers to increase their order size to spread the shipping costs across more units.
While there is merit to these ideas, many companies are exploring ways to add efficiency to their supply chain. Statistics show that 53% of all delivery costs occur during the last leg of the journey, creating challenges for companies in getting products from the final warehouse to the customer’s doorstep. To help solve these complex last mile problems, businesses are increasingly partnering with third-party logistics firms. Using 3PL, businesses are pairing with trained professionals who have the most optimized delivery routes, ensuring that goods get to the consumer on time, in the right condition, for the best price possible for the business.
6. Make the Sale the Beginning of a Fruitful Relationship
Successful businesses understand that the purchase is just the beginning of the customer relationship. It is estimated that it is 5X less expensive to keep an existing customer than to establish a new one, so every effort should be made to keep a customer for life. Ways to accomplish this include soliciting and implementing their feedback, providing small thank you gifts for repeat customers, and interacting with them on social media.
The customer journey involves the actions and behaviors that lead customers to a store, drive them to interact with products, and make initial and repeat purchases. Having a strong mobile presence, providing elite customer service, fortifying brand image, cross-selling as much as possible, having an elite material delivery infrastructure, and nurturing an ongoing relationship are 6 great ways to improve the customer journey and earn more profits for your ecommerce business.
Greg Harris is a accomplished leader and consultant for various companies in the logistics industry. A former logistic consultant with extensive experience in solving difficult challenges in the logistics and supply chain management. Learn more about Greg’s work here.
Recent Comments