How to Delight Your E-Commerce Customers

by skyje · May 16, 2017

Even the simplest act of delighting one’s customer has an enormous impact on them and for the business. Going the extra mile doesn’t mean breaking the bank and giving in to unreasonable customer requests.

Building a valuable business online requires gaining your customers’ trust. With the overwhelming number of competitors, it is a must to stand out from the crowd. Are you happy with your business’ current situation? Think again. Your competition might be discovering other ways to win the hearts of your customers.

Creating a Feel-Good Experience

You are a customer too so why not think of the things that make you feel delighted when shopping online? While it’s hard to replicate the feel-good experience when buying from a physical store to buying online, it is possible.

Here are some of the tried and tested techniques to try to create the same experience with your e-commerce consumers.

LOYALTY PROGRAM, FREEBIES, AND REFUND

Small gifts and freebies are nothing new but it is still a powerful psychological trigger to customers. You can take it to the next level by being creative. The keyword here is unique thus; you have to treat your customers that way. Sure it works in every kind of business.

Retaining your consumer is another story, but it warrants an engaging and nurturing relationship hence, the need for a loyalty program. It is also a useful technique that almost every online brands are implementing to keep their customers.

According to the 2016 Bond Loyalty Report, customers tend to maximize their points by increasing the money they spend in purchasing goods and services. You can see that this is the trend now: the more you spend, the more points you’ll earn which translate to rewards.

Perhaps, you are familiar with Amazon’s policy allowing customers to receive a refund if they purchased an item and the company offered that item at a discounted price within seven days. Products go on sale anytime, and we’ll never know when a customer will buy it for the full price although there’s an announcement for an upcoming sale.

Hence, offering a price difference refund is quite helpful in inspiring your e-commerce consumer to buy with trust and confidence.

PUTTING UP AN EFFICIENT WEBSITE

A user-friendly website is also critical because it is where you “receive” your potential buyers. Likewise, this platform helps build better relationships with them by gaining credibility. Thus, it is important that your customers find it easy to navigate and access your website.

The simpler things are for them, the better. Make sure that even a 60-year old grandma or a non-technical person can understand the entire process and does not require them to read lengthy instructions. Creating a customized experience for every single buyer resonates to repeat transactions and happy customers.

If you are in search for a suitable and user friendly platform for your ecommerce business, chek out this comparison of top ecom platforms

THANK YOUR CUSTOMER AND CHECK UP ON THEM

Although we are in a generation where everything comes instant, one might think that a simple “thank you” has lost its impact, especially to online customers. For it to become more sincere and unique, opt for a handwritten thank you note instead of an electronic one.

Since you are running an online business, an actual thank you card can leave a deeper impact to your customers. It shows that you appreciate those who give you business. Remember, most of these consumers might be price sensitive, but they do care deeply on how a company treats them.

If your business doesn’t allow you to come up with something personalized, a well-constructed marketing e-mail campaign is a great way to check and see how they are doing after purchasing from you.

GUARANTEES AND MORE PAYMENT OPTIONS

Phishing and online fraud are rampant these days. Thus, consumers are dubious in giving their credit information when buying online. More people prefer to use methods that don’t require entering their card number.

To help them feel at ease, provide other payment methods like PayPal, PayMaya or set up a Bill Me Later option. Giving them guarantees and ensuring their security online goes a long way.

SPECTACULAR CUSTOMER SUPPORT

Consumers tend to stop supporting a brand due to poor customer service. They need a prompt and accurate response to their queries and problems about the products they bought from you. A live chat support is one way to answer them real-time.

If a customer doesn’t have a great experience doing business with you, be proactive and make the first move to reach out. Give them multiple ways to contact you and ensure that you’ll give them reasons to feel satisfied and their case is well-handled.

ASK FOR FEEDBACK

Most business brands I know is doing this simple yet, vital step: getting feedback from their customers. Think about those people who have something good or bad to say towards your brand. Some of them might have an issue with the shipping or the item itself.

The data you will gather can help you improve your service, develop working techniques to solve their problems and come up with an excellent solution. Likewise, getting their feedback would mean hearing them out, and you know how people love to give advice or suggestions right?

More Tips (In Case You Overlook Them)

When communicating about shipping time or ETA, allow a buffer so you can meet the buyer’s expectations. Doing this will enable you to deliver items on time or even earlier than they expected.

As a shopper, I like it when the business owner or someone from their team reaches out to me when something goes wrong. Things can get out a hand like lost items, out of stock products or longer shipping time. Proactive messaging and giving the customer an accurate update can help mitigate these problems.
A product review is similar to feedback. After shipping the item, you have to do the follow-up, asking the customer to review the product. Again, it helps in improving the conversation rate as you gain social proof.

Nowadays, it is not enough that a business merely offers products and accepts payments. To make a huge impact, you have to sweat out even the smallest details. These methods serve as your personal gesture of creating an excellent experience for your e-commerce customers.

Catalin Zorzini is the founder of Inspired Mag, and his current obsessions are Sun Ra and matcha tea. He tweets at @zorzini and photo blogs at @matcha_tea_com