If you’re running an eCommerce business, you already know how much competition there is in today’s online world. Read on to learn how to ensure your business succeeds.
It seems everybody is opening an eCommerce store these days and it’s only a matter of time before a competitor moves in and takes a share of your customer’s wallet. One of the ways you can fight back is by providing excellent customer service. Here are some ways to improve your eCommerce business and provide a superior customer experience.
Keep It Simple
Strive to make the online shopping experience as easy as possible. You can do this by designing a user-friendly website that is easy to navigate. Include plenty of product information and a FAQ page that answers all of your customers’ questions. If customers do need to contact you, make finding your contact information as quick and simple as possible.
Offer Mobility
Give customers the option to do business with you using their mobile phone. This will allow them to buy your products or services from anywhere. You can make use of technology such as mobile wallets, phone carrier billing and mobile credit cards. Your customers will be able to make fast purchases right there on their mobile devices, from any location in the world. For help with mobile and web app development consider using a custom software development company.
Make It Personal
With the rise of automation it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that your customers are real people, with real wants and needs. Naturally they are looking for personal service. Personalized customer service options must remain available to clients that prefer to do business with real people. As mentioned earlier make your contact information easy to find, so your customers do not encounter any difficulties if they need to get in touch with you.
Create a Knowledgebase
Another way to help customers find the answers to their question is by setting up a knowledgebase (KB). A Knowledgebase can be used by customers or even your employees to search for useful information that you have entered into a database. Knowledgebases can be integrated within your site or outsourced to a cloud based service provider.
Make it Easy to Buy
After all the effort that you have put into getting customers to your website, you need to make it exceedingly easy for them to complete a purchase. Minimize the steps it takes to add a product to the cart and checkout. After all, customers who complete the sales cycle are critical to your business.
Provide Multiple Channels
Customers are looking for a multitude of options when placing their orders on an eCommerce website. Right from the start, from when they contact your company through to when they pay for your products or services. By providing multichannel service, customers can do business with you through email, chat, or even social media networks. Payments can be made online via your website or through a mobile phone in multiple currencies including crypto currencies. For this your customers will need to choose the best crypto wallet. Providing multiple options maximizes the level of convenience you are offering your customers.
Add Customer Reviews
Customer reviews provide a great way to help customers when they need advice. You just have to look at how Amazon have taken advantage of their customers’ willingness to share their opinions to take their business to amazing heights. Customers can find out if the product will meet their needs, if it is any good and if others are happy with it. Provide a space on your eCommerce website where customers can comment and rate their purchase.
Provide Live Chat
It is becoming increasingly clear that a lot of customers prefer live chat over other ways of contacting a company. As well as offering immediate attention, another benefit of live chat is that it can lower business costs by reducing the time it takes for your support staff to deal with customers. Finally, live chat is a great way to help close sales by addressing any doubts your customer may have when making a purchase.
Make Searching Easy
Another way to help your customers find what they are looking for is by implementing a search engine on your website. The technology will pay for itself when customers quickly and easily locate the product they need and add it their cart. It will also save you and your customer’s time by eliminating the need for unnecessary emails or phone calls.
Offer a Clear Return Policy
One of the difficulties of operating an online business is that customers cannot feel or try your product before they buy it. To put your customers’ minds at ease, it is important to offer a return policy. State your refund policy clearly and your customers will buy from you with confidence.
Be Safe and Secure
It is natural for customers to worry about entering sensitive information such as credit card numbers over the Internet. You can ease their anxiety by doing business on a secure server and ensuring you have an up-to-date SSL certificate. Never store customers’ sensitive data for longer than necessary and make sure you follow all legal guidelines and requirements.
Follow Up
After the initial customer interaction, follow up with the customer to check everything went smoothly. Of course, you would have needed to record the customer’s email details or phone number to be able to do this. It’s therefore important to make the capturing of customer contact details part of the order process. You can also take the opportunity to offer a special offer or discount on further purchases. Keep customers informed of new products and services and watch your business grow.
As you go through the process of improving your eCommerce business, always keep your customers at the center of your focus. Think about how your processes affect the customer’s experience and what impression you give when customers are dealing with you. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and they will reward you with their loyalty—and a share of their wallets.
