Creating an effective ecommerce strategy: a positive customer experience

Why does your business need an ecommerce strategy?

In order to navigate a continuously evolving and highly competitive market, online businesses will need to rethink and carefully manage their ecommerce strategy. An ecommerce strategy will ensure that you understand your market; who your customers are and what encourages them to buy. Once you know exactly which customers you are trying to attract and retain, you can start focusing on how to build an effective ecommerce strategy to achieve your business goals.

Why is customer experience so important when creating an ecommerce strategy?

Although Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is still a key factor in ensuring your ecommerce businesses success, an effective ecommerce strategy needs to think outside the box and not solely focus on SEO.

An effective ecommerce strategy will not only attract and engage new customers, it will also increase revenue by promoting conversions, increase customer retention and ultimately ensure that the lifetime value of each customer is maximised.

Taking into account your customers’ overall experience is crucial when building an ecommerce strategy, especially as 77% of consumers think good customer service is critical to earning brand loyalty and generating business.

When we talk about customer experience, there are a number of factors to consider when implementing your ecommerce strategy;

●     Ensure you have a strong brand identity which promotes a positive brand experience

Your brand is what identifies you and sets you apart from any other ecommerce business. The experience and lasting impression customers associate with your brand (brand experience) will very much determine whether they remain a prospective buyer or whether they become a repeat customer. Brand experience can include thoughts, perceptions and reactions to your brand, your marketing campaigns and your products.

You should consider how you want your brand to be perceived and how you will make this a success. Building a strong brand identity will help to build trust in the marketplace and a trusted business is more likely to extend the lifetime value of each customer.

●     Personalise your customers experience to increase revenue and repeat business

Creating personalised experiences for customers is an effective way to encourage conversions. Personalisation is becoming increasingly important in the evolving post-pandemic market. An extraordinary 71 percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalised interactions and if customers don’t like the experience with your business, they can simply switch to a competitor, especially seeing as three quarters of customers switched to a new store or product during the Covid-19.

There are many ways that you can incorporate personalisation in your ecommerce strategy; whether that be providing proactive support such as live chats, personalising marketing material to include the customers name or asking for customers valued feedback on products they have bought.

●     Promote customers trust with positive reviews and feedback

Asking customers for reviews and feedback is an impactful way to build trust and also to gather important insights and research in the process. As important as positive reviews are to a brand, negative reviews and how the situation is then managed in order to rectify any issues are arguably just as important. If a customer’s negative experience is rectified efficiently, then this can transform it into a positive one.

●     Ensure you offer excellent Customer Service to promote customer retention

There are many ways to support your customers throughout the buying process, whether that be through a live chat, email, telephone or social media platforms.

Turning a negative experience into a positive one is a key way to ensure repeat business. By focusing on omnichannel customer service, you are making your customer support much more convenient for your customers.

●     Boost the average order value of sales

An effective way to increase revenue from your ecommerce business is to boost customers’ average order value (AOV). For example, this strategy could include charging customers for subscriptions by configuring your ecommerce websites design to support subscriptions and automatically charge your customers on an ongoing basis. Another approach would be to upsell or cross-sell. Even though offering subscriptions, cross-selling and upselling are all techniques to increase revenue, they also enhance a customer’s experience when using your ecommerce platform – offering a range of different, albeit more expensive, products, services and quality of items.

●     Focus on your Cart Abandonment strategy to reduce abandonment rates

Cart abandonment is when a customer adds an item or items to their shopping cart but instead of checking out, they decide to navigate away from the website without finalising the purchase.

One way to maximise sales and also engage with customers is to focus on your cart abandonment strategy. There are many simple techniques to achieve this:

• Adding a status tracker to checkout allows customers to see how many steps there are in the checkout process and acts as a visual tool to encourage customers through each step until they have completed their purchase.
• Adding thumbnails to the checkout cart so that customers are less likely to deviate away from the checkout page.
• Include as many payment options as possible on your ecommerce website to enhance customer experience
• Include a guest checkout option so that guests do not feel pressured into needing to create an account in order to complete a purchase.

Next steps

It’s evident that a successful ecommerce strategy can transform your business. By focusing on positive customer experience, you are not only likely to attract new customers, but also encourage repeat business. Positive customer experience is also imperative when it comes to a positive brand identity and social media presence.

In an ever evolving market, your ecommerce strategy should be adaptable and reviewed regularly to ensure that your ecommerce business is maximising every opportunity to promote conversions and increase revenue.