When it comes to e-commerce or any other sales-based industry, we all hear the term ‘CX’ or ‘customer experience’ a lot these days. However, CX isn’t just some trend or passing fad. In fact, research shows that the experience a shopper has with your brand is quickly becoming even more important for positive customer retention than price or product.
This raises the question: “How can I provide the best experience to my customers?” Thankfully, putting together a sound strategy simply involves addressing or tweaking a few key factors to keep every facet of your customer journey on point. Keep reading to discover the ultimate formula for great CX — courtesy of the e-commerce customer service experts at Replyco.
Make Shopping Simple
An excellent customer experience starts with making buying from you as easy and seamless as possible. Shoppers should be able to browse your product listings, search for specific items, complete checkout, and perform any other actions relevant to perusing your wares without issue.
Here are just a few ways you can make shopping with your brand more simple:
- Task your development team with ensuring every aspect of your website’s navigation is smooth and glitch-free.
- Create product listings that are detailed and thorough, while also including high-quality item photos.
- Make your website searchable and responsive.
- Provide help documentation (such as answers to FAQs and user guides for technical products).
- Include contact information on your site in case customers have questions (if selling on a specific marketplace, be sure to follow any guidelines for contact info and all other content).
- Keep it simple. Use headers to break up sections. Avoid long blocks of text. Deploy streamlined design layouts or templates to maintain pleasing aesthetics.
Stock the Right Products
In addition to making the shopping process simple, it is also crucial to sell the right products.
Not only do you need to keep your finger on the pulse of customer demand, but you also need to foster positive connections with your vendors or suppliers. Be sure to communicate with suppliers, so you remain aware of any delays or issues with product availability. This way, you can plan your orders appropriately, while also letting your customers know of any items that are in limited supply.
Communicate with Customers Throughout the Buying Process
Speaking of communication, here’s a big piece of the CX puzzle: in order to keep shoppers happy, you need to communicate with customers throughout the entire buying process.
From notifying your existing list of upcoming sales to sending “order received” and “order shipped” emails to following up after a purchase, it is crucial that you touch base with your shoppers at every stage. Doing so lets customers know that you value their satisfaction, while also giving them the chance to ask questions or provide feedback on their experience. And remember, when a customer does ask a question or have a problem, make sure to go above and beyond in providing a solution.
Offer Self-Serve Options
Another way to provide an amazing CX is to offer self-serve options to your customers. Today’s shoppers are busy, and many would prefer to find answers to their questions or address their own issues without having to contact your customer service department.
Just a few self-serve options include:
- FAQ pages.
- Self-checkouts.
- Website help documentation.
- Call center interaction voice response systems (IVRs).
- Auto-responders (customer messaging tools that recognize certain words in a customer inquiry, such as “refund,” and then send an appropriate response until a member of your support team can answer their question personally.)
Keep in mind, customers still enjoy personal service. You shouldn’t use self-serve options in place of actual human interaction. But they can play a crucial role in any comprehensive customer service approach.
Get Fulfillment Right
Next up, every great customer experience strategy involves the full shopping cycle. Once you’ve made sure shopping with your brand is simple, customers can find the products they want on your website and you’re communicating throughout the journey, you need to make sure you’re getting shipping and fulfillment right.
This means choosing the right courier(s) for your product type and/or area (country/region), and remaining aware of typical shipping times and any potential delays so you can communicate them effectively to your customers.
You also need to have a good handle on your shipping costs and how to keep them down while still offering great fulfillment services, so you can properly price your products.
Provide Top-Notch Customer Service
Finally, the most important ingredient in the CX formula is customer service. This is the crux of your entire customer experience strategy. If you want to turn shoppers into loyal brand ambassadors, the key is to provide absolutely top-shelf support.
You and your customer service team can delight shoppers and level up your CX game by being:
- Easy to reach.
- Friendly & helpful.
- Willing to go the extra mile.
- Available via an assortment of mediums (email, phone, live chat, instant messaging, social media, etc.)
- Knowledgeable & professional.
- Happy to keep trying until an adequate solution is achieved.
The goal here is to ensure each and every interaction with your customers leads to positive results or a satisfactory solution. You want customers who contact you to walk away from the conversation thinking, “Wow, that company really values its shoppers and made me feel like my inquiry was their top priority.”
Want to learn more about nailing the formula for great CX? Replyco can help! Our helpdesk software for eCommerce enables sellers to centralize the messaging from all their selling channels into one easy-to-use inbox. And with tools such as email templates, a live chat widget, and smart auto-responders, sellers can save time and reduce efforts while thrilling customers.
Ready to experience the Replyco difference for yourself? Start your trial today!
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