eCommerce is not only about the products and pricing; it’s also about the experience customers have when interacting with your website. Today’s customers have lots of options, so creating an experience that gives priority to efficiency, convenience, and building trust is crucial to running a successful online store.
Whether you want to update your current eCommerce strategies or you’re just starting out, we have compiled a list of 7 tips that will help you create a customer-centric eCommerce business.
1. Rely on SEO
One of the best ways to craft a top-notch user experience is to enhance your SEO strategy.
Keyword optimization is the starting point because search engines are where users will look for the products they need. As a specialist in your niche, you need to know which search expressions and terms are most frequently used, but you still have to conduct a thorough keyword analysis.
SEO-friendly titles, URLs, and product descriptions also contribute to both search engine bot and user experience on eCommerce sites. All these will help your visitors ingest the information and better understand your brand, while at the same time increasing your chances to rank higher in SERPs.
Of course, SEO requires substantial patience, effort, and time in order to yield results so, if you can afford it, consider hiring a company that offers professional eCommerce SEO services. SEO pros will help you build a comprehensive strategy that will increase sales and boost your revenue in no time.
2. Create an Internal Knowledge Base
Today’s eCommerce businesses face the challenge of delivering outstanding customer service and building customer loyalty. Creating an internal knowledge base to solve this challenge.
An internal knowledge base represents a centralized database of company resources that serve as the first point of call for most employee inquiries. These resources can come in different formats, including information on shipping, return policies, discounts, new product updates, release dates, promotions, formal procedures, technical specifications, company values, and more.
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Deploying an internal knowledge base might result in a series of benefits. For instance, it can be used as a great retention tool because it gives your team members the information they need to keep customers happy. Having a comprehensive internal knowledge base can also help you deliver outstanding customer service. Maintaining excellent customer service standards is critical to the success of any eCommerce business. Besides keeping your customers coming back for more, it will also earn your store a good reputation.
3. Be Mobile-Friendly
If you want your store to be customer-centric, start by making your eCommerce site mobile-friendly.
Research has shown that in the past few years, the volume of mobile search queries has surpassed desktops. Today, more than 141 billion searches are conducted via mobile devices, while about 62 billion searches are done via desktop websites.
Google has also started ranking mobile sites higher than desktop-only versions, which means that having a website optimized for mobile is no longer optional.
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Having a mobile-friendly online store not only provides an outstanding experience for mobile users but also brings SEO advantages, helping your eCommerce website generate more organic traffic.
4. Display Social Proof
Social proof demonstrates that there are other people out there who have bought and used your products. But how is this related to customer-centricity?
People want to be assured that the decisions they make are correct, and this is also true for online shopping. They want to know that others who have bought your product were satisfied with it and social proof helps establish that. Studies have shown that social proof increases eCommerce conversion rates significantly, and improves the overall shopping experience.
Displaying reviews and ratings is also an indication that you are willing to listen to customers’ suggestions and feedback, which is another way of being customer-centric.
5. Make Product Videos Accessible
You can use videos to provide instructions, demonstrate features, and offer advice on how customers can use your products. But in order to make the most of your videos, you need to ensure that they are easily accessible.
You can also send product videos via email. For instance, you could send an instructional video a day after the purchase or later, according to average delivery times. Or you could send an email with a video showcasing how the product they bought can be used with another product, as part of your recommendation strategy.
This is a useful type of content that will help you stand out from the competition and make your users happy that they’ve signed up for your emails.
6. Have a Transparent Pricing Policy
Trust is the most important thing for eCommerce businesses. Without it, customers won’t feel comfortable about sharing their payment details and personal information. Studies have shown that over 60% of customers would abandon their shopping cart if they’re shown unexpected transactional or shipping at checkout.
In order to win the shoppers’ confidence, you must be transparent about your pricing. A transparent pricing policy, along with a transparent returns policy, is a distinctive feature of the most successful eCommerce players like Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba.
7. Consider Intelligent Search
As you might already know, a search function is a crucial part of any online store. But since it’s 2021, it’s time to take things to a whole new level by introducing an intelligent, personalized search. Intelligent search takes customer history as a base to suggest products they might be interested in.
Users don’t remember a neutral search experience – only the good and bad ones. Personalized search is still quite rare, which is a shame as visitors using search tend to convert at a 1.8 times higher rate than the average visitor. So, the faster and more efficient your search process is, the less chance there is for a shopper to get bored or frustrated and leave.
Final Thoughts
Today’s customers have tons of options when it comes to shopping online and that’s why it’s so important to create the best customer experience possible. A customer-centric experience can boost loyalty, set you apart from the competition, and increase your revenue.
Follow these 7 tips and you’ll be on your way to an outstanding, customer-centric eCommerce experience.