First impressions are important, this saying rings ever so true in the world of eCommerce. If your website is not geared up for your target audience, the likelihood is they’ll frivolously go somewhere else.

Once you’ve made your first impression count, the effort cannot stop there, as users crave nothing but the best experiences. In fact, 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience (CX).  

Exceptional CX not only delights a user as soon as they enter a site, but it boosts customer loyalty and retention too. 

We’ve brought together 5 tips and tricks that help make a great customer experience. 

1. Make the experience personal

Adopt a personalisation strategy that will transform users into loyal, returning customers. The use of personalisation means customers are served products and even experiences that are tailored to their needs - avoiding time wasted on searching for products that are simply not relevant. An incredible 80% of consumers say they’re more likely to do business with a company that offers personalised experiences.  

Quick personalisation wins include: 

• Display previously viewed items 
• Tailored product recommendations 
• Add frequently bought together items 
• Unique discounts
• Personalising marketing messaging 

Through the power of AI technology, fully personalised and optimised experiences can be created, this includes a unique homepage, search results and much more.  

2. Bring the in-store experience online 

If you have a brick and mortar store, you’ve more than likely had a strategic discussion on how you can replicate your in-store customer service online. The last thing you want is to lose the relationship you’ve tirelessly been building over the years with your customers, but with numerous third-party widgets and even custom tools, there is no reason why you can’t bolster your customer service online. 

• Live chat and chatbot widget that can offer 24/7 support
• Call back widgets 
• Feedback surveys  
• Clear contact information 

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Client use case | Up & Running

When it comes to specialist products, retailers need to make it easier for their customers to find the right product for their needs. Take our client Up & Running as an example, founded in 1992 as a running specialist, selling men’s and women’s running shoes and clothing, they built a strong and popular in-store experience. Beyond competitors, customers could come in to the store for a full gait analysis to find the perfect shoe for them, not only that, they could receive expert advice and join a popular running community - this has contributed to their multiple National Running Award wins, including for Best Customer Service. 

In 2021, Up & Running decided to bolster their eCommerce offering to help bridge the gap between their in-store and online experiences. This included a re-platform onto Shopify, which gave them much more flexibility to keep their website up to date and ahead of the competition. It also allowed them to focus on providing additional stand-out features that would build a strong customer experience across the site, including: 

Shoe Finder:
The shoe finder tool is a quick and easy product finder to help runners find the perfect shoe. During the pandemic, whilst brick and mortar stores temporarily closed and consumers flocked to online, the shoe finder tool offered the perfect alternative to an in-store gait analysis. With just a few clicks, the product finder can find a selection of shoes that match the consumers criteria. The tool has continued to be a popular search facility for Up & Running’s customers and remains one of their most popular features. 

Live chat:
Up & Running pride themselves on offering expert help and advice in-store, to replicate this online, they launched a live chat facility that enables customers to ask any question. This tool gives Up & Running the ability to chat directly with their online consumers, helping them to navigate through the site to find the best product for their needs. 

3. Make it easier and faster to purchase  

Remove any barriers to purchase by simplifying the user journey (UX). 87% of customers will abandon their online carts if the checkout process is too difficult. It is recommended to review the website UX on a regular basis to identity opportunities to boost site conversions. Take a look at some of these top UX updates you can make to your site: 

• Add additional payment options such as Klarna, ApplePay or Google Pay 
• Step up delivery options 
• Option for guest check out 
• Quick view and buy options on product listing pages 
• AI-powered search 
• Easy to use product filters

4. Speed up your website 

Your eCommerce store maybe perfectly designed to the user, but if your website load time is slow, they may not even get to experience it before they decide to bounce. In fact, 40% of consumers will have likely bounced by the 2-3 second mark.

A slow site will massively impact your conversion rates, customer satisfaction and also your search results ranking. Google now uses a set of page experience metrics combined with 3 core web vitals as a ranking factor, this in includes site speed.

Read our post all about Google’s Core Web Vitals here> 

5. Offer an omnichannel experience

Offering the greatest CX doesn’t just start and end at your eCommerce store, it’s pinnacle at every touch point. The key part to this is to offer not just a streamlined omnichannel experience but to also ensure that it is consistent. 

The number of companies investing in the omnichannel experience has jumped from 20% to over 80% in the last couple of years. 

• Optimise your website for all devices 
• Connect all touch points through consistent messaging
• Introduce click and collect options 
• Explore AI and other interactive tools 

Summary

Creating the best customer experience is an ongoing opportunity that should always be tracked and reviewed. By pleasing your customers, you’ll be able to drive more conversions and higher retention rates. Use data to understand how your website is performing and how your existing customers are using your website - this will enable you to understand where there are potential gaps in delivering a great customer experience.

At 9xb, our eCommerce Success team are able to help you uncover CX opportunities and will help build a tailored strategy to improve the profitability of your online store.