How can you make your customers happier? Before you think about cutting prices or changing your product, take a look at your online shopping experience. Is it frictionless, accessible, and fun? Does it make customers want to buy and keep coming back? This blog post covers 10 things that make online customers feel good (and click “buy”). Hint: If you think your online customer experience could be better, comparing your site against this list is a good place to start. 1 “It’s so fast.” Nearly half of web users expect a site to load in 2 seconds or less.[i] If your pages take longer to load than that, your customers won’t wait. They’ll leave. 2 “It’s practically effortless.” If your web store makes something—anything!— feel difficult, customers will stop shopping. 38 percent of people will leave a website if they find the layout unattractive.[ii] Other reasons customers leave include lack of payment options, limited shipping choices, and unexpectedly high shipping costs. 3 “I’m not scared to pay on this site.” The eCommerce industry is one of the most vulnerable to attack, with 32.4 percent of online stores experiencing hacks last year.[iii] It’s no wonder 36.4 percent of shoppers cite “concerns about payment security” as a main reason they abandon shopping carts. Obvious causes for suspicion include outdated layouts, missing images, and no SSL certificate. As effortless as a good night’s sleep Soak&Sleep, a leading UK-based bed and bath brand, rewrote product descriptions and reshot images for more than 1,300 SKUs to give their store a new look and feel. They also stopped making shoppers register before buying. 4 “I want to share this with all my friends.” Every day, more than 500 million people use Instagram alone.[iv] Online stores that make their pages worth sharing and easy to share make customers happy—and attract new ones. 5 “It’s OK to get personal.” Only 22 percent of shoppers are satisfied with the level of personalization they currently receive.[v] And 36 percent of consumers expressed an interest in purchasing personalized products or services.[vi] When it comes to personalization, the message is clear: more personalization equals more customer satisfaction. 6 “I’m always shopping on my phone.” People love to shop on their phones. Mobile commerce represents more than 50 percent of eCommerce transactions in many countries.[vii] An attractively designed mobile experience and smooth checkout will please your customers and prompt them to buy. 7 “I love discovering new products…but I hate shopping.” Nearly half of eCommerce in the U.S. happens on Amazon.[viii] A growing number of shoppers are buying from Facebook storefronts. Many of those customers aren’t likely to visit your web store. Instead, they want to buy wherever they spend the most time. To reach them (and make them happy), your eCommerce presence must extend into multiple marketplaces. 8 “Give me something to remember you by.” Loyalty programs are just as effective online as they are in-store. Loyalty apps are popular with millennials. 66.3 percent say they’re more likely to shop from stores where they have joined a loyalty program.[ix] Adding a digital loyalty program—and personalizing it—is another great way to make customers happy. 9 “It’s all about convenience.” Your eCommerce store must fit into customers’ lives. Almost three-quarters of today’s consumers are multichannel shoppers.[x] They shop when and where it’s best for them. eCommerce stores that offer in-person pickup and access to apps and kiosks in-store are wildly convenient—and make customers wildly happy. 10 “Make it unique and ultra-relevant!” Customers are looking for a one-of-a-kind and contextually relevant experience. For example, one innovative eyewear brand is allowing online customers to “try on” glasses virtually, simply by recording a quick video. Others businesses are using Google Beacon to send online content to shoppers walking by their physical stores. Of course, it isn’t easy to be both original and immediately relevant in today’s marketplace. But it’s worth the effort, especially when you’re doing everything else right. [i] Akamai, 2018 [ii] “The State of Content: Expectations on the Rise,” Adobe, 2015. [iii] “Ecommerce Security Issues & Solutions in 2018,” Magneto IT Solutions, July 2018. [iv] Buffer Marketing Library, 2018. [v] The 2017 State of Personalization Report,” Segment, September 2017. [vi] “Made to Order: The Rise of Mass Personalization,” June 2015. [vii] “Q2 Global Commerce Review,” Criteo, 2018. [viii] eMarketer, July 2018. [ix] Aruba via Chain Store Age, 2018. [x] A Study of 46,000 Shoppers Shows That Omnichannel Retailing Works,” Harvard Business Review, January 2017.
