There seems to be no stopping the growing popularity of e-commerce stores. Customers are drawn to the convenience of shopping online and accessing thousands of brands from a computer screen. However, many e-commerce sites fall short in customer service, leaving shoppers disappointed with their user experience.
If you want to stand out from your competition, it’s time to make customer service a top priority. Outlined below are five tips to improve your online UX.
1. Ship Items Faster
Customers who make an online order don’t want to wait two weeks to receive their package. Many hope to see a box at their doorstep in a few days. Failing to ship items quickly disappoints buyers and may result in them shopping elsewhere in the future.
Working with a third-party logistics company can help companies improve efficiency and ship items faster. 3PL is the process of outsourcing your company’s warehousing and fulfillment process to a third party. While this concept isn’t new, 3PL has recently gained traction with the rise of the e-commerce industry.
When choosing a 3PL provider, there are a few things you should consider. First, ask how much things like packaging, shipping, and warehousing space will cost. You don’t want to sign a contract with a 3PL that you can’t afford. You also want to know how a 3PL keeps track of metrics. Some warehousing facilities have reporting dashboards, but not all.
2. Provide Self-Service Options
Don’t take it personally, but your customers don’t really want to talk to you. Rather than speak with a representative when they encounter a problem or have a question, they want to solve their problem themselves. In fact, 81% of consumers report wanting more self-service options.
Customer self-service is exactly what it sounds like, the process of your shoppers resolving issues independently. Self-service tools typically quickly answer common questions, and they operate 24 hours a day. This means your customers can efficiently find the information they’re looking for, no matter their time zone.
One of the most common examples of self-service is a frequently asked questions page. FAQ pages answer popular customer questions like “What is your return policy?” Another option gaining popularity is AI-powered chatbots. These bots use machine learning and natural language processing to understand customer intent and provide human-level communication.
3. Personalized Shopping Experience
It’s no longer enough to sell quality products. Customers now expect a personalized shopping experience as well. Research shows that 52% of consumers expect companies only to send customized offers. This means your generic 15% off coupon may not be the best marketing approach.
E-commerce personalization refers to online stores using customer data to display dynamic offerings. Data used to determine this content includes demographics, previous purchases, browsing history, and preferences. So instead of simply sending that generic 15% off coupon, businesses could send customers a discount on their favorite product.
One e-commerce personalization tactic more companies are implementing is product-detail page recommendations. A PDP shows customers products similar or complementary to others they’ve shown interest in. So if your customer has recently purchased a dog leash, the PDP might also show collars, treats, and walking harnesses.
4. Create a Responsive Website
Today’s consumers spend hours on their phones daily. That means that many will access your site from their mobile device. But if your site isn’t mobile-friendly, customers may not be able to navigate it easily. This can lead to frustration and drive consumers to shop with competitors instead.
Avoid frustration and ensure customers can shop from any device using a responsive website design. Responsive website designs change based on the device used by the consumer. Multiple columns may get condensed into one, or unnecessary images may get dropped so they don’t distract from the more important information.
To create a responsive design, you’ll need to edit your site’s HTML and CSS. These two coding languages control the layout and content shown on a page. Does that sound more technical than you’re comfortable with? Not to worry. Many site builders have responsive design templates you can use instead.
5. Ask for and Implement Feedback
While you may have a sense of what customer service tactics are and aren’t working, you can’t know for sure without asking. Customer feedback provides your team with useful data to help ensure you’re meeting customer expectations. Additionally, asking your customers for feedback shows that you value their opinion, helping build stronger relationships.
One effective method for collecting consumer feedback is post-purchase surveys. Post-purchase surveys are sets of questions you send customers after they buy your product. Oftentimes, post-purchase surveys are delivered immediately upon checkout. However, if you want customers to test products before completing the survey, wait until their purchase has been delivered.
Once you’ve collected feedback, it’s essential you make changes to improve your user experience. Rather than focusing on everything at once, pick one or two of your biggest UX hurdles. Once you’ve implemented changes, resurvey your customers to ensure you’re on the right track.
Your shoppers have thousands of companies to choose from. If you want them to pick you over the competition, UX should be your top priority. If you’re not sure where to start, try implementing the tips listed above.
