It used to be that the only way to shop was to go to the store location and make a purchase. In the digital age, e-commerce is how modern business is done. Electronic commerce is buying and selling goods and services through the electronic network of the internet. Transmitting data and funds are also a form of e-commerce.
With e-commerce, customers browse online stores and order different products and services through their devices. These purchases are processed digitally through a network of servers, databases, order managers, web servers and fulfillment departments. Fortunately, the consumer doesn’t need to know all this because they simply click and purchase what they want and seamlessly receive it.
Here are the different types of e-commerce:
- B2B: Transactions between businesses
- B2C: Retail transactions where businesses sell to consumers like Amazon
- C2C: Consumer to consumer transactions like Facebook marketplace or Craigslist
- C2B: Consumers sell to businesses; images and media like iStock
- B2A: Businesses have transactions with an administration like branches of government
- C2A: Consumers transact with public administrations for health matters, taxes and social security
While e-commerce has the advantage of 24/7 availability, wide variety, lower cost and speed of access, there are often wait times to get products and services, limited product experience and customer service.
How can this be better? Here are the five best ways to improve the e-commerce customer experience.
1. Create a user-friendly e-commerce website
Your website is your virtual store, and to improve the shopping experience, it needs to be dynamic and easy to navigate. This means it must be simple for the Consumer to find what they are looking for without too many steps, and products should be organized similarly to a physical retail store where they are categorized and marketed together.
The site also needs stunning pictures, informational content and a great search feature so shoppers can browse your products and services easily. Also, make sure you are optimized for mobile shopping by making your mobile version fast loading and functional. Make pictures smaller, so they load quickly, and check to see that all links and buttons are working.
2. Live shopping
To elevate customer experience and capture all potential sales when someone visits your site, you need to go beyond the normal. You need a live video shopping platform.
Live shopping is an add-on to any website and allows customers to connect with your staff for live assistance while they shop. They can video chat with associates through their entire shopping and purchase journey and be guided in real-time, so they feel taken care of.
This is a real game changer for selling products and services because you combine the best of the brick and mortar with digital, and customers can get that much-needed guidance while they shop, so there are no unanswered questions. This is how you convert shoppers into purchasers and is the ultimate way to improve the e-commerce customer experience.
How you keep your customers satisfied during their visit to your site will directly impact your sales, so use these e-commerce customer experience improvements to connect with your patrons and convert them to purchasers.
3. Personalize the e-commerce experience
This involves targeting each customer on a personal level by:
- Remembering their search histories and recommend items based on their views
- Gather personal information like birthdates so you can send birthday messages
- Offer discounts on items they show interest in or frequently buy
- Use their name or initials on digital responses
You can also offer loyalty points for regular customers and even send free branded gifts like t-shirts or coffee mugs. If you can show your customers that you care and remember their visits, they become more loyal to your business.
4. Offer various payment options
When going into a physical location to shop, there are many ways to pay for your purchase. Your e-commerce site should have all those payment options and more. The last thing you want is for a shopper to pick out several items only to find that you don’t offer the payment method they prefer at checkout. You can avoid this by setting up as many options as you can, including:
- Credit cards
- Debit cards
- Gift cards
- Paypal
- eWallet
- Crypto-currency
This will set you apart from your competition and be on the cutting edge of financial transactions.
5. Make e-commerce checkout easy
When someone finishes shopping at your site and is ready to check out, the last thing they want is a complicated way to make their purchase. If they have difficulty navigating to your checkout or can’t figure out how to use it, they may abandon their cart and click off your site.
Make it easy for them to complete their purchases by:
- Eliminating distractions on the checkout page
- Have a clear “Add To Cart” button
- Provide a guest checkout
- Put a “Pay Now” button in full view on every page
- Easy switch from checkout back to shopping
This will smooth the checkout process and keep your customers happy as they purchase from you.