Tips for Great e-commerce experience

Consumer behavior is developing extremely fast. Due to the exponential growth of e-commerce during the corona pandemic, many retailers are struggling to keep up with these developments. To maintain customer loyalty, a smooth shopping journey across all your channels is a minimum requirement. Here are  tips for providing a superior online shopping experience. You can get in touch with Ecommerce Solutions Agency in Washington

1. Avoid surprises during the customer journey

Make important information known in advance. Before online shoppers have even added a single item to their shopping cart. They need to be aware of shipping prices and delivery times, as well as, for example, delivery restrictions. This way you avoid unpleasant surprises during the checkout process, which is one of the most critical moments in a shopping transaction. So make sure that all phases of the process are clear and indicate what still needs to be done, for example with a progress bar.

2. Show product availability as current as possible

Make sure customers can see if the product they want to buy is available in their preference and in which store they can find it. If you use a unified commerce system in your online and physical stores, you can keep track of all inventory information in one central platform in real time. Unified commerce also means that you offer consumers the opportunity to order items from another store or warehouse and to exchange items purchased online in a store and vice versa.

3. Create trust with good product content

Customers shopping online cannot touch and try on the products. That’s why it’s extra important to reassure them before they click ‘buy’. So provide the customer with detailed product information, clear images and possibly also product videos that help them make the right choice. Product reviews are also an important factor in purchasing decisions: good reviews help to increase consumer confidence.

4. Prioritize mobile shopping

Smartphones are becoming increasingly important in online shopping. So make sure your webshop is responsive and functions well on devices of all shapes and sizes. For example, the buttons must be large enough and easy to select, but the payment process must also be just as easy to go through on the smartphone as it is via a computer or laptop. For logged in customers it is nice if their shopping cart remains saved, in case they continue the transaction on another device.

5. Help customers find what they need quickly

A big advantage of e-commerce is that you can offer more products than in physical locations. With many articles in different categories, it is extra important to organize those products well. Make the webshop as clear as possible with main and subcategories, give suggestions and ensure that online shoppers can filter and sort products by price, color, size, et cetera. In short, make sure that users can find what they need at a glance and also view their purchase history.

6. Connect the online and offline shopping experiences

Connecting your online and offline channels is essential to provide a consistent shopping experience to customers everywhere. A popular service like click & collect is a good example of an omnichannel experience. Also consider selling items online that are available in physical stores. Consider moving your IT to a modern unified commerce platform where all channels are brought together in the same view. This ensures a consistent experience, both for you and for your customers. Be sure to watch the webinar recording of TCOG about how to make a success story of your e-commerce.

7. Offer flexible and accurate delivery options

Delivery is a known pain point for online retailers. Consumers expect products to be delivered quickly and to be traceable. Therefore, offer accurate delivery schedules where customers can choose the most suitable option themselves and ensure that the status of the order is visible. Services such as click & collect are associated with lower additional costs than home delivery. And it often leads to a higher order value: in practice it appears that consumers often buy something else when they pick up in the store.