Rodney Repullo *
As consumers have endless opportunities to shop online, they have the luxury of being extremely demanding. They want to be pampered. If a page takes too long to load, or if they can't see if the item is available at a local store, they can simply abandon the shopping cart. They want to have all the necessary information so that they have the best power to choose.
The following actions can help turn your website visitors into loyal customers.
1. Share information - Customers want to find information about their orders without having to call the call center. In Forrester's 2017 Customer Service Trends: Operations Become Smarter and More Strategic report, Kate Leggett predicts that companies will focus on improving self-service. Customers want the convenience of viewing the latest discounts, product availability and order status online. If an order includes several different items, customers will also want to know the status of each one. For example, if a customer asks for a fishing rod, fishing line, lures and an equipment box, everything needs to be tracked and coordinated so that the customer can decide if it is possible to include everything in a gift package. When it comes to information available online, you don't have the minimum. The more you share, the better.
2. Online and physical store synchronized - Customers want to buy online, but often they also want to visit the store to see the products. If the product they saw online is not in the store, or if it looks different from the one they saw on the website, they can give up on the purchase. Make sure that the website includes reliable information about the actual availability of the product in the physical store. Customers also want the flexibility to withdraw their online purchases from physical stores, so providing recommendations where products can be shipped, when they will be delivered, the exact location, store opening hours, etc., will add value to the online shopping experience.
3. A customer, a dedicated website - Customers also want the convenience of having catalogs and prices specific to it. To achieve a 360-degree view of the customer, several inputs need to be considered, including previous purchases and returns in the store and on the Internet, reviews, views of clicks and shares on the website, comments using social media and conversations with the call center. This service can go beyond product recommendations, to the customization of visual merchandising and displays in the store.
4. Quick Clicks - A fast loading time for your website is vital, even when it requires the collection of data from various databases internally and externally. It is important to predict with a certain level of accuracy the amount of processing capacity needed to manage the highest volume of transactions during the busiest period of the year. One of the worst nightmares for retailers is a poor user experience that can simply sabotage online orders. Heavy transaction loads can lead to slow processing, causing customers to abandon their shopping carts. It is highly recommended to optimize images and compress the website, in addition to having a data infrastructure that can be expanded quickly as the volume of orders grows and can also accommodate holiday explosions.
5. Small screen shopping site - Smartphones have become the main point of contact with companies and, for many retailers, the cell phone is already a key part. Today, consumers often begin their search for a new product by searching on their mobile devices. For example, during the 2017 holiday season, US Polo Assn. reported that cell phones drove most of the site’s traffic. Forrester predicts that by 2021, consumers will spend US$ 152 billion directly on mobile phones, or almost 24% of total online sales, and that mobile phones will be a determining factor in offline sales, which will reach US$ 1.4 trillion. over the next five years.
That said, a key step in a data-driven customer journey is to gather and present accurate data to website visitors. Successful data integration can be instrumental in providing buyers with real-time access to information that will help turn them into loyal customers. Online shoppers are selective and competition is just a click away, so investing in incredible shopping experiences is the only way to keep them satisfied.
(*) CEO of Magic Software Brasil.
Notice: The opinion presented in this article is the responsibility of its author and not of ABES - Brazilian Association of Software Companies.
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