The ecommerce trend has skyrocketed in recent years as consumers increasingly turn to the web to make their lives more convenient and, quite often, cheaper. This increase in ecommerce adoption however means that competition for business is fierce and not keeping up with consumer expectations can land a brand in a precarious position.
There are several reasons for this:
- Consumers are becoming savvier and less patient – Today’s consumers spend a lot more time online, shopping or researching items they wish to purchase. They view ecommerce sites as more convenient, quicker and easier to deal with than trekking to the high street. Unfortunately, this means that when they have a poor experience they are more likely to go elsewhere, quickly!
- Websites are more than shop windows – Recent research conducted by EPiServer showed that consumers expect more from ecommerce vendors than just products and offers. In the socially connected web, consumers are spending more time on sites like Twitter and Facebook and are increasingly likely to expect this type of functionality elsewhere. They want to engage with a brand and also see the views and opinions of their peers.
- Online and offline marketing channels must work together – Channel management is becoming increasingly important as consumers flip seamlessly between interacting with brands online and on the high street. While marketers see it as a channel, consumers only identify the brand. The key to building consumer loyalty and trust is by ensuring a unified brand identity.
- Consumers need the personal touch – While online shoppers ultimately visit ecommerce sites to buy, delivering an overall experience that is personal and rewarding is paramount. It’s about the after sales service and other brand interactions, from email and SMS, to social interaction through tweets and blogs. As consumers, we want to be reassured at all times that when we are interacting with an online brand, it understands them and cares about their online experience.
These elements throw down the gauntlet to ecommerce vendors: get the browsing experience wrong and your visitors will leave – perhaps forever. If a product isn’t easy to find or if information isn’t clearly displayed, your potential customers will simply go elsewhere. Similar reactions can be expected if consumers feel they can’t engage with the brand on a social level.
So what can ecommerce vendors do to improve their service to consumers and ensure they hit the mark before competitors?
Below, are six tips to enhance the website experience for your consumers:
- Make products easy to find – Make your website clean, clear and easy to navigate. Provide your visitors with clearly displayed product categories and advanced search functionality so they can find what they’re looking for. You also need to ensure that your content is searchable and easy to find, both on the site and through search engines.
- Share offers – Don’t be afraid to shout about your latest offers, but remember – one size fits all is no longer good enough; be smart and personalise the website experience so that the offers are targeted to different visitors. Tell them why these products will benefit them and make it easy for them to click through and buy; they’ll appreciate you giving them a money saving deal on something they really need.
- Don’t sell all the time – Your website isn’t all about selling. Build trust and let your brand’s personality shine through by developing content that really sells you and not just your products.
- Ensure a streamlined checkout process is in place. There’s nothing more frustrating for consumers than deciding to purchase a products or service and being unable to complete the transaction. Make it simple.
- Use multimedia – By nature, most people are visually orientated, so it’s worth investing in exciting, high-quality images or using video to bring the screen to life.
- Get social – This could be the difference between a boring bit of copy and creating a viral consumer experience. If someone likes your brand, make sure they can share this with a friend and if you have a forum or blog on your website then make sure you’re participating too!
The good news for ecommerce vendors is that implementing many of the features that will enhance the browsing, buying and after sales experience is relatively easy. With the right strategy, website design, development and social elements, ecommerce merchants of all sizes can make their websites more engaging and interactive places.
