Some interesting research has been published in the last few weeks which highlights areas of ecommerce best practice for website shop owners. We’re referring here to Channel Advisor’s white paper on
‘How Consumers Shop Online’ (US) and data/research into online customer satisfaction by
IMRG/eDigitalResearch.
How Consumers Shop Online
- Online shoppers now spending more time researching. According to Channel Advisor onine shoppers are spending more time researching and spending less (not suprising given current economic environment). Interestingly, a result of this is that consumers are using more sophisticated, specific research to seek out exact products. For ecommerce website owners this means that more clever use of keywords is necessary in their product descrptions and titles (Google has reported an 8% increase in searches comprised of 3 words or more)
- Maximum exposure for your ecommerce website. Channel Advisor also points out that as consumers are so focused on finding the best deals it is imperative for website shops to have as strong a presence on as many channels as possible - search engines, comparison shopping engines, marketplaces, affiliates, email. As we’ve said before, it’s no good just publishing your online shop and then hoping consumers will find you.
- Make the most of your Product Pages. As we’ve also stressed on this blog before, make sure you make the most of all features that your ecommerce website software offers to sell your product off your web pages. Video, images, compelling copy etc - see our earlier post ‘Optimise your Product Descriptions for increased conversions’ for more info.
- Free Shipping delivers conversions. According to Channel Advisor, Free shipping has the biggest influence on web shoppers, followed by product ratings/reviews and Free Returns. So, in the run up to the essential Xmas shopping season, ecommerce website owners would be well advised to review their shipping/returns policies. If you can’t offer free shipping to all, consider free shipping above a certain order value threshold, or maybe free shipping for repeat purchases or if customers ’refer a friend’ and make sure you make your delivery charges are as visible as possible wherever a potential customer is on your site. We’ve written before about customer generated product reviews (include some not so good reviews as well for a a more credible mix). Expert (press/media) reviews are also helpful if you can get them.
Free Shipping Delivers Conversions
- Focus on customer satisfaction and response rates. According to IMRG/e-Digital Research customer satisfaction in online shopping is at its lowest level since 2006. The worst performing areas identified in the survey include the speed that online retail customer services respond to queries and the ease of access to online help with purchases. We always recommend to all our website shop clients that they must publish a (visible) telephone number and contact email address, but that’s no good if you don’t respond. Online chat is also recommended. You have a much better chance of converting visitors to customers if you respond to requests for info/advice. Consider also the addition of telephone ordering as an alternative to online transactions. Online customer service expectations grow all the time - so don’t get left behind with a poor end-to-end customer experience.
Focus on Customer Satisfaction and Response Rates
