Our buying habits have changed drastically since the brick-and-mortar era. Today, we peruse online stores, check out online reviews before we make up our minds, and check social media for a more personal insight into a brand’s story. However, with its many perks, the ecommerce experience comes with a slew of potential mishaps, and it’s every brand’s priority to prevent them and ensure a stellar shopping journey.
One happy customer can lead dozens into your store, and one poor experience can cost you so much more than just one purchase. The fact is that modern-day buyers are less loyal to brands that they’ve ever been, making them far more prone to leaving you after a single bad experience, and taking many potential customers with them. To protect your image and ensure that you build a community of return, loyal buyers, let’s go over a few tactics to boost customer satisfaction in the following months!
Solicit feedback on a regular basis
Asking for customer feedback should never be a one-off effort. Many young brands make the mistake of assuming that surveys at the early stages of their development are enough to gather reliable data, but the simple truth is that customers differ and they change their minds. Plus, getting more specific information every time can benefit your overall strategies.
Ask for reviews when they complete a purchase, and you can incentivize them with a discount or a freebie. Send out surveys that are not dry, but created to be simple, quick to fill out, and appealing. That way, they’ll have more fun taking the survey in the first place!
Offer more flexibility and reliability
A commonly disregarded issue in the customer journey that has a powerful impact on their perception is the payment process. If it’s too long, slow, or complex, or if they come across any warning signs that your website might not be safe, they are bound to abandon their carts and likely share their experience with others. First and foremost, customers like safety, and they like having options.
To ensure all of their needs are met, you can utilize an enterprise payment gateway to process their orders more efficiently and in a transparent manner. This approach ensures a seamless shopping experience that in turn simplifies things both for you as the vendor, and your customer. If they want to buy via their phones, or through a dedicated app, they should be able to make the choice.
Be ready to chat
Customers who have questions or concerns regarding your brand prefer having these answered and resolved as soon as possible. In the world of online shopping, your customers don’t want to wait. Introducing live chat into your website can give them precisely this level of assistance in case they do need it.
You can train your agents to use language that is in keeping with your brand identity, and to position themselves in a way that puts the customer first. Just knowing that they are talking to a real human being on the other side of that chat box is more than enough to humanize your brand and help them feel a stronger bond to your business.
Offer free-of-charge value
One of the best ways to ensure a returning customer is to send them a free gift along with their order. They’ll not only be surprised, but in case they for some reason aren’t impressed by the item they’ve purchased, they’ll feel as if they’ve got their money’s worth, and then some. People love getting freebies and trying new products from a range they’re familiar with, so even a return customer deserves such a treat from time to time.
Make sure to utilize your data such as emails and social connections to make them feel special on certain occasions. If you know a certain customer is an extraordinary fan of Star Wars, you can send them a personalized email to notify them of your collection boasting this theme. If they have a birthday coming up, a handwritten card or a discount coupon is enough to increase their satisfaction.
Analyze your communication
The comments, reviews, messages, emails, and all other information you exchange with your client can be of great help in understanding your customers and improving your communication with them. Every piece of feedback you collect as well as every question they ask is a pointer for you where you can make changes to make them feel more valued. When a specific customer points out a particular issue, this is your cue to not only act on that suggestion, but also take the time to thank them and notify them as soon as the change is introduced.
These small, but relevant gestures help deepen the bond you have with your customers, but even more importantly, they turn just a regular act of shopping into a valuable experience. Opportunities to improve are everywhere, you just need to become more proficient at spotting them.
Customer satisfaction is the ultimate reflection of your success and reputation. Make sure to always strive to improve this aspect of your business, and you will surely deliver a worthy experience that will inspire many customers to stay loyal to your brand.
