Why a Great Customer Experience is a Key to Success for Your Online Business
Customer experience (CX) is an X-factor that differentiates successful companies from those that are struggling. Savvy business owners are always curious to know what the customer wants and look for ways to surprise, excite, and please first-time visitors or regular clients.
Thus, if you fall short in delivering an impressive customer experience, chances are that people will not engage with your company long enough to discover the quality of your product. That’s why there’s no way to ignore the need for continually reimagining and improving user-brand interactions.
In this post, we will offer business owners actionable ways to improve the ecommerce customer experience.
Table of Contents
- Customer Experience is Your Pulse
- 3 Main Effects of Bad Customer Experience
- 3 Main Effects of Good Customer Experience
- How to Improve User Experience on Your Website
- Make sure your website is easy to navigate
- Add personalized product recommendations
- Ask customers for feedback
- Be transparent
- Offer assistance
- Final thoughts
Customer Experience is Your Pulse
By looking at recent statistics, it’s clear that customer experience is a vital area that determines how much revenue and recognition a company generates. Take a look at how the data below illustrates the full power of visitor engagement:
- 86% of customers are willing to pay extra for a high-quality customer experience.
- 84% of business owners who made a conscious effort towards improving the quality of customer experience reported an increase in income.
- 73% of customers believe that customer experience is a crucial factor in developing brand loyalties.
- Compared to the companies that don’t have a user-based focus, customer-centered businesses generate 60% more profit.
- For 81% of business owners, improving the quality of customer experience was a successful competitive differentiator.
In 2021, the value of customer experience is non-negotiable. Let’s take a closer look at how CX impacts brands, client acquisition, and customer retention.
3 Main Effects of Bad Customer Experience
What happens if a company fails to meet customer experience standards? Let’s take a look at the three negative issues that arise when businesses turn their focus away from the question of how to create a great customer experience online:
- Leads don’t convert. Since excellent customer service is a powerful conversion driver, a poor user experience could be your company’s conversion killer. By not connecting with prospects who submit your contact form, not offering an enjoyable mobile user experience, or not sending timely follow-ups, business owners lose the connection with engaged prospects.
- Reputation damage. In the age of social media, every customer you connect with should be treated like an influencer. If a shopper enjoys interacting with the company, they’re likely to share it with friends and colleagues on Facebook or Twitter. Similarly, dissatisfied customers will rant about their frustration on social media, potentially damaging the company’s reputation.
- Website rankings decrease. If business owners don’t put enough effort into creating an enjoyable user experience for website visitors, prospective customers will spend less time on the company’s web page. As a result, the website’s bounce rate will spike and Google algorithms will treat the page as irrelevant.
3 Main Effects of Good Customer Experience
Providing a stellar customer experience helps business owners attract more people and get them to share their experiences through word-of-mouth advertising. It also helps to improve customer loyalty and strengthen connections with prospects.
- Improves brand image. People generally love to share pleasant experiences. According to statistics, a satisfied shopper will tell approximately 11 people, on average, about a good customer experience. They, in turn, are likely to become a brand’s loyal customers.
- Sales increase. Statistically, recommendations are the most potent lead generation mechanisms. By getting more people to recommend the company to friends, family, and colleagues, company managers improve customer acquisition and drive more sales.
- Returning customers. Customer loyalty is easy to lose but hard to keep; however, encouraging a repeat customer to make a purchase is still five times cheaper than acquiring a new customer. That’s why business owners should try their best to stay in touch with first-time customers. Providing high-quality consulting and support is one of the most effective customer experience tools for ecommerce businesses.
How to Improve User Experience on Your Website
A company’s website is the first interaction between a user and the brand. It’s the cornerstone of customer experience — so it makes sense to go the extra mile to make people’s time on your webpage as enjoyable as possible.
Following these five tips will give business owners an actionable plan on how to improve online customer experience.
1. Make sure your website is easy to navigate
94% of customers name website navigation as a key component of an enjoyable user experience. Since navigation determines how easy it is to find out more about the product, it plays a huge part in driving conversions.
Here are a few quick tweaks website managers should implement for stellar navigation:
- Highlight hyperlinks
- Separate sidebars from the rest of the page
- Ensure 100% mobile-friendliness
- Use CTA (Call-to-Action) buttons
- Design a prominent footer
2. Add personalized product recommendations
Personalization is another powerful way to differentiate from competitors and attract more customers. 80% of shoppers are likely to buy a product if the offer is personalized.
Make the most of a personalized product recommendation by following these strategies:
- Gather visitor demographic (location, language, etc.) and behavioral data (which products the customer typically browses) and use these insights to lay the groundwork for personalized shopping.
- Use different product recommendation types (homepage banners, category suggestions, personalized search result galleries, and others).
- Define success metrics and track the efficiency of personalized offers. If it’s lower than the baseline, test and tweak the settings until they resonate with the target audience.
3. Ask customers for feedback
Asking customers for feedback is a win-win move for business owners. On the one hand, you make it clear to a client that their opinion is valuable — which strengthens the customer-brand connection. On the other hand, the data provided in client reviews help companies discover areas for improvement and refine customer journeys, user experience, or product quality.
If you are wondering about efficient ways to ask for feedback, here are a few omnichannel ideas to get started:
- Feedback forms
- Emails
- Live video chat
- Quick surveys
- Social media polls
4. Be transparent
As is the case for interpersonal interactions, honesty and transparency are vital in designing an effective experience that converts customers. Make sure your website features explicit descriptions of the following:
- Pricing models (avoid hidden fees)
- Shipping time and cost
- Online sales support and maintenance
- Customer feedback (don’t hide negative reviews — address them!)
Constant availability and readiness to communicate with customers also contribute to brand transparency.
5. Offer assistance
When it comes to online shopping, there’s often a wall between the store personnel and a shopper, which is why many people don’t feel confident in placing online orders.
Business owners can use technology to assist shoppers in decision-making. For example, company managers can add a video shopping plug-in to the website. Here are the benefits of real-time video assistance:
- Connects physical stores with the brand’s website.
- Helps improve ecommerce customer experience.
- Increases a shopper’s confidence.
- Builds a connection between prospects and salespeople.
Final thoughts
Customer experience is at the core of brand reputation and conversions. Business owners who don’t put enough effort into connecting with prospects lose leads and miss out on countless opportunities to drive revenue.
On the other hand, company managers who are thorough about creating exciting customer experiences get organic leads and maintain a stellar reputation.
There are a lot of innovative ways to improve customer experience — from optimizing online navigation to adding a video chat feature to the website.
Webliveview helps salespeople and business owners build long-lasting connections with prospective customers by offering personalized video shopping software. Find out more about our product and its benefits. If you are curious about using personalized sales assistance, write us a note!