Throughout 2020, due to the effects of the global pandemic, the already growing online retail market outperformed all expectations. As an online retailer, you may already have felt the benefits, but there is no room for complacency – competition is also growing, and consumers are demanding ever-higher levels of value and service.
It’s not enough to offer great products at great prices. The only way to stay ahead is to offer a great experience to every customer who visits your site. Here are some of the basics you should be looking at to keep your business thriving
1. Optimize the way you respond to your customers
With so many options now open to them, few customers will have the time or patience to deal with a company that appears slow or inefficient. Get your processes in order. How long does it take to respond to customer queries which come in via various channels? For example, you may have a standard ‘within a working day’ response time to emails, but most customers expect a 1-hour response time. What about Facebook or Instagram queries (which can also be viewed by many potential customers)? What are the hours when you’ll answer a phone call? Businesses that go ‘offline’ from Friday afternoon until after coffee on Monday morning are unlikely to impress anyone.
Consider what are you doing to personalize your response. While automated tools can be valuable in dealing with routine queries, if customers have to repeat a request more than once, there’s a danger that they’ll decide it’s not worth the effort and take their business to a competitor.
2. Deliver what you promise
Once a purchase has been made, customers want to see and touch what they’ve paid for –right now. For example, a fashion retailer may have customers who are looking today to buy something they want to wear tomorrow. Ten working days or suchlike just isn’t of any interest in today’s fast-paced environment. Whether you’re selling high fashion or office furniture, fast delivery, even same-day delivery, can make the difference you need, helping you to stand out from the competition and giving people an incentive to buy from you again. Establish an ongoing relationship with a reliable courier company to ensure the most effective pricing strategy.
3. Harness the power of feedback
When customers criticize you on social media, they’re giving you a valuable gift. Take any criticism on board, ask yourself if there’s an opportunity to improve your service, that you hadn’t spotted. People will respond positively to companies that show they’re willing to admit their mistakes, then learn and respond to customer needs. Engage in dialogue with those who give you feedback and you’ll strengthen the perception of your brand and what you stand for.
Overall, to thrive in these challenging and exciting times, it’s your responsiveness on every level that will define whether you thrive or stagnate. Make it effortless for customers to interact with you at every potential point of contact. Speed up your processes to provide fast and reliable service. It may be a cliché, but by exceeding your customers’ expectations you’ll be on the surest path to long-term success.