Today’s Ecommerce shopping is no longer just about sales transaction. In the early days of the internet, online shopping was simple: The visitor selected an item, clicked the checkbox, submitted their payment, and waited for their order to arrive. There weren’t many online stores, and many were just an online version of their brick-and-mortar counterpart. Today’s savvy online customers expect more. Online shopping has become an experience with a customer journey that rivals a visit to the store. A well curated customer journey gives shoppers an experience that will keep them coming back, increase revenues, and grow your business.
What is the Ecommerce customer journey?
At its most basic, the customer journey is a path leading to the successful purchase of your product or service. Every step of this journey, from awareness, to conversion, to retention and advocacy, is important because it gives your brand an opportunity stand out and be memorable. Many of the world’s most recognizable brands take advantage of the customer journey to delight their customers. Remember your last online purchase. What was your experience? Were there recommendations for related products? Did it take fewer than four clicks to get to the order page? Did they remember your previous information? Did you receive a confirmation email with a branded tracking page giving you up to date information on your order?
Like a good sports official, a well-executed customer journey goes by unnoticed, but creates a seamless experience that keeps customers coming back.
5 Ways to Improve Your Customer Journey
1. Understand and Leverage Each Step of the Customer Journey
It is difficult to understand what you can’t measure. That is why the first step of improving the customer journey is to map it. Every customer journey is unique, but once you understand yours, make sure your customers are having the best customer experience at each step. Then take the journey yourself and see your ecommerce store through the eyes of your customers. Make sure it is a journey you would enjoy and that your customers get from beginning to end as easily as possible and with no confusion.
2. Optimize the Customer Journey for Every Platform
With so many devices being used to go online, every shopper has the potential to experience your online store differently. Test your customer journey on every possible device and make sure there are no issues with product information, checkout, or payment processing. Customers should see what they are supposed to see regardless of whether they are using a laptop, a smartphone, a desktop, or a tablet.
3. Don’t Waste Your Customers’ Time
Despite how loyal a customer is to your brand, their focus is still to log on, place their order, and move on. Make sure their time spent with your brand is not only enjoyable, but also efficient. Keep your customer within four clicks of check out and make sure upsells and cross promotions make sense. Make the customer journey a logical path. Don’t offer a discount on men’s pants if the customer is buying women’s shoes and don’t show an ad for Ford accessories when your customer is a Chevy owner.
4. Know Your Customer and Your Customer Relationship
In a relationship, your partner expects you to remember the little details: Birthdays, Anniversaries, Holidays, etc. An ecommerce relationship is similar; when a customer returns to your store, remember their name, their preferences, and special occasions. Make the customer journey a familiar one and the customer is more likely to come back and maybe even bring a few friends with them.
5. Don’t Forget Your Customer After the Sale
Much has been written about the post purchase experience and for good reason. Perhaps the most important part of the customer journey is how it ends. Finish the journey strong with a highly customizable branded tracking page. Take the opportunity when the customer is waiting for their order to arrive to strengthen brand loyalty with a branded tracking page that gives the customer the information they need and shows them what else you can do for them.
Conclusion
By creating an exceptional customer journey, your ecommerce shoppers will go from a mere transaction to a curated customer experience and, perhaps, become brand enthusiasts. Knowing that you have their best interests in mind will go a long way towards having them return for more, buying more items from you, and even telling their friends.
Let WISMO help you create a customer journey that will delight your customers and keep them coming back.
