Five Tips for Improving Your eCommerce User Experience

There is much more to selling online than simply creating a website and listing your products. Today’s consumers want a great shopping experience from start to finish. Starting a relationship off on the right foot with a new customer is important to convert them into a regular paying customer. Below are five tips for improving your eCommerce User Experience to create an engaging website that increases sales.

Be an expert

Consumers today aren’t just looking for products, they’re looking for a knowledgeable resource that will help them solve a problem, optimize their time, and provide value beyond just a material possession. No matter what industry you’re in, being an expert is important. Offer reviews or testimonials from top industry professionals, or create a deep resource full of helpful content. Utilize topic clusters, an SEO strategy that not only provides a ton of valuable content, it also can improve your rankings on Google.

Keep it real and make it personal

Honesty and authenticity are traits that many consumers look for in a brand. If you want potential customers to be excited about a product, share your own excitement! Be quick to answer customer questions, and give them real and honest answers. Personalize a user’s experience by using their first name on your website. Or, use an eCommerce-centric email platform like MailChimp or Dotdigital to create personalized emails. You can also personalize a user’s experience based on where they are in the buying process. If a customer feels like they are getting individual attention and excellent customer service, they will not only be happy to buy from you, they will spread the word.

Build a community and give back

Make your product and business a part of something bigger. Let your company’s values shine and encourage visitors to share their stories on your website or social media.  In today’s digital world, selling a product is about creating an experience that people want to be a part of. In addition, showing off that you regularly give back to the community that you’re a part of shows people that you’re socially conscious and responsible. These are highly valued traits, desired by customers. Building your brand is crucial to building a successfully consistent user experience.

Provide excellent customer service

If a person signs up for your email list, makes repeat purchases, or gives a referral to a friend, let them know how much you appreciate what they’ve done. Offer them something of value that is specific to your product or industry. A promo code, coupon, ebook, or some other exclusive content is a great draw. From there, keep building happy customers. Provide a multi-channel customer service solution.  Ask them to write a review on social media or a testimonial for your website, or get them to spread the word in another way.

Re-think your web design

Imagine you’re a consumer and track how many steps it takes to find a product and purchase it. Compare your design to sites you personally love, and always keep it simple. The fewer steps it takes to make a purchase, the more sales you’ll see. In addition, you can split test two different site designs to see which one scores more conversions. Improving the path-to-purchase for your customers from search to shipment will increase sales and create repeat customers.

Even if you have an innovative product, it won’t sell if you don’t market it correctly. However, if you spend a lot of time and effort on creating a unique customer experience, you’ll see conversion rates begin to increase. Give users what they want – valuable content, expert knowledge, and a feeling of being appreciated and belonging to something.

If you’d like to learn more about how to create a great user experience that will generate the sales your business needs, contact us.