Nowadays, almost everyone leads a dual life—one in the physical world and the other in the virtual world. And just like how we desire the niceties of life in the former, we yearn for the same in the latter.  

When you find a good e-commerce store to attain a product of your desire, you are greeted by a friendly website that is ready to help you choose the best product based on your requirement. 

It considers your budget and answers any questions that you may have during the process through custom filters. Ultimately, you leave the store with your desired product and a satisfying experience. 

Customer experience is the amalgamation of perceptions and feelings resulting from direct or indirect interactions with a brand. One way of such interaction is through the brand’s website.

In this article, we will look at some ways you can improve your e-commerce website experience for your customers.

1. Make your e-commerce website user-friendly.

Your e-commerce website is your store and salesperson, so it has to be visually appealing and easy to use. It should cater to visitors of all ages and be engaging enough to compel them to buy. 

This can be done by following some tips such as:

• Ensuring that the website layout is easy to navigate 
• Include clear call-to-action buttons
• Have detailed product descriptions 
• It should feature a proper color scheme to help customers find the places they need to click. 
• It should be optimized to load quickly
• It must be able to handle excess traffic without lagging
• It must be responsive – since most purchases are made using smartphones

Besides creating a clean and attractive layout, utilize high-quality organic images and videos from stock websites like Dreamstime.com instead of boring images from other search engines. 

2. Focus on the Customer

In the world of e-commerce, everyone has a better store, but no one is interested in what the customer wants, as most businesses are only focused on making money. 

What you need to do is to focus the spotlight on your customer. Instead of focusing on the “About us” page, focus on the “Why choose us” page. Simon Sinek calls this technique ‘start with why.’

Tell your customers why you are doing what you are doing. And instead of focusing on “we, me, or I,” focus on “you.” 

3. Stop Pestering People to Buy

No one likes salespeople who pester us to buy something and are only concerned about increasing their commission. Similarly, an e-commerce website focusing only on highlighting its products and not creating a satisfying customer experience will lose many visitors. 

To solve this problem, turn your e-commerce website into a problem-solving platform where customers ask questions and actively understand the answers.

Sometimes, this method may lead the customer to a specific product you have on sale. Of course, you might lose a sale today, but you will earn the regard and trust of the customer, who will return to buy from you. 

This loyalty will help in the long run as that same customer will refer your website to others, bringing in more leads. 

4. Guide Your Customers

Many of us, especially those buying something online for the first time, would highly appreciate proof of the reliability and durability of the product we want to buy 

Instead of pushing your customers to look for it on different social media platforms, save them a click and gain their trust by providing referrals from your prior customers through customer feedback and survey. 

5. Incorporate Content Marketing into Your Business

Not all of us are knowledgeable about the products we need. Help customers understand their purchase decisions better by integrating blog articles, tips, infographics, how-to guides, interviews, and videos into your e-commerce website. 

They will not only showcase your products but will also provide the customer with the essential information that they need regarding your product. 

Make sure to apply storytelling to your content because stories are 22 times more memorable than simple facts. 

6. Ensure Seamless Buying

Implementing a punchout catalog system can greatly enhance your ecommerce business by streamlining the purchasing process, improving efficiency, and enhancing the customer experience. With punchout catalogs, buyers can access your catalog directly from their procurement system, eliminating manual uploads and updates, reducing errors, and saving time for both parties. Integration with buyers’ procurement systems automates ordering, leading to faster processing and higher customer satisfaction.

We often see the concept of abandoned, leftover carts when we look at different e-commerce businesses. 

To ensure that your website doesn’t cause problems for your customers to abandon their purchase, make the buying process as smooth as possible. Don’t ask your customers to make an account before or after the purchase. 

Simplify the checkout process. Create a privacy policy to put your customers at ease regarding the confidentiality of their credit card information. Create a customer-friendly return policy with no extra hassle. 

Lastly, include a variety of payment methods to accommodate your customer.

7. Value your Customers

Show your customers how valuable they are to you by surprising them with incentives in the form of discounts, loyalty points, and promotions through email marketing or even after they purchase from your website. 

You can also add a small thank you note in the snail mail to make even the coldest, stone-hearted people smile. These simple but effective efforts will make your customers remember you and return for more. 

8. Provide The Customer with An Omnichannel Experience

Most people have at least 2-3 social media accounts where they spend most of their time. Many of them might not know about your existence. You can go to them through omnichannel marketing if they can’t come to you. 

Furthermore, adding visible contact information on your page will prevent new customers from turning away after stumbling upon some confusion. 

Conclusion

When you are in the e-commerce business, you have to be proactive. The new techniques that you read about and are excited to add to your website become obsolete the next day due to the cutthroat competition. 

Remember, it is easy for customers to find other, more reliable websites to buy what they want. To ensure that your customers remain loyal to you, you must stay ahead of the game and utilize unique strategies to create a satisfying customer experience.