Retailers often spend so much time focussing on the product they’re selling, it can become easy to forget about the basics. A new kitchen appliance or a new item of clothing is all well and good but if the online shopping experience is full of glitches, retailers are asking for a recipe for disaster. And with that in mind, we’ve put together five ways for retailers to ensure their website is always delivering.
Understand what your customers truly want
While it might seem like slashing prices left, right and centre on items might be the way to a customer's heart, the reality is - it couldn’t be any further from the truth. Our research shows that a hefty 44% of consumers would flatout not return to a site if they have a poor checkout experience. And with the plethora of retailer options being broader than ever, this just shows that the devil really is in the detail if customers are going to remain loyal. After all, attractive products can only take retailers so far. A converted transaction can only take place if a seamless process is embedded.
Have the right technology in place
With competition at an all-time high, it’s vital to have a strong ecommerce core in place. Much of these solid foundations rely on implementing the right technology from the get-go. Of course, there are always some issues that retailers simply cannot legislate for. However, with a focus on the key areas such as customer support, payment technology, security and data privacy, and accurate address capture and verification - a retailer can feel assured that they have the right pillars in place for success. With proper fundamentals in place, retailers can concentrate on dazzling customers with their product. Without them, the outcome is filled with dissatisfaction and dismay.
Be open to change
Every astute retailer knows their website can always be improved. The phrase ‘job done’ simply doesn’t exist, and there should be constant fine-tuning and finessing of what takes place behind the scenes. 42 percent of purchases on mobile phones are abandoned, 38 percent on laptops, and 36 percent on tablets. If every retailer were to convert these percentages into exact figures, we can only imagine the shockwaves it would send through the industry. And while we can’t attribute every missed sale to an inadequate website, making the necessary changes to ensure every transaction is a smooth experience would go a long way.
Protect your reputation at all costs
It goes without saying that customers have more outlets to vent than ever. If they have a bad experience, they certainly won’t hesitate to take to social media to tell others. Fortunately, our scientists uncovered the most annoying of the common online retail failures. The top three were:
Having an outfit delivered the day after you needed it.
Spending an hour queuing online for tickets only to have the website crash as you reach the front
Having a hotly anticipated delivery returned to the depot due to the address not being found
Knowledge is power - so by being aware of what their customers’ biggest triggers are, retailers can help avoid these and minimise the risk to their reputation in the future.
Don’t checkout at the checkout
Customers expect a great quality experience when they’re shopping on a brands’ website, but this experience isn’t over until the goods they bought are in their hands. A fantastic product achieves nothing without a seamless delivery experience - that starts with accurate address capture and verification. In fact, this is something that participants in our neuroscience experiment found to be most frustrating and our data shows that 36% of consumers say that better address capture and verification is the best way to improve an online checkout.
So whilst these may not be the only ways to ensure your website will flourish, retailers should use these fundamentals as a basis to start from. After all, without these, the finer intricacies of running a successful online business can’t be addressed either.
