E-commerce is all the rage today.
Anyone with products to sell is setting themselves up online.
The reason?
Businesses today don’t just want to sell, they want to gain an exposure, they want to reach out far and wide! As a result, the online competition is growing more intense.
Now the question is, who survives this competition?
Well, the one who knows all that customers want from their e-commerce store! Read on to know what they actually want your online store to have?
A fast-loading speed:
Setting yourself up online is only a way of keeping up with the competition today. However, that, in no case is enough. It’s absolutely useless to have an enticing e-commerce store and having all your great products at fantastic prices if your website takes ages to load.
As a matter of fact, the e-commerce websites are prone to speed issues owing to the high number of images and security features needed for successful shopping. However, that should not be given out as an excuse for the slow speed. Instead, efforts should be made to, from code level up is optimised for fast loading speed.
Security:
Customers today are smarter and more informed and the security of their data tops their priority list. So, when they wish to shop online, they find places where they feel safe.
An SSL certificate is the most important component that helps create trust between an e-commerce store and online shoppers. SSL is an encryption system that ensures the privacy of data exchanged between a customer and a website.
Now, it’s imperative that if you do not want to lose any of your potential customers, you have to let them know that their credit card details and other personal information are safe.
Social proofs:
WOM marketing is stronger than any other marketing tool for any business today, no matter whether online or offline. In today’s digital era, customers search for the things they desire online. Since they have to make their purchasing decision based on just what they see, the only thing they can rely on is the social proofs that they see.
So, you have to showcase customer reviews, ratings and testimonials in order to make the decision process easy for your customers. Reviews, no matter good or bad not only reduce the risk of making a bad purchase, they also:
i) show that the online seller is trustworthy
ii) they consist of a wider variety of keyword phrases in addition to the ones that appear on your pages hence improving your website’s SERP ranking.
High quality, descriptive images:
When people shop online, they cannot use all of their senses. They have to make their purchasing decision just on the basis of what they say. In fact, online shopping is all about the visuals that let the products speak for themselves.
So, the best thing to do is to put up a number of useful images for each product. Next, provide detailed descriptions of the product so as to assist customers in understanding what the product looks like, as well as explaining some of the key features of the item.
A transparent checkout process:
Do you know what’s the main reason for customers abandoning their carts just when they are about to check out?
Well, it’s the surprise that they get when the hidden shipping prices finally show up. Nobody likes a surprise that’s more of a shock to him/her!
So, ensure that there are no hidden shipping or delivery charges. If your store charges a particular amount, state it clearly!
Personalized offers:
Who doesn’t like feeling special?
In this era of AI, machine learning and big data, an e-commerce site can gather a lot of customer data right from a customer’s interests to his/her buying patterns. This data can then be used for personalizing a sale with a special offer, incentive or coupon. After all, that’s how you build strong online customer relationships!
A live chat assistance:
Last but not the least, customers want someone to be there to assist them whenever they are stuck.
So, a live chat assistance powered by well-trained live chat agents should be provided to the website visitors. No matter whatever a customer’s issue is, whether it’s related to the payment procedure or an exclusive offer, the agents should be efficient enough in resolving it and providing an excellent customer service!
Does your e-commerce website have all of these elements?