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Launch Your First eCommerce Website : Shipping and Customer Service (Part 4)

Category: Customer Experience

Launch Your First eCommerce Website : Shipping and Customer Service (Part 4)
Mohab Customer Experience 0

Launch Your First eCommerce Website : Shipping and Customer Service (Part 4)

Focus on Shipping and Customer Service

This is the closing part of the transaction where the goods are delivered to the end customer. As the adage goes, All’s well that ends well, it is prudent to ensure a good customer experience on the shipping and service front so as to ensure repeat customers.

Thus, it is vital to have a well-defined shipping and packaging strategy in place. The order should be capable of continuous tracking, even by the customer with timely status updates. The following are the available options in managing order shipping:

  1. Managing the Shipping function

It would be a good idea to have an in-built shipping and order management feature in the e-commerce portal. This is a good step in the direction of transparency as well. Th customer would be able to select the preferred shipping method and pay accordingly. Some websites also have the option of priority delivery, in which case the customer can pay extra charges towards a particular shipping mode. The shipping tool can also be used to conveniently print packing slips and labels

  1. Shipping software and printing

It would be a good idea to have pre-tie ups with logistics partners that have a reputation of timely delivery. Often these third-party vendors also offer free installed software that are helpful in knowing the status of and the expected time of delivery. These pre-installed software can also aid in accurate labelling of the goods as per customer specifics. For example, some e-commerce merchants offer customized greetings on the labels, if the product is to be delivered as a gift etc.

  1. Advanced Order Management delivery Software

One may also consider cloud-based software that would provide real time information as to the rates being charged by various carriers for comparison with support for additional functionalities like drop ship order or inventory status like whether the goods were damaged in transit etc. Some carriers also offer insurance facility.

Important aspects to bear in mind:

  • Size and weight matters: The e-commerce merchant should select the shipping tool based on the business model. In case of shipping a few items in pre-defined box sizes and weights, it would be best to opt for an in-built shipping tool in the website with basic features. However, in case of shipping box sizes that different, managing multiple delivery channels or offering drop ship facility, it would be prudent to select an advanced shipping software with various features to cater to growing and diversified business needs.
  • Think today for tomorrow: Experts advocate opting for a shipping strategy based on the business needs of tomorrow. E-commerce business generally witness growth spurt and it might be difficult to upgrade shipping tools at a later stage. Often the shipping software have a lower price for initial plans which can be upgraded to the higher advanced versions as per business growth. This way one can compare the freight charges and the customer can choose the best based on cost-quality parameters.
  • Packaging options: The freight charges are largely dependent upon the size and weight of the goods to be shipped. The different types of packaging are standard boxes, mailers, envelopes, customized boxes with branding, subscription crates for high value or delicate items. To save on costs, it is important to select small sized, light weight packing materials that serve the purpose of protecting the goods during transit.
  • Customer service: Another important aspect is customer service post-delivery. It may often happen that the customer is dissatisfied with the condition of the product delivered or has changed his or her mind about buying the product. In such a case, it is imperative to have a website feature that records and captures the revised status of the transaction and ensures prompt refund to the customer in valid situations.

In conclusion, it might be a good idea to have the shipping and customer service function as part of the e-commerce website rather than outsourcing to a third party. This way the quality is assured. An efficient and prompt delivery has a long-lasting positive impact on the customer and would translate into further orders in the future.

In this series we walked you through the main steps to set up one’s first e-commerce portal. There is a no one size fits all approach. It’s prudent to test and try out different options, before deciding upon the unique mix that works best for one’s e-commerce business.

5 years ago
Increase your revenue from existing customers
Mohab Customer Experience 0

Increase your revenue from existing customers

Strategies to boost sales from existing customers

Merchants are often faced with the problem of stagnant or worse, diminishing revenues from existing customers. Constantly reinventing and innovating one’s service offerings, cross selling and reducing the customers’ pain points are key strategies to enhance revenue realisation from existing clients. We shall look into some of the winning strategies that can help merchants improve sales conversion from their existing customer base:

  1. Customer engagement: Interactions with the e-commerce merchant influence client perceptions. Superior post purchase support and FAQs on the website about the products are some examples. It is also a good idea to have a payment gateway process that includes easy grievance redressal for chargebacks. The feature should ideally ensure that the customer can provide the necessary documentation and the complete transaction details available with the merchant are also accessible. This would facilitate transparency and improve the credibility of the merchant.
  2. Winning customers’ loyalty: Merchants often face declined payments in case the customer fails to update his/her card data, resulting in card expiration issues. The payment solutions company can ensure smooth transaction processing with automatic data updating facility.This would also go a long way in improving customer experience and reduce order cancellation.
  3. Omnichannel payment option: Merchants can allow multiple payment options including digital payments via mobile applications, thus enabling 24*7 transactions. Thus, time and space will no more be limiting factors in online purchases.
  4. Quick authentication: A BCG survey estimates that the average e-commerce website requires shoppers to click 23 times before a purchase is completed. Merchants need to revamp the shopping experience and enable a one-click checkout with secure online payment systems. This would drastically reduce cart abandonment and revenue losses.
  5. Local payment solutions: Some customers would prefer to pay with familiar, local payment modes. Thus, the merchant should integrate a payment platform that supports alternative payment methods in local currency as well. This would help retain local customers, who might not be aware of global digital payment trends.
  6. Product differentiation: Merchants and payment providers can offer personalised recommendations to customers based on the data repository of past transactions. For example, in case of multiple saved cards, the website could suggest one of them as the primary card option based on the historical usage. Further merchants could also enable better site selection options, so that the customer undergoes minimum navigation through the website before purchase completion.
  7. Cross selling: One can also offer innovative payment features like instant financing, and flexible payback terms to encourage big ticket and frequent purchases
  8. Rewarding customers’ loyalty: A loyalty program with item discounts or freebies would positively impact website visits and sales size. The merchants can promote the benefits program by sending targeted -mail campaigns to existing customers with details of customized rewards and points status.
  9. Low cost payment option: A charge for using the payment gateway is often a big put-off for customers. Thus, merchants should integrate a convenient ‘plug and use’ payment portal, which is free of charge for the customer.
  10. Secure payment option: This is a critical aspect to ensure return customers. Merchants must ensure that the payment gateway and the e-commerce portal can securely store card tokens and confidential customer information. This would speed up the transaction time as the customer would not have to re-enter all the details each time before a purchase transaction.
  11. Expert advice: To further enhance customer appeal, one may also consider the inclusion of a knowledge section or blog with practical information on the transaction steps and the payment process. An educated customer would be more willing to return again for additional purchases.
  12. Keeping one’s ear to the ground: It might be a good idea to include an optional pop-up survey or a quick questionnaire to extract customer opinions or reviews on the ease of online operations and the product experience. This way one could address any shortfalls and win customers’ confidence.

With growing competition in the digital space, it is imperative that along with new customer acquisition, merchants devise innovative and strong strategies to grow business from existing customers. Providing excellent quality of payment experience, fostering customer trust through improved ease of online purchases, and winning a higher share of the customers’ wallet with quality products and service offerings are crucial for higher sales conversion from repeat customers.

5 years ago
Importance of Customer Reviews and How to Generate Them
Mohab Customer Experience 0

Importance of Customer Reviews and How to Generate Them

Word of mouth is the most vital medium for popularizing any business. Positive reviews are not the only kind that may be beneficial to a business, even though they are preferred. And establishing a positive image of your business isn’t the only benefit of online reviews.

Online reviews by the customers can also optimize search engine rankings. Popular review sites such as Yelp and Trip Advisor have been around for a long time and have an extensive database of information about businesses available.

Customer reviews also help by making it easy for buyers to choose what they desire. According to Bright Local’s consumer survey, 86% of the consumers read online reviews for local businesses, with 12% of consumers looking for a local business online every day. Surprisingly, 89% of the global customers read the responses to reviews.

Why Do Customer Reviews Matter?

According to Bright Local’s survey of local consumer reviews, consumers go through an average of seven reviews before trusting a business. These statistics were six in 2016. Also since the spread of the review culture, these businesses have seen the most growth and expansion. Other forms of businesses are also reviewed and referred to by consumers all around the world.

Online reviews not only influence consumers but also affect the visibility of these businesses in search engines. With regard to retail, the most influential factor for Google’s local search ranking is based largely on significance, location, and presence.

Out of these, location and significance are not affected by reviews. However, reviews have a major impact on the online presence of a business. Search engines like Google favor reputable review sites such as Yelp, so it is not uncommon for a small business’s Yelp or even Facebook page to rank higher in search results than its actual website.

Reviews can also be used as customer testimonials for the business website. Highlighting good reviews in social media posts and marketing campaigns may also result in further generation of reviews. Social media influencers can be vitally important while working toward growing your business presence online.

How to Collect Customer Reviews? 

Increasing positive customer reviews means growing consumer base. To get reviews from customers is not an easy task for an ordinary or new business. A great deal of effort has to be put in to generate reviews. Certain practices may be helpful in the generation of reviews. Some of these are:

  • Providing exceptional consumer service

Customers, when provided with good service are satisfied and would readily leave a review when asked for. The services include everything from providing online payment platforms to guiding the consumers in the best possible manner.

  • High-quality product or service

The product or service that a company provides is the main reason behind the customer’s satisfaction.

  • Requesting feedback/advice/suggestions regarding personal interests of the consumers

Attending to the customer and asking for their views on improving the business help to instill a friendly/family-like atmosphere for the customer, making them feel more involved and important.

  • Making it easy to receive feedback

Engaging the customers, even after the product has been sold is essential. This can be achieved by reviewing their purchase history and making recommendations regarding products that they might like.

  • Engaging customers online

Using the information about the customer collected from their purchase and sending emails regarding the product and its feedback, is a good way to make the customer feel engaged.

  • Active and logical responses to reviews

Actively responding to customers in a logical and compassionate way is vital for success in business. There can be positive reviews and negative reviews. Responding to both is equally essential.

Regular interaction with the consumer helps in maintaining a check on the quality of services, whether it’s about the best mode of delivery, online payment gateway, or cancellations & refunds. Regularly tracking reviews by making it a habit to check out various review platforms and social media outlets will help in the growth of the business. In this age of social media, online reviews are just the tool you need to make your business known.

5 years ago
How to Use Customer Feedback for improving User Experience?
Mohab Customer Experience 0

How to Use Customer Feedback for improving User Experience?

According to a report by Lee Resource, for every customer who complaints, there are 26 other unhappy customers who have remained silent.

This data shows exactly how important it is to understand what your customers are thinking. The only way you will know that is when you listen to your customers. Once you know what they want you to improve, you can decide how you can do it.

There are numerous ways to collect customer feedbacks, such as surveys, emails, product reviews, analytics reports, and so on. The question is how do you leverage customer feedback data to offer value to the users? Here we discuss ways to utilize customer feedback to derive maximum value and ultimately, enhance user experience and propel the growth of your organization.

Creating customer-oriented Products

Evolving trends and data analytics can give you an insight into what to create for the consumers. But customer feedbacks will provide extensive data like desired features, defects in products, problems with the processes, and so on. As customers are using products and services on a daily basis, they can identify areas that have a scope of improvement. They can give you ideas that you might have skipped in the planning stage. Identify customers who leave detailed and practical feedbacks, and invite them to collaborate and innovate with your team.

Discover New Possibilities

Reading customer feedbacks lets you analyze the demands of the consumers, thereby, instigating you to develop a new range of products and services. The emerging needs of the society compel consumers to ask for more. They discuss their problems and write about ideas or features in the reviews, surveys, and feedback forms. It’s your responsibility to assess available information, have a discussion with the team, and determine the future course of action.

You can also engage with the customers on the community forum, blogs, and ask technically-inclined individuals to review and submit feedback. This is a great way of accumulating crucial information.

Engage with Customers

Customer feedbacks are not just about spearheading innovation and development. You can actually use customer feedbacks to strengthen bonds with your existing and new customers. For example, if customers leave either a positive or a negative feedback on the product listing, engage with them, appreciating them for rendering a positive response and addressing their grievances in case of a negative response. When you engage with the customers, you build trust that will be fruitful for your business in the long run.

Moreover, you can request satisfied customers to refer your products or services to their contacts on social media or by personally communicating with them. This is an excellent technique of mouth publicity to grow your sales.

Addressing Bugs

The research and development wing maybe doing a commendable job when it comes to designing products, releasing updates, and integrating new technologies. But the customer feedback shows the real image when it comes to overall experience with respect to a product or service. For example, if the majority of the customers complain about the payment gateway process, you should dig further and identify the weak areas. Based on reviews, you can learn about the bugs that can be addressed. This will improve the quality and also prevents any blunders in the future.

Building a Roadmap for the Future

If you are a businessperson, you must have a long-term vision to establish your brand. However, your roadmap may not be aligned according to the customer expectations. You have deployed everything to be on the right track. But if customer feedback is not on your list, do it right away. The feedbacks will generate enough data for you to determine and implement the future course of action. Let’s say you are into payment gateway services, and you have got some feedbacks about integrating UPI payments. You can consider this suggestion and incorporate UPI options for taking payments online, a clear sign of product improvement.

 

Your customers are human beings, influenced by emotions. Try to engage with them emotionally to know about their genuine views, ask for ideas and improvements, and enhance their experience. This will establish your credibility, thereby, paving the path for your success.

6 years ago
Five Tips to Increase Customer Retention
Mohab Customer Experience 0

Five Tips to Increase Customer Retention

If your company’s focus is solely on customer acquisition, you need to pause and reconsider your strategy. A study by Bain & Company in collaboration with Earl Sasser of the Harvard Business School shows that a 5% increase in customer retention rates increases profits by 25% to 95%. That should be enough motivation to focus on customer retention for your business.

Let’s first understand the “why” of Customer Retention –  

Some of the reasons to invest more in customer retention include:

  • Customer retention is cheaper than acquisition.
  • Loyal customers are more profitable than new customers.
  • Long-term customer relations boost your brand reputation
  • Repeat purchases from repeat customers translate to repeat profit especially when you accept payments online
  • Loyal customers are less price-conscious than new customers
  • Loyal customers stand by your brand even in tough times
  • Loyal customers offer free word-of-mouth advertising
  • Retained customers offer valuable feedback

Now that we have established why you must have a customer retention strategy, here are some tips which can help you build that plan.

Tips to increase customer retention

Like with any other business strategy, you have to be proactive and innovative to increase customer retention. The following are customer retention ideas you can implement for your business:

  1. Create a VIP program for your customers

The status an individual achieves in life can motivate them to act in a particular way.  When you accord your loyal customers an elevated status and give them exclusive offers, they become motivated to stick with your brand. They feel honored and their new status creates a sense of belonging and they will continue shopping with you.

  1. Target customers with special offers

The best CRM tools will also provide a lot of data about your customers. A customer’s purchase history comes in handy when you want to create specially targeted offers for them. Targeted marketing not only increases conversion but also builds a strong bond between your brand and the customer.

  1. Be where your customers are

If you want to compete in your industry, you have to keep up-to-date with consumer behavior and be present where they are available. If your data shows most customers are on social media, make sure you invest in a social media strategy and interact with your customers here. You have to provide a consistent and seamless experience on all channels if you expect to retain customers.

  1. Go big on feedback and act on the information

If you don’t understand your customers, there is no way you will improve customer retention. If for instance, you have installed a new feature on your site, you need to get reactions from your loyal customers and act fast on the information. Don’t believe your team alone but ask for regular customer feedback and leverage it to increase customer retention.

  1. Build a consistent customer experience

To build trust with your customers, you need to provide a consistent user experience.  For this reason, map out a consistent customer experience such that your customers can rely on you to always come through. Don’t offer nasty surprises thinking that it is a revolutionary move.

In essence, customer retention requires a clear-cut strategy touching all areas of your business. From your free payment gateway for website to the customer service support, use these tips to increase customer retention.

 

6 years ago