5 ways to boost customer enjoyment with an online store
Venturing into e-commerce for the first time? You need to be putting your customers first – but with an online store, it involves some different techniques to physical retailers.
Here are just five ways to ensure your customers are enjoying your online store, spurring them to return in the future.
Have an engaging design
Potential customers won’t stick around for very long if your store’s design isn’t appealing. It’s important to consider the current trends of web design and where others in the market succeed in their appearance; flat design, minimalism and cleanliness are key when it comes to websites today, and it looks to stay that way for a significant amount of time.
Your products and services should do all the talking when it comes to your online store. A garish and ugly website that’s difficult to navigate will ensure the antithesis of success, and customers will almost certainly look elsewhere – to keep them around, your store’s design is almost certainly the most important factor.
Ensure your customer service is on top form
Once customers are convinced to buy from your store, you’ll want them to become regulars. To build those vital relationships with buyers, customer service is paramount. Be sure to give customers a way to get in touch if need be, and always follow through on promises, whether it be in regard to the quality of your product to delivery times and everything in between.
Phone calls are often said to be the most effective method of building relationships between buyers and companies, so if it’s feasible consider setting up a number for people to call. If not, emails are the next best option – so long as you’re communicating clearly and quickly with your customers, they’ll likely be willing to return.
Offer something different to the norm
“Niche marketing” should be your best friend when it comes to e-commerce. Don’t get it confused with a niche market, though. A niche market limits you severely as you won’t be catering to a large group of potential customers – there isn’t a massive demand with niche markets, due to a much smaller audience.
Niche marketing, on the other hand, aims for a completely opposite effect. It’s all about finding your own space in a market that is perhaps oversaturated or tired, with the same products being recycled and churned out by every competitor. Offer something new, and customers will see you as an innovator, effectively drawing them towards you.
Make sure you’re on a reliable server
To avoid any periods of downtime or slow speeds on your online store, you need to ensure you’ve made the right choice in terms of servers. There’s two ways you can go – a shared server is the more affordable option for those on a budget, but when sharing with another domain you’re at more of a risk of being overloaded, leading to effective downtime which may drive customers to look elsewhere.
A dedicated server, albeit more expensive, is the more reliable option for stores seeking exponential growth. It’s likely you’re looking to expand and keep growing in terms of buyers, so this could be the right choice for you. There’s a wealth of potential hosting providers to help you with this process – make sure you’re choosing the right one for you.
Security is key for reliability
Establishing an online store isn’t without its risks. With the threat of security breaches so rife and real in e-commerce, it’s crucial you’re protecting both yourself and your customers.
With attacks such as SQL injections common on online stores, the risk of confidential details being exposed and your store facing major repercussions is simply too high to ignore. Ensure you have a good level of protection in place to avoid any detriment to your safety.
Do you have any more tips to boost customer enjoyment in e-commerce? Be sure to let us know in the comments below
