If you’re working in the ecommerce industry, you’ve likely heard the term CX (or customer experience) before and may have come across articles defining CX or touting its importance. This influx of content on the subject is due to customer experience being a critical factor in every consumer-based company’s retention, growth, and profitability.
In fact, recent HubSpot research shows that 93% of shoppers report a willingness to repeat purchases from brands that provide a positive customer service experience. In other words, the happier your shoppers are and the more they enjoy interacting with your brand, the better your customer retention and sales will be.
Hence, the big question is: how do companies achieve such high consumer satisfaction? Keep reading to discover 9 pro tips from the support experts at Replyco that any seller can use to offer the best CX possible (and skyrocket brand loyalty).
Prioritize CX
It may seem obvious, but great CX starts with prioritizing it. Make sure you and your team members keep the customer experience top of mind when developing any branding, marketing, operational or developmental strategies.
CX should be prioritized in every company endeavor: from website development and inventory management to marketing outreach and customer service.
Be easy to contact & quick to respond
In case of questions, problems, or comments of your shoppers, getting in touch with you should never be difficult, nor should they ever have to wait long for a response from your team. Research shows that 90% of customers rate an immediate response as “essential” or “very important” when they inquire about a brand. Ways to simplify contacting you as well as increasing the speed of your response times include:
- Providing a contact page/contact information on your website.
- Offering customer service via live chat or instant messaging.
- Frequently checking all messaging channels for inquiries.
- Using helpdesk software to organize and keep up with customer messaging, ensuring nothing ever falls through the cracks.
Make shopping simple
Another major part of the CX is the ease with which shoppers can buy from your brand. That’s why it is critical to make every step of the customer journey as simple and hassle-free as possible. Here are a few ways to do so:
- Streamline the navigation on your website(s).
- Include FAQ pages and other help docs to answer common questions.
- Test the performance of all your customer-facing systems frequently and address any issues that may occur.
Offer self-serve options
Next up, offering self-serve options is vital to keep your focus on convenience and further improve CX.
Recent data shows that 69% of consumers first try to resolve issues independently; however, less than one-third of companies provide self-serve solutions. To enable your independently minded customers to find what they need without the obligation of taking time to contact you, offer them:
- FAQ pages.
- Knowledge bases.
- Help documents and troubleshooting tips.
- Apparel sizing charts and other item selection guides.
- Usage instructions for technical products.
- Terms and conditions, return policies, etc.
Anticipate issues & be proactive
CX depends heavily on your customer service, and a significant part of great support is anticipating issues and mitigating them before they occur. It will save you time by not having to address the same problems after the fact repeatedly. It will also keep your shoppers happier by ensuring they never even face certain inconveniences (or are at least made aware of them before they happen).
For example, order deliveries have been severely affected by the pandemic. If you know, something will likely cause such problems, reach out to your customers on the front end and let them know to expect longer shipping times than usual. That way, they will appreciate your honesty and proactiveness and also know what to expect rather than becoming upset when waiting for their items.
Go above & beyond
Here’s another big one: if you want to offer the best CX possible, you need to go above and beyond to take excellent care of your customers. That means:
- Being willing to try multiple solutions when addressing a customer issue.
- Taking the time to get the correct answers to questions.
- Contacting other departments for solutions when necessary.
- Staying with the interaction until the customer is delighted.
- Asking questions to understand a problem fully
- Following up with customers after service interactions to ensure they received the support they needed.
Create & adhere to CX processes
To further enhance CX, you need to implement fundamental strategies that your entire team will follow. That way, your customers get a consistent experience no matter which department or staff member they encounter.
Each of the tactics above needs to be integrated into your CX processes and then shared with your team. As you let employees know that shopping with your brand should be as easy and enjoyable as possible, support reps are expected to go above and beyond to provide great service as well as quick response times.
Continually update your CX strategy
Once you have your CX processes in place, it is of utmost importance to continually update them, which means collecting any customer experience data (e.g., feedback and website user behavior analytics).
Utilize any accessible information to improve your approach. Look at what’s working and what’s not, then adjust your strategies accordingly.
Use the right tools
Finally, boost every facet of your CX by using the right tools. For instance, ChannelEngine can help you keep every aspect of your stock management on point so customers can find the products they want and need at your store.
Moreover, Replyco helpdesk software for ecommerce enables online sellers to consolidate the customer messaging from all their selling channels into a single inbox, leading to lightning-fast response times and much happier shoppers.
It’s all about seeking solutions that can help you achieve your CX goals more comprehensively and efficiently. By using the right software and tools, you will be able to optimize your efforts in every aspect of your CX strategy (not to mention the rest of your business management practices).
Ready to take your CX, brand loyalty, and customer messaging to the next level? Start your free trial with Replyco today! Or learn more about how ChannelEngine and Replyco partner together to help sellers automate and level up everything from order management to customer support.
