If you head to a retail store to purchase the latest items on your wishlist, then you’ll most probably be greeted by a friendly salesperson who will make themselves available throughout the journey.
With the modern-day rise of eCommerce stores, online shopping should be no different.
Whether you’re running a successful eCommerce business, thinking of launching your first store, or even starting an Amazon FBA business, customer satisfaction should be one of the top metrics on your priority list.
The experience customers have when interacting with your store and, more specifically, their satisfaction in the journey, speaks to how your brand communicates with its customers, how likely they are to come back, and whether they will recommend the store to a friend.
Customer satisfaction isn’t only helpful to businesses. It’s becoming a necessity in today’s highly competitive eCommerce landscape.
Due to rising customer expectations, companies that offer above-average customer experiences grow revenues 4-8% above the market rate.
Wondering how you can achieve such numbers? Below we’ve provided 4 unusual ways to boost customer satisfaction on your eCommerce website.
Improve Employee Satisfaction
When you’re thinking about customer satisfaction, the first (and probably only) thing you’re usually focusing on are your customers.
What you might want to consider is how motivated your employees are in landing the helping hand.
Companies that deliver excellent customer experiences have employees that are 60% more engaged and happy employees create happy customers.
To improve your employee satisfaction rates, you should find the right ways to address your employee’s needs, challenges, and achievements.
Whether it’s a regular check-up, surveys, improvement programs, wellness activities, or corporate gift boxes, letting your employees know how valuable their contribution is will undeniably go a long way in improving your company culture and productivity.
Surprise Your Shoppers
With so many options available for online shopping, standing out of the crowd often means introducing something unexpected.
One of the best ways to do this is to create surprises throughout the customer journey to increase customer satisfaction.
Take, for example, the usual free shipping offer; you can improve sales by taking this strategy a bit further.
You might think about offering different shipping options based on customer preferences or a surprise offer mentioned during the checkout process.
These small efforts will likely encourage the shopper to come back or spread the word about your perks with their network.
The best way to surprise your customers is to offer coupons, discounts, or special offers on different occasions.
These may include:
- Emailing reward or loyalty points after customers finish their purchase;
- Send out thoughtful emails, cards, or handwritten notes with the delivery of packages;
- Implement new programs and promotions, like referrals;
- Send gifts such as t-shirts or accessories to your most loyal customers.
Trust Your Employees Will Make The Right Call
Solving customer service issues ultimately comes down to the people representing the business.
Although a popular approach may be to provide clear instructions to your support staff or require a confirmation from management before responding to a client request, a very effective way to ensure customer satisfaction is to support your staff in their decision to make the right call.
Empowering customer service representatives places them in a unique position to create a valuable experience out of every customer interaction.
Such freedom includes the right tools for obtaining needed information, the flexibility to make decisions on the spot, and the opportunity to keep all communications casual and fun.
This kind of strategy does not only increase customer satisfaction but can also engage and motivate your employees.
Businesses that place trust in their employees are often the ones that achieve the best results and stand out in the industry.
Deliver An Omnichannel Experience
One of the most nerve-wracking experiences customers face is dealing with various company representatives who seem to have no information regarding the customer’s previous interactions with the business.
This can get especially complicated if the customer is using different platforms to communicate.
With the development of digital communication platforms, 75% of consumers expect a consistent experience across the different channels, be it web, social media, or face-to-face communication.
Unsurprisingly enough, many companies have not yet streamlined this experience.
To ensure that customers are not challenged with repeating the same concerns to various agents on your team, you should include key information online, such as delivery or pick-up options, and train your employees with all the necessary information.
Alternatively, you might want to consider creating an efficient customer information system that feeds the necessary details to any employee accessing the database.
Final Words
The cutthroat competition in the eCommerce market has saturated product features and raised customer expectations more than ever before.
While businesses should, to some extent, rightfully obsess over their product, the positive interactions a business has with its customers will almost surely create a longer-standing relationship.
While covering the basics like adding contact details on your website and responding to emails might be the first necessary step towards good customer support, providing a stellar customer experience requires thinking a step further.
Some of the unusual, or rather unexpected actions you can take to boost customer satisfaction on your eCommerce business include:
- Improve employee satisfaction;
- Surprise your shoppers;
- Trust your employees to make the right call and
- Deliver an omnichannel experience.
