The Most Important Aspects of Customer Experience, Part 2

In our previous post, we discussed why communication is important to customer experience (CX) and how changes to your communication strategy can translate into improvements in customer experience. But while communication is very important, it’s not the only aspect of CX that matters. What it’s like to use your website and making your customers feel valued are also important parts of your overall CX.

Your Website’s User Experience (UX)

One reason why the ecommerce industry has been so successful is the combination of efficiency that it offers consumers. To give your customers a good experience, your website needs to be as fast and convenient as possible – on desktop and mobile. Your overall goal should be to make the path to purchase as frictionless as possible. To do that, you’ll want to:

• Consider the layout and the ease with which consumers can navigate to the products they want and buy them. Generally, the fewer steps it takes to buy something online, the higher the chance of conversion. Look for ways to declutter your site’s navigation, consolidate product categories, and streamline the checkout process.
• Make sure the site is free of bugs and loads pages quickly – especially during spikes in traffic.
• Write useful product descriptions so shoppers have all the information they need to make a decision. Written descriptions educate shoppers about the product’s functions and features, specs and measurements, and advantages over similar products. However, you don’t want to frustrate your users with a wall of text – so keep your product descriptions short and to the point. When possible, summarize the key selling points in a bulleted list and let your images and/or videos do the rest.

Personalization

To provide a great customer experience, personalization is crucial. Some website features like product suggestions help provide shoppers with a more personalized experience. However, for many companies, it’s their current approach to email marketing that stands to benefit the most from personalization. You may think that email ads and promotions do the job engaging your customers, but the problem with one-size-fits-all messaging is that it’s not terribly interesting. A few ideas you can use to personalize your email marketing include:

Thank You Notes – sending a thank you email with specific information about the customer’s recent purchase (including product usage tips, useful accessories, or links your blog posts they may be interested in). Thank you notes packed into the customer’s order are also an excellent personalized touch that shows them your appreciation.

Milestones – First-time sign-up anniversaries, birthdays, or other events are all great reasons to celebrate with your customers. In addition to a commemorative discount, consider using further personalization in your email by including recently browsed items, wish lists, or recommendations based on previous purchases. Remember to emphasize how much you appreciate them choosing your site.

Review Reminders – Show customers that their input is valuable by sending customized follow up emails after purchases for product reviews. Be sure to include a link to the product and prompts for writing the review to make it easy to get started. Not only will you gain valuable insight about your product offerings, but you’ll strengthen the bond with your customers and increase the content of your website.