COVID-19 has proven the need for a transactional medium that can hold up when people can’t visit stores. But you must consider a few concerns when operating an online business. Ahead, we cover some of the biggest challenges in e-commerce.
Customer Disconnect
Customers can end up feeling disconnected from businesses online, especially since they can’t talk to staff or peruse products in person. This means it’s harder to attract people and keep them loyal to your particular brand. You must set yourself apart with a unique voice and style on your website.
To form a connection with customers, you should offer loyalty programs and provide excellent customer service. Loyalty programs will reward those who return to shop from your business with exclusive gifts, discounts, and news. And though you can’t interact with people in person, your business can still provide superb customer service with multiple channels for communication and prompt responses to questions. You can use avenues like email, phone, and social media to show customers that you care. Customers also appreciate the ability to chat live with a representative. This allows people to receive answers to inquiries immediately.
Shopping Cart Abandonment
People abandoning their shopping carts is one of the biggest challenges in e-commerce. This happens when people place items into their virtual shopping cart, but don’t proceed to buy them. They may do this because they get distracted by something else or lose interest.
To minimize this occurrence, you can design your website to send people email notifications that remind them when they’ve left items in their virtual shopping cart. You should also ensure people can easily move from product pages to the checkout page. Remember that you’ll have to design different formats for both computer and phone users so people can buy your products on any device.
Excessive Returns
Many customers prefer to touch or see the products that attract them before committing to purchases. This can lead to excessive returns, which complicates logistical matters for e-commerce businesses. This makes it harder for them to manage inventory and can cause them to lose money paying for fulfillment. You should also watch out for bracketing. This describes instances in which customers purchase multiple variations of a product to choose the best one and then return the rest.
You can combat bracketing and general returns using a number of methods. For one, you can try to make your product pages as detailed as possible. Besides providing pictures that show multiple angles of a product, you could also list information like material composition, care instructions, and exact dimensions. That way, customers can better judge whether they truly want the item. Some businesses are also turning to phone app technology that allows people to try on clothes and accessories virtually through the use of their phone cameras and specific software.
Image by: https://elements.envato.com/young-warehouse-worker-packing-ecommerce-shipping–X93KK9N
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