Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 0 According to recent research, 35% of shoppers have had a remarkable shopping experience within the past six months. The companies that cumulatively make up that statistic are intentionally setting themselves apart from their competition, so that their customers have the best shopping experience possible. If you want your company to join the ranks of retailers offering exceptional online shopping, here are the crucial elements you should pay attention to — according to the customers themselves: 1. Tracking/ Documentation Capability Twenty-eight percent of customers say that recording, printing and saving copies of interactions with a brand is important to them. For the customer’s peace of mind and satisfaction, you should make sure that your business provides opportunities to record interactions between the customer and the person representing your business. This means that when the customer places an order, you should provide a confirmation page with tracking numbers so they can follow the item as it’s in the process of being shipped. 2. Accessibility Thirty-seven percent of customers say that having the option to follow up with the same person who was initially providing assistance is an important factor of their customer experience. They want consistency. The ability to talk to the same person alleviates a lot of the stress and frustration that comes with having to explain themselves over and over. Your company should keep logs of customers who have called in with issues, detailing who the customer is, who was helping them and a brief description of the problem. This way, when a customer calls and asks to speak to whoever was helping them earlier, their call can be transferred quickly and easily to the right person. 3. Friendliness As simple as it sounds, it can’t be stressed enough: being friendly matters. When asked what makes for an exceptional online shopping experience, 45% of customers said friendliness was a key element, especially when it comes to their interactions with customer service representatives. Nobody wants to deal with someone who’s rude and abrasive, so make sure your customer service representatives are well aware of the tone and attitude they convey. They should be courteous, polite and friendly at all times, no matter what. 4. Efficiency Customers want to be able to check out quickly and efficiently. Give them the option of checking out as a guest rather than forcing them to create an account. For the customers who do create an account, make it a quick and easy process. Stick to just the bare minimum information you need, putting required fields at the top of the page and optional ones towards the bottom. Efficiency also matters when it comes to a customer’s problems. Customers don’t want to wait around all day or have to contact you repeatedly to have their problems solved. Eighty-two percent of customers want a quick resolution of their issues; otherwise, they could become frustrated and never want to shop with your company again. Your company representatives should do all that they can to listen to the customer’s problem and then troubleshoot to the best of their ability. If they can’t solve the problem, enlist the help of someone who can. But the bottom line is: that problem better be solved ASAP. 5. Empowerment If you want the online shopping experience you provide to be really effective, you should empower your customers to make informed purchasing decisions. You can do this by offering in depth information about the products you sell. Answer questions such as: Who makes the product? What is it made out of? What are the unique features of the product? You should also include pictures of the product, giving customers the option to zoom in and out for up close views. Some items, such as shirts and sweaters, should come with a 360-degree view so customers can see what the item looks like from the front and the back. Also, an item that is action oriented, such as a set of resistance bands or a skateboard, should be displayed with a video to model the product being used. Include information about the price of each item and its availability. Customer reviews need to be included as well. A customer who is on the fence about buying a certain product could be swayed to buy if they read a glowing review from someone who’s just bought the product they’re considering. 6. Clarity Make your call to action clear and noticeable through bold highlighted text so that customers know where to go when they want to add something to their cart and when they’re ready to check out. You should also keep the shopping cart easy for them to see and access so they can add items to it as they wish. Make your shopping carts persistent so that if a customer logs out before completing their transaction they will see the same items still in their cart the next time they log in. An effective CTA is simple and gets the message accross without any confusion. Ideally, the CTA should convince visitors to click through to receive a promised benefit. Here’s a suitable example from Raybuck: This is a strong example because the message is simple (for a specific product) and there’s nothing too flashy going on. We get two product pictures, a brief description, and a client testimonial on the side. Some CTAs try to accomplish too much. They flaunt multiple savings or discounts and overload with graphics. This dilutes the messaging power of a CTA. In addition to clear calls of action, information about the cost should also be clear. Factor in things like tax and shipping costs during the check out process so that customers are aware of how much they will be paying. The last thing you want is for them to get angry over a fee they didn’t know they would have to pay. If you want your online customers to become customers for life, providing a great shopping experience is key. Follow the steps listed above, and your site will soon be swarmed with shopping carts! Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article was written for Business 2 Community by Kane Pepi.Learn how to publish your content on B2C Author: Kane Pepi Kane Pepi is an experienced financial and cryptocurrency writer with over 2,000+ published articles, guides, and market insights in the public domain. Expert niche subjects include asset valuation and analysis, portfolio management, and the prevention of financial crime. Kane is particularly skilled in explaining complex financial topics in a user-friendly … View full profile ›More by this author:VoIP Basics: Everything Beginners Should Know!Bitcoin Investment, Trading & Mining: The Ultimate Guide for BeginnersIs This a Better Way to Set Your 2020 Goals and Resolutions?