5 Things Ecommerce Customers Actually Want from Your Store
Who better to ask how an ecommerce store should operate than those who use them?
You may know your business better than anyone else and have a decent understanding of your primary target audience. But when it comes to the simple yet essential attributes that matter most, you must ask your customers who know best.
Compiled based on several separate studies, these are the five most important things people want from your online store:
Fast and Uncomplicated Free Shipping: First, a 2015 study by Walker Sands found that 83% of online shoppers consider free shipping a priority. Since then, the figure has edged ever closer to 100%. Therefore, the call for free shipping among online shoppers is nothing new. Today, consumers expect shipping that’s not only free but also fast and uncomplicated.
It is just as unappealing as paid shipping is being expected to spend large sums of money to qualify for free shipping. For impulse purchases, paid shipping could significantly impact your store’s conversion rate.
Personalised Recommendations: Nothing is less inspiring than a product or service recommendation irrelevant to you. It simply confirms that the store has no idea what you want or how to satisfy your needs. By contrast, exquisitely targeted recommendations that are personalised with pinpoint precision can be highly motivating.
Time and time again, studies have shown how personalised recommendations increase sales and boost customer retention.
Deals, Discounts and Price Match Promises: Whatever you sell, you are not the only one doing so. Chances are, there are dozens (if not hundreds) of equally viable online stores, all gunning for the same customers as you. Hence, visitors to your store will not hesitate to beat a hasty retreat if they believe they could get a better deal elsewhere.
The era of online shopping is all about bargain hunting and saving money. Whatever you are looking for, you can usually find it online for way less than in any physical store. It would be best if you tapped into this relentless frugality, ensuring every visitor you get knows they are looking at a bargain.
Social Proof: Research suggests that 85% to 90% of online shoppers base their purchase decisions on social proof, including customer reviews, star ratings, testimonials, unboxing videos, product demonstrations, and influencer recommendations.
You must bring these things to your website and prominently display them. Consumer mistrust and misinformation are rife, meaning you cannot expect them to take your word at face value. By contrast, most online shoppers trust the reviews and recommendations of their fellow shoppers on the same level as those from friends and family members.
Easy and Free Returns: Last up, ordering almost anything online continues to be seen as a ‘risk’ by many shoppers. With no means to physically inspect or try on what you are buying, there’s a reasonable chance it will not be fit for purpose.
In the past, e-commerce businesses deliberately imposed rigid and complex returns policies to discourage returns. Today, you need to do the exact opposite to make things work. Your customers need to know that if they need (or want) to return something, they can do so free of charge and without any fuss.