What Do E-commerce Customers Really Want? Part 1

There’s no doubt that online shopping is quick and convenient. Why should you spend two hours in a traditional shop looking for an electric kettle, comparing technical parameters and waiting in line for checkout when you can do everything from the comfort of your home?

The number of e-shops is on the rise, and so are customers’ demands. If you want your business to be competitive, you have no other choice than to adapt to customers’ requirements. So what do e-commerce customers really look for?

1.    The possibility to choose.

That’s why you should give your clients the freedom to choose:

• a wide range of products – for example, if your e-shop sells clothes, you should offer plus-size and petite collections to accommodate the needs of customers of all sizes (which eventually means that you attract more clients). You should also have sufficient stock and make sure that popular products are not sold out.

If a customer wants to buy something and they don’t find it on your website, they will turn to your competitors.

• shipping methods and delivery times – you can deliver goods via a messenger service or via standard post. Some customers like to pick up their order at a pick-up point. Don’t restrict your clients’ options and give them a choice.
• payment methods – debit or credit card processed payment, payment on delivery – cash or card, PayPal… There are plenty of options and each customer will opt for a different one.

2.    High-quality customer support.

Don’t rely on a single form of providing customer support. Use live chat, communicate on social media, respond to emails and don’t ignore incoming calls. Each customer support agent should be ready to interact with customers in a professional way and with a positive attitude.

3.    Special offers.

Offer your clients free delivery, discount codes or free returns management – anything that will please the customer and motivate them to shop from you.

4.    Personalized approach.

You know that customers can come and go, and they realize it as well. You need to make them feel special and show them that you care about them. For example, send them a small gift on their birthday or on the anniversary of their registration in your e-shop – send them an exclusive offer, a discount code for their favorite brand or add a gift to their purchase. If you sell tea and you want to add free samples to a customer’s order, make sure you know what kind of tea the customer usually buys. Green tea lovers might not be happy about cinnamon lemon tea. There are many cloud-based CRM tools that will help you identify your target customers and their preferences. 

5.    Mobile shopping.

This means that your website should be responsive and allow for smooth and hassle-free search and shopping experience on any device.

In the next blog post, we will follow up on these five basic requirements and we will cover the ways how to make our e-shop attractive for your customers :-).