Online First: 2020 and on!
Are you delivering what your customers expect?
The commerce world was changing prior to 2020. But the COVID pandemic really expedited changes, due to obvious needs.
Just a couple years a go, I enjoyed walking the aisles at the grocery store making choices for dinner. Now I only go in if we forgot something for the online pickup order. Whether good or bad, this gave us all a kick in the direction of online normalcy.
The fortunate thing for us in e-commerce is that this means people are more comfortable buying online!
It also means changes need to be made to processes. And questions need to be asked.
Just a couple years a go, I enjoyed walking the aisles at the grocery store making choices for dinner. Now I only go in if we forgot something for the online pickup order. Whether good or bad, this gave us all a kick in the direction of online normalcy.
The fortunate thing for us in e-commerce is that this means people are more comfortable buying online!
It also means changes need to be made to processes. And questions need to be asked.
- Do you have an e-commerce site out of necessity or because it will grow your business?
- Can you fulfill curbside if your buyers are local?
- Can you fulfill via shipping locally? In your region? Nationally? Internationally?
- Are you keeping in touch with your buyers on the progress of their orders?
- Can users answer 90-99% of their questions with your systems and FAQs?
- Are your systems efficient or are your transporting data from system to system?
- Can you make your process easier or more helpful to your customers?
- How does your store differentiate your brand to potential customers?
- Copy what works, but are you a carbon copy of every other brand in your vertical?
The world at large is getting used to the Amazon's of the world. Sure, Amazon isn't perfect anyone can point fingers at things they could do to do better. But one thing you can't say is that they aren't trying to make their customers lives easier.
The good news is you can learn from Amazon and other large retailers or brands. Copy the great things and innovate on the rest. Set your brand apart from the giants because you can respond faster to your customers.
If the goal is to improve the lives of our customers, then we can do that by good customer experiences that make them feel seen and heard, as well as good customer service. The best way to make these things happen is to automate the normal and create glowing personal experiences with the non-normal -- the strange shipping situation, the accidental order, the broken item or a bad day.
The bar is being raised. Normal is getting more advanced.
Keep focusing on your customers and their experiences, and you will win!
If we can help you on your journey, hit us up. We would be happy to help.
