These 7 ECommerce Customer Engagement Strategies Work Great
An eCommerce business can offer better customer services than we imagine. However, despite operating on the best eCommerce platforms, many online stores get a bit sloppy when managing customer engagement.
If an online retail store is not doing as expected in terms of sales despite offering great products, there could be several possible reasons, and a lack of customer engagement is one of them.
It is never too late, and by rolling out some action-oriented measures, an eCommerce store can retain its customers, hitting the sales target along the way.
Here are the seven simple strategies to engage customers.
Customers often have many doubts and ask a lot of questions about a product, payment method, shipping process, expected delivery, and more.
Other than giving all the details on the website, an online store also needs to keep its phone and chat line open for customers.
These days, using an interactive voice response (IVR) or chatbot is a trend. However, when customers look for answers to their pressing questions, an automated voice or chatbot is not the solution.
Live phone calls, text chats, voice chats, and video chats are usually quite effective. Particularly, the live chat option seems easy for customers and mostly resolves their issues.
The following hot is an example of customer service through video chat. The customer service department of eCommerce companies uses this method to interact with customers. It is an effective way to increase customer engagement.
Customer Service via Live Video Chat (Source: birdeye.Com)
According to a report by Econsultancy, live chat has the maximum efficiency (73 percent) to achieve customer satisfaction. Emails and phones provide 61 percent and 44 percent customer satisfaction.
Customer Satisfaction Rating (Source: superoffice.Com)
2. Encourage Customer Engagement through User-Generated ContentEncouraging customers to contribute content can increase the engagement factor of an eCommerce store. User-generated content such as product reviews, photographs, or comments can help in having interesting interactions.
User-generated content is likely to work as social proof and make other potential customers perceive your products positively. Social proofs usually create interest among other customers in a product or service.
A good example is posting photographs by existing customers to engage potential customers. They see that people like them are regularly buying products and feel like following them.
For example, the Instagram feed of GoPro has some stunning user-generated images collected from different parts of the world.
GoPro sells durable and high-quality cameras for outdoorsy and adventure-loving people. So, the brand’s social platforms are ideal for high-quality user-generated content.
User-Generated Instagram Images of GoPro (Source: veeqo.Com)
3. Up-to-Date Shipping StatusCustomers hate to wait for their product. It makes them impatient. On top of it, if they do not get any update on their order, they get anxious. If a few more days roll out and no update comes into their inbox or even a text message, it leads to buyer’s remorse.
Many eCommerce brands provide a branded tracking page to help customers log in and check their order status. Generally, an order tracking page has the following features:
Tracking their orders and getting real-time updates will relieve customers and ease their anxiety.
In the example below, the order-tracking page of Goldbelly has included a moveable map as an interactive feature. It mentions the estimated delivery date next to the map. Then lower down the page, it has placed a CTA saying “Earn Belly Rewards!” banner. Overall, it is a different and practical approach.
Order-Tracking of GoldBelly (Source: wonderment.Com)
4. Recommending Personalized Products to CustomersPersonalized recommendations to customers increase the chances of conversion. A Business Insider report highlights the following results:
For example, French fashion store Le Tanneur recommends their best-selling products to customers by categorizing them for women, men, or accessories.
Le Tanneur Product Recommendation (Source: nosto.Com)
American company LeSportSac lists their recommendations as “Fan Favorites” on the homepage of their website, a strategy that has boosted their conversion 2.4x times.
Product Recommendation by LeSportSac (Source: nosto.Com)
Such strategic and well-thought-out product recommendations will encourage visitors to browse and find the products they wish to buy. It also results in a spike in the retailer’s sales.
5. Roll Out a Reward-Based Loyalty ProgramIn this dynamic eCommerce industry, converting customers into loyal brand ambassadors is not easy. You need to persuade your customers to continue to purchase your products so that your retail business survives the competition and grows.
Successful eCommerce companies have been able to gain customer loyalty by making their customers feel appreciated with their customer loyalty programs.
By rolling out a loyalty program and rewarding customers with redeemable points or discount coupons, you can encourage them to buy your products more often. The goal is to give consumers greater purchasing power.
Plenti Rewards Program by American Express (Source: Shopify.In)
The Plenti rewards program by American Express offers more value to customers, as they can earn and redeem loyalty points.
Customers can earn reward points and redeem them from partner brands of Plenti across various industries, starting from grocery stores to gas stations.
6. Up-Selling and Cross-SellingYour techniques to engage customers of your eCommerce business can also get you excellent opportunities to upsell and cross-sell your products to increase sales.
Upselling often works better than cross-selling. A study conducted by Econsultancy reveals that upselling has 20 times higher conversion rates than cross-selling.
To make upselling effective, you can recommend products to customers that are relevant to the ones they have already purchased. Also, keep in mind:
In the following example, Dollar Shave is upselling shaving blades and added three options at the top of the landing page. However, the company has cleverly put the most pricy shaving blade first (6 blades) and placed the lower-priced blades lower down on the page.
Dollar Shave Upselling (Source: econsultancy.Com)
On the other hand, cross-selling is about selling customers an additional product that relates to their main purchase.
Typically, cross-selling includes the following:
For example, Amazon could boost its sales by as much as 35 percent by using cross-selling techniques. The retail giant persuades the visitors by showing “Frequently bought together” and “Customers who bought this item also bought” options on its product pages.
In the screenshot below, besides a digital camera, Amazon is cross-selling a 16 GB flash memory card and a compact camera case for a bundle price of $117.02.
7. Interact with Your Audience through Social MediaIt will not be an exaggeration that today’s consumers live and breathe social media. The increasing popularity of social media platforms has skyrocketed their growth. In particular, the period of isolation during the pandemic in 2020 made people turn to social media to keep in touch with their families and friends.
A report by Hootsuite shows that globally almost half a billion people joined social media during the lockdown last year. As of 2021, there are nearly 4.48 billion social media users worldwide, which equals 57 percent of the population.
Various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, are excellent lead generation sources for eCommerce companies. This is why an effective customer engagement strategy can make a lot of difference.
In the example below, the ecommerce portal of ASOS has opted for a visual display of user engagement. The images on the site are part of the “AS SEEN ON ME” section, which invites users to send pictures wearing the fashion outfits of this retailer.
ASOS Social Page (Source: econsultancy.Com)
The following are some of the effective social maring your brand outfits, news, and quotations regularly with links to your online store.
No doubt that increased social media engagement can build a positive brand image among new and existing consumers. Ultimately, it helps in creating interest in those customers to try your products.
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Closing Words
When it comes to improving audience engagement, your e-Commerce strategy is still the key. This is why make sure to display all the risk-reducing messages on other prominent pages, including the product page, other than the homepage. Before implementing, test the page layout, design, and CTAs that effectively reduce risks..