According to a study conducted by Forrester Research, online shopping retail sales are expected to grow steadily to $370 billion by 2017 from $231 billion in 2012. This indicates online shopping is becoming popular day by day because of the convenience it offers and easy access to technology. Consumers these days choose to explore products and their alternatives online. For this reason, it is the responsibility of online retailers to upgrade their websites to provide a memorable shopping experience to their customers. However, the question arises how can a seamless shopping experience be crafted? Here are some ideas that will help.
Add Visuals
After joining the bandwagon of online retailers, many companies put their focus on increasing their customer base along with ROI. However, they fail to realize the importance of making the website eye catching and user-friendly for visitors. There are many ways to make buyers develop brand association through online shopping. A study conducted by Xerox in 2014 said that researchers found that colored visuals increase people’s willingness to read a piece of content by 80%. One of the ways in creating a memorable online shopping experience is by adding visual content and features that will catch visitor’s attention. This not only gives a positive image of a company but according to a study by webdam, people are 85 percent more likely to buy a product after viewing a video. Furthermore, when it comes to online shopping, customers expect the same quality that is given in brick-and-mortar stores. Hence, providing them with a 360 degree view of a product can help build trust. Providing concise information with eye-catching visuals can keep online visitors engaged on the website for a longer time period.
Convenient Checkout
It is common in online shopping that a customer adds products in the shopping cart but abandons it at some point because of one reason or the other. Most customers will abandon shopping cart if they feel the payment method is not secure or checkout process is complicated and requires too much information. Giving sufficient information regarding the products, payment method and price is essential in order to reduce the website bounce rate and abandonment of carts. Essentially, online retailers should equip their shopping websites with a convenient checkout process. This will result in a seamless shopping experience for customers.
Social Media Integration
Every business should make its presence available on social media channels to build rapport with consumers. Customers these days usually go to social media pages of brands to get an insight into their products and service. In doing so, if a business has potential to maintain consistency then a lasting relationship with buyers can be built. Moreover, daily or weekly updates concerning products or service can make the shopping experience coherent and less troublesome. Visitors can get an insight through social media from other buyers and continue their journey of online shopping.
Social media integration can serve in many ways to create a seamless shopping experience. Firstly, the presence on social media should not be confined to driving sales only but adding value to the brand and making it stand out among competitors through better customer experience. The more a brand is customer-focused, the more it is likely to lead them to purchase products online. Furthermore, businesses should be regular in upgrading their social media pages with revised information regarding the products and pricing. This will lead to less ambiguity and make the experience smoother for customers.
Use of Live Chat
The evolution of online shopping has altered the dynamics of consumer behavior in a way that they prefer convenience. The era of millennials has made online retailers align themselves with priorities of potential buyers. As more and more people shop online, it has become essential for businesses to communicate with them online in real-time throughout the day. The use of live chat can help in talking to online customers, and assist them by providing meaningful solutions in real-time.
Moreover, it acts as a bridge between customers and the company by serving them with benefits. Most of the time online shoppers have a lot of questions that they want instant answers to. With the use of live chat support, online retailers can respond to customer queries in real-time and this can save more time.
Similar to brick-and-mortar stores where sales people guide shoppers in deciding what to buy, with the help of Live Chat Software, online retailers can facilitate customers in a similar manner with chat agents offering required help. Live Chat agents can easily guide customers, enhancing their online shopping experience.
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