As the masses are quickly moving towards online shopping, it is becoming even more difficult to sustain the competition and keeping up with the ever growing customer needs is becoming next to impossible.
Some may feel that the customers are becoming too demanding with the rise of the internet but if we have a look at it from the customers point of view, all they need is good customer service, reliability & trust, decent pricing and / or discounts, less time consumption, ease of payment & delivery process and to be honest its quite fair to ask for these things.
And if we look at the broader picture, all that is happening is the internet industry is becoming more organized more sophisticated, more legit & most importantly more customer-centric; which in actuality should be the primary factors of any business. Now isn’t that good for everyone?
Here is a list of some of most important requirements of the customers that shall help you better understand your customers and will lead to a successful business model!
When we say quick search we don’t just mean creating a website with a few basic details, you need a lot more to get customer response. It is more like creating a virtual setup for your business with more crisp details along with up to date social media accounts.
Now the best thing with having online presence is that the internet never sleeps and you never know which customer might order or check you out at what time! Unlike a physical store, you don’t have that many costs plus you don’t have that many restrictions too, so your store can stay open 24/7 with bare minimal costs of maintenance.
And the fact remains that having an online presence is becoming extremely important too! As per reports from Google, ninety-seven percent consumers search for local businesses on the internet. To add-on to that, seventy-three percent of the mobile searches generate additional action and conversion whereas fifty-five percent of the purchases happen within one hour of the initial search.
Now when it comes to providing good customer service, speed is your best friend which will provide you the competitive edge and the consumer would not mind paying extra for that too! It is very clear that whatever the customer wants, they want it fast and now! Now some would think, how did the customers become so impatient? Well, it has happened over the years in an attempt to cut the competition, many online portals and sites came up with options like online chat, FAQ’s, same day or next day delivery, etc and hence, now be it sales or service or support customers want it instantly. They seriously don’t even mind paying extra for it too.
Did you know?
68% of the customers consider for another option due to poor and slow customer service, 41% of the customers look forward to a reply within six hours and most importantly a mere 5% growth in your customer retention can increase your business by approximately 125%.
Literally, in today’s world no one has the time to listen or read everything. Now in such a situation whatever you have to say “you gotta be quick & quirky!” This is where quick view also known as quick look is the best solution! It lets the visitors have a quick look at the details of the product – its picture, price, main features, etc! The benefit of having a quick view feature is that it changes a multi-step process to a simple and quick one.
And it shouldn’t be of worry to the sellers because even though they are not taking a complete view of the product, they are definitely and equally engaged to it and as a matter of fact, by FY14 the transaction through e-commerce is expected to cross 1-trillion dollars, which itself proves the same.
When someone shops online, they expect a quick payment process and frankly if the process is slow then doubts start to enter their mind leading to abandoning of the purchase. And the more consumers are buying products, the more frustrating it is becoming for them to go through the same payment process, over-&-over again.
Now many new options such as payments through credit & debit cards, online banking, PayPal, etc. are coming up to ease this process. Cash on delivery and e-Wallets remain the customer favorite. As a matter of fact, Apple Pay has initiated a new option wherein a payment can be made through just one step of Touch ID fingerprint confirmation.
In a survey done by UPS and ComScore amongst more than three thousand consumers; Shipments arriving on time and easy return policy were one of the most important factors driving the customers to purchasing it. In that survey, 41% of the consumers said that they received the shipment on time and proactive communication regarding delivery time led them to recommend the retailer to their friends.
For Sixty percent of them, an approximate or confirmed delivery date was of utmost importance. According to their report 48% of the customers are not comfortable waiting for more than 5 days and tend to abandon that purchase.
According to a separate survey done by Toluna survey tool, a massive 50% customers leave the sale at the point when they are dissatisfied with the delivery options that are provided along with that a fixed-date was the most popular choice amongst thirty-one percent consumers whereas twenty-four percent consumers opted for next day delivery.
Thus, going by the figures mentioned above we don’t have to say much as to how important quick delivery is.
When we say a quick refund it does not mean that every customer would want to return their product. But just like the retailers are worried that they may loose on the sale similarly the consumers are often worried about the product not meeting their expectations too.
A lenient and easy to understand refund policy helps in referrals and retention of the customers. The retailers must understand that almost 40% of the users abandon the sale only because of the unsecure pricing and by offering a lenient and easy-to-understand refund policy you get an edge over your competitor by gaining a loyal customer.
For those who do not know, 80% of the customers make use of their cell phones to research about their shopping items. Hence, it is of utmost importance to have a mobile presence as well. This makes it a thing of utmost importance that online, as well as offline service providers pay required attention on getting a well built app available for customers to access via iTunes, Google Play and other App stores. After all an amount of USD 5-billion spent on purchase through mobile phones is not less enough to leave a share from.
All-in-All, the more customers are becoming tech-savvy, the more it is becoming important for the retailers to keep up with the technology. This need to keep up with the pace is also becoming one of the major reasons behind innovations, establishment of more businesses and a greater number of failing startups.
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