How to influence Shoppers
for increasing Sales?

Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos put it aptly when he said this: “The best customer service is if the customer doesn’t need to call you, doesn’t need to talk to you. It just works.”

Your e-commerce platform is an extension of your business and, as such, must further your goals of being a top-notch service provider. Customers expect it – period. How many times have you been ready to checkout at an online site and been hit with a cumbersome process, skimpy shipping options or some other issue that caused you to give up? Demand for your product or service depends not only on the quality of the product or service but on the willingness of the individual to transact with you. If such a demand can be satisfied with promptness, then the shoppers gain confidence in the retailer, thereby generating sales. Your e-commerce platform should effectively address the following key areas.

Multiple Delivery Options

Delivery times play a substantial role in e-commerce success. In fact, many customers who shop online reported backing out of their orders when they found the delivery times to be unsatisfactory. Therefore, it’s important to offer multiple options when it comes to delivery times. Some customers are willing to wait for their orders; some are willing to pay extra for faster shipping and a precious few are willing to pay the maximum fee for same day or overnight shipping. Therefore, it’s important to offer all these options in your checkout. In addition, many customers look for free shipping as they don’t feel shipping should apply above certain spending levels. So, free shipping needs to be incorporated along with other available options to please customers.

Secure Payment Options

Once the customer has filled his shopping cart and is ready to complete the transaction, the retailer would never want the customer to suddenly change his mind because the payment option looks unsafe or doesn’t offer the payment method the customer prefers. Therefore, it’s in the online retailers’ best interest to include a wide range of the best online payment security features. It is also essential to give customers multiple options on how to pay. Along with security, this will help to gain customer confidence.

Suitable Returns Policy

Retailers have known for a long time that a bungled return or exchange can quickly turn a customer against them. Customers are more likely to buy from a retailer if they know they can return the product effortlessly for whatever reason. Henceforth, the returns policy should be convenient and hassle-free and should give the consumer plenty of options, even if they wish to buy online and return to a brick and mortar location.

Synchronizing marketing channels with back office

The shopping cart application must provide integration services with various channels such as integration with point of sale systems, online marketplaces and back office inventory and CRM. Among other features, this allows businesses to avoid backorders by tracking inventory in real time, regardless of point of sale. Synchronizing sales channels also allows the seller to collect information about customers’ purchase history for use in marketing and promotions. A smooth integration allows online retailers to manage two different platforms (e-commerce and ERP) concurrently without repetitive data entry.

Promotional Offers

Online retailers can provide promotional offers, initially, to get the word out and increase the customer base. Offering a free sample or a special gift/offer for first-time customers or discount prices/codes for new customers or seasonal offers to loyal customers works. Moreover, online retailers get the chance to expand their e-mail subscribers list as well by making it rewarding for shoppers to register with their e-mail.

Conversion Rates

The percentage of visitors that ultimately make purchases from the online store constitutes conversion rates. Customers most often follow the path of least resistance and avoid clumsy processes. Your e-commerce platform should allow you to track rates and causes of cart abandonment, allowing you to streamline your checkout and increase conversion rates.

How can i95Dev help?

No matter what line of e-commerce you are in, you could benefit from an evaluation and/or suggestions on how to better please your customers. Please feel free to connect with us at http://www.i95dev.com/contact/or give us a call at 301.760.7499.