Few decades ago, eCommerce was only a growing fad, so it’s no wonder it’s here today too. The increase in smartphone and tablet use has made eCommerce more popular than ever. It is true that many industries that used to sell offline are now on the internet and have begun going online. They realized they had to do more than simply offer a better price and product to stay ahead of their competition. In this dilemma, customer engagement is the answer.
What is Customer Engagement in E-Commerce?
Customer engagement in eCommerce can be defined as the emotional connection between customers and brands when a shopping experience that is exceptional is delivered. Engagement is nothing more than a customer’s trust or experience with a brand, and it can be positive or negative.
Engagement in eCommerce is aimed at keeping customers informed, connected, and engaged. The key to customer engagement is to maintain a consistent customer experience when your customers buy your products or deal with your business.
In order for your eCommerce store to succeed, you need to provide a seamless experience to your customers whether it’s the website, solving customer concerns, providing a good deal, etc. Beyond these elements, it’s important to convince customers that you are the right place for them to shop and do business.
Why Customer Engagement is Important for eCommerce?
It’s a fact that every consumer wants a different experience when buying, and this experience has become the differentiating factor for many successful business models. E-Commerce stores are not able to have interpersonal interactions with their customers, so this statement is not entirely untrue. Due to rising competition, price and product have become secondary factors for eCommerce stores.
To stay ahead of the competition, you need a standard and effective strategy for better customer engagement and customer experience. Studies have already found a link between customer engagement and sales. Customer engagement is becoming increasingly important in eCommerce.
Top Ways to Boost E-Commerce Customer Engagement
Now the question is how do we better engage our customers? There are various ways to boost customer engagement and grow your eCommerce store. We will learn some of the best ways to increase eCommerce customer engagement here.
1. Provide great customer service
You can only be as good as your customer’s think you are, because if they don’t think you are good, it’s highly likely that you are losing a lot of money. Sometimes, what we think is a great product can make businesses renowned, but that’s far from the truth. However, if you fail to provide them with good service, they will no longer be connected to you.
Since they are no longer with you, it has become a concern for any eCommerce store or business. Then customer engagement comes into play as it helps you to grow since customers are telling everything they think about your business, no matter how good or bad it is.
In other words, customer service or experience means identifying where your customers can be reached. It could be a website, social media platform, forum, or anything else. Make sure you choose one of the resources to ensure you have a world-class engagement.
2. Live chats and chatbots are the best resources
According to CrazyEgg, more than 38% of people buy from a company that offers live chat support. These are huge numbers, and you shouldn’t ignore them as they impact a lot on any eCommerce business.
If, for example, you want to buy something from the store, you could choose anything, let’s say you are buying clothes. When a product is damaged unexpectedly or accidentally, or when the price given to the buyer is not as advertised on the website during the purchase process, what is your priority? You’ll contact the responsible person as soon as you learn about them, and during this time, you need an urgent solution. When something goes wrong, the first thing customers look for is immediate support.
To serve customers and meet their needs instantly, live chats and chatbots are crucial. At the end of the day, you should make sure that live chats and chatbots are integrated into your web store. There’s no doubt that many eCommerce brands and giant companies have already incorporated live chat into their website.
3. Give a chance to customer feedback
In our previous discussion, we pointed out that customers are always looking for good products, which is why before buying they research the product, especially reviews and feedback. Customer experience is what makes a product and it could be anything.
Your job as a store owner is to let your customers be able to say something about your product, and that’s nothing more than customer feedback. The reason why customer feedback is important is because the more reviews your product receives, the more popular it will become. That’s how you will have better engagement, whether it’s on your business listing, blogs, or social media platforms.
4. Use social media as a weapon for better engagement
The use of social media is on the rise, especially among young people, who are more attached to their smartphones and computers. As much as eCommerce owners use social media, they are walking on the path of someone else’s customers.
When you launch a new product, you can run a campaign on social media and give out gifts to entice customers. Before your new launch, you should start a marketing campaign to let people know that you are introducing something new.
Social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Whatsapp are available on the market. In fact, these platforms are well-known for their wide popularity in the market, so it is not surprising that their use and audience are increasing every day, week, month, and year.
Winding Up
In some years, eCommerce is going to be one of the most popular and hot platforms among others, as it is constantly evolving. While the eCommerce market is growing, you should build a relationship with customers and engage with them in a way that will grow your store.
Do you need help boosting your eCommerce customer engagement? As eCommerce experts, M-Connect Media can help you if you want to build an eCommerce store that drives genuine results in the form of customer engagement and customer retention. For more information, please contact us.