Buying and selling products and services has become easier than ever thanks to the internet and the introduction of eCommerce. Nowadays, online shopping is how most people engage with brands, regardless of whether the business is solely an eCommerce brand.
Today’s consumers have a number of eCommerce stores to choose from, which means they can be picky. To be successful in the overly competitive eCommerce market, a brand needs to have amazing customer communication.
If you want to learn how to improve the communication your eCommerce brand has with its customers, you’ve come to the right place.
Understand your customers
The first step in improving customer communication is learning everything you can about the people who want to do business with you. If you want to learn how to speak their language, you need to know what they’re like and what they want to hear.
To start off, you need to research customer demographics to find out the most basic information about the people who shop through your website. This includes information such as age, gender, hobbies and interests, monthly earnings, and shopping habits, among others.
The easiest way you can collect information is by asking for it directly. Send a follow-up email to a customer after they purchase something from your store and ask them to fill out a survey. You can also do this by posting a poll on your social media pages.
But the best and most transparent way you can learn more about your customers is through direct communication. Nothing feels more personal than one-on-one communication and if you reach out to customers via phone, it will show you’re willing to go the extra mile.
Just remember that if you’re an eCommerce business that sells worldwide, you need to take your customers’ time zones into consideration. You can use a Timezone API to see where each of your customers is from and make sure you reach out to them at a convenient time.
Use multiple communication channels
If a business is only available via one communication channel, it will be a nightmare – both for your customers who want to reach out to you and to your customer support team that will be burdened with too much work and not enough time to reply to every customer.
However, when you offer multiple communication channels to your customers, it’s easier for them to reach out and get a quick answer. Additionally, it’s important to provide them with channels they want to use.
Let’s say, for instance, that you only offer support via phone. While direct communication is great, it can also be frustrating for customers to wait for an agent to become available.
One communication channel you absolutely need to include is live chat. According to live chat stats, this communication channel has the highest satisfaction level among all customer service channels, recording the figures from 73% to 81%.
Additionally, 51% of consumers wish businesses were available all the time (24/7), which is exactly what live chat will enable. And more than a third of consumers expect to see a live chat feature when they visit a company’s website.
The role of technology in boosting customer service is undeniable and the success and popularity of live chat clearly show that. So if you don’t have a live chat feature on your website, make sure to implement it as soon as possible.
Get customer referrals
Word-of-mouth marketing has always been one of the main ways people learn about new businesses and products.
In referral marketing, your customers recommend your business to their friends and family. This is a great strategy because 92% of consumers trust the referral of people they know personally. Additionally, customers who came to your business as referrals tend to be more loyal.
If you manage to get people to sign up for your referral program, it will help boost your brand’s reputation and entice people to talk about your products more. Usually, to get customers to sign up for referral programs, businesses offer incentives.
For instance, you can offer free shipping, gift cards, or special discounts for anyone who brings in a referral. And as a bonus, you can offer incentives for people who sign up with a referral link as well. If you do this, your existing and new customers will see that you appreciate them.
Use videos as a communication tool
Communicating with your customers and getting important information to them is easier now than ever before because we have easy access to multiple types of media. And if you want your customers to pay attention to what you’re saying, you should use videos.
Online videos are extremely popular and as much as 84% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video. This is because videos are attention-grabbing, stimulating, and allow consumers to feel the soul of a business.
There are multiple ways you can use videos to engage with your customers, such as live streaming, making instructional videos, and holding a webinar.
Final thoughts
Nowadays, there are thousands of eCommerce brands consumers can choose from, and it’s your job to show customers why they need to choose your brand. It’s not enough to have amazing products, you also need to have great communication, and these tips will help you achieve that.
