When you shop online, what are your expectations? If you’re like most people, you expect:
If you expect this and more from the ecommerce sites that you visit, why should your customers expect any less from you?
The short answer is, they shouldn’t and they don’t. Your customers expect the same things from your site that you expect from other ecommerce sites, and if you don’t deliver, they will have no qualms about moving on to one of your competitor’s sites. Here are some ways that you can make sure that your ecommerce site is meeting the expectations of your customers.
Remember that Internet users are used to being able to find information quickly and easily. If your site navigation is disorganized, your pages aren’t linked properly, and you don’t take the time to include a FAQ (frequently asked questions) page or outline your shipping, return, and other policies, your customers will quickly become frustrated and either abandon their carts or leave your site, never to return.
Whether you claim to have the lowest prices, the best selection, or make some other type of claim about your product or service, your customers will expect you to deliver on these promises. Set the bar too high and you will find yourself struggling to meet your own expectations. Set the bar too low and your customers probably won’t be very impressed.
Only promising what you can deliver may not make your site stand out like some others that exaggerate their claims, but it will go a long way toward making your site look like the more reputable one when said exaggerated claims fall through.
In a perfect ecommerce merchant’s world, no customer would ever want to return an item or become frustrated with a company. No shipping, technical, or other types of glitches would ever occur, and communication between merchant and customer would be seamless.
In the real world, customers return items all the time, for various reasons. Customers also occasionally become upset with ecommerce sites that they purchase products or services from. Glitches and communication gaps, which also happen to everyone from time to time, can exacerbate both customer and merchant frustration.
While you can’t control how certain circumstances impact your ability to meet customer expectations, you can control how your company handles problems once they occur. Make sure that anyone in your company who deals directly with customers is familiar with your company policies and procedures, and always be ready to offer a customer something, be it free shipping on their next order, a shipping upgrade, a coupon, or at the very least an apology if they are dissatisfied with their ordering experience.
Assuming that you are meeting customer expectations is never a good idea. Don’t shy away from engaging with your customers on your site, your blog, your Facebook page, on Twitter, and on other social media sites in order to find out for sure. Asking your customers to rate their experience with your company is also a great way to gain some valuable insight about your customers at the same time.