Who Likes Losing Their Customers to the Competition?
With new and tempting opportunities arising every day, online shoppers’ purchasing behavior is hard to predict, and customer churn is sudden and unexpected. The cheapest offer is not necessarily the most attractive, depending on individual preferences. Some customers want their products as fast as possible and with free delivery, while others value sustainability. Still others demand flexible delivery and payment options. Online shoppers also place great importance on easy and free returns (see also the results of the E-Commerce Monitor 2022).
These manifold factors influence customer satisfaction and customer loyalty to a nearly unpredictable extent. However, those who ignore these developments are digging deep into their pockets: acquiring new customers is between 5 and 25 times more expensive than maintaining the existing customer base. At the same time, a 5% increase in customer retention rates can lead to a 25% to 95% increase in profits (source: hbr.org: The Value of Keeping the Right Customers). Where should you start if you want to optimize the performance of your online business? How can you become and remain a successful online retailer in the race with big players like Amazon and Zalando, how do you create your niche?
This Way Today, That Way Tomorrow: How Ongoing Customer Orientation Succeeds
We have long known from Amazon and Co that it is not attractive offers and discounts that lead to a successful e-commerce business, but rather a holistic approach to customer service and the smart use of data to manage the customer experience. Outstanding e-commerce entrepreneurs know exactly what motivates their customers to make a purchase, and scrutinize their own service quality and the entire customer journey from start to finish! To really succeed in e-commerce, you should continuously and step by step observe, test, learn from and improve the quality of your own services.
There are various technologies and solutions to support this approach, making it possible for online retailers to monitor the entire customer journey and to derive targeted measures for improvement. Let’s take a look at some must-haves!
1. Putting Delivery Quality to the Test, Nationally and Across Borders
High delivery quality is an important driver for high customer satisfaction. But anyone who thinks they only need to keep an eye on their own performance is seriously mistaken. Those who detect weak points as soon as deliveries are handed over to the carriers and know how to offset them are well advised. Because with this knowledge, you can react to any problems that arise and improve the delivery quality of online orders.
Regular quality checks are therefore indispensable for a successful e-commerce business. The use of live trackers, for example, enables end-to-end visibility of deliveries. Are the agreed delivery routes being adhered to? At what point do unplanned delays occur? Do it like platform X and create facts by tracking shipments in real time! This effort is definitely worth it, especially for cross-border shipments, where multiple carriers are involved and problems bound to occur. Use the data to pinpoint the causes of delivery problems and take targeted optimization actions. Regular measurements of delivery quality enable you to score with your customers in cross-border e-commerce through precise delivery promises.
2. Is the Reliability of My Delivery Partners the Same Everywhere? Performance Monitoring of Parcel Services
Have you ever had a feeling that a certain delivery partner is particularly reliable in one region and rather weak in another? There are intelligent ways to check the delivery quality of your partners. For example, shipment data can be used to understand the delivery network, providing clear insights into the performance of parcel service providers.
WIRmachenDRUCK, Europe’s leading online print shop, uses shipment data analyses to find out how well its delivery partners perform in different regions – also in comparison with other parcel services. As a successful online retailer, you can use such evaluations not only to choose the best delivery company depending on your target area. This data also provides you with clever, fact-based reasoning for contract negotiations and for strategic decisions about your delivery network. By the way: monitoring your shipment data also informs you in real time about any occurring delivery delays. Use this information for a proactive complaint management even before customers notice delivery problems.
3. Mystery Shopping: Much More Than Shopping Undercover in the Store
Which payment options do online shoppers prefer? How do consumers feel about the packaging? And how does your overall service and performance compare to the competition? The best answers to such questions are provided by consumers themselves. Mystery checks allow you to gather authentic feedback of the e-commerce experience with the help of specially trained study participants.
One particularly big advantage of working with mystery shoppers is that you can put your service quality to the test from start to finish. You get unfiltered and neutral feedback on the entire process, from product selection to ordering and payment to actual receipt of the goods ‒ and even beyond that to downstream returns processes. Run a benchmarking project, as one of our major e-commerce customers did: As a result of this project, in addition to delivery quality, it was also possible to determine how mystery shoppers rated the handling in the online store, the payment process, packaging materials and much more compared to selected competitors. Such test purchases offer a wealth of information for very specific improvement opportunities!
Don’t Leave the Success of Your Business to Chance: E-Commerce Solutions that Support Being a Successful Online Retailer
If you don’t want to lose your customers to the competition and establish a successful e-commerce business, you need to actively work on the quality of your services! To do this, you should continuously monitor your key performance indicators to closely align with the needs of online shoppers. The use of specific e-commerce solutions increases the transparency in your processes and the customer experience. Leverage the insights to regularly derive improvement measures and review their effectiveness. And always remember: the competition never sleeps!
Spectos has long-term experience in developing customized solutions for retailers and e-commerce businesses, making it possible to closely monitor ordering and delivery processes as well as customer service. Does that sound like a good idea? Contact our team of experts for an individual consultation.
Improve your end-to-end customer experience and become a successful online retailer now!
