Customer Experience in e-Commerce

Building positive customer relationships is often underestimated by many companies, and yet consumer experience affects business, regardless of whether it is small or large. In order for a store to be recommended further, the trust of customers must be gained, which is why ensuring a high level of customer experience is such an important element.

Customer experience (CX) is the image of a company in the eyes of the customer, which was created on the basis of previous experiences between the consumer and the company. In order for customers to recommend a store, they must be 100% convinced of it, which is why maintaining a high level of CX is so important. The experiences a customer has after coming into contact with a given e-store affect their perception of the company. Then, in the eyes of the customer, the brand begins to exist as something positive that is worth recommending, or – in the case of negative experiences – as a place that should be avoided and discouraged from anyone who wants to make a purchase in that store.

Success in the e-commerce industry is achieved by stores that can make the customer feel special. It is therefore not surprising that more and more of them decide to send personalized messages. An interesting example of building positive experiences is sending discount coupons by email on the occasion of a customer’s birthday. Such actions show that the online store cares about them and remembers their holidays.

However, CX is not based solely on freebies and discount coupons. It is also the appropriate content of the emails sent. Properly thought-out content can evoke positive emotions, which contributes to building positive experiences. Therefore, you should avoid impersonal emails (when writing to everyone, you are really writing to no one). Additionally, some online stores have the comfort of being able to afford emails with a hint of humor – it is worth using this opportunity, because nothing influences positive associations like laughter and a sense of humor.

Customer experience is also influenced by post-sale contact. Surprisingly, a small group of online stores decide to practice maintaining relationships with customers in this way. In this case, a short message sent shortly after finalizing the order, with content such as: “we hope that the books you bought turned out to be interesting!” is enough. This is a small gesture that affects the image and perception of the store.

An equally effective way to maintain post-sale contact is to send messages outside the online channel. Customers are used to online contact, which is why a handwritten thank-you card attached to the order will be an element of surprise. Due to the dynamic development of technology, handwritten messages are rare, so such a thank-you will be very important and will certainly remain in the memory of customers for a long time. Using this method shows that the online store appreciates its customers and tries to express its gratitude in an unconventional way.

Every customer likes to receive bonuses. So why not use this fact to build a positive image of the online store? Of course, each such freebie must be tailored to the industry and be of the highest quality. So if the company sells mugs, it is worth adding a bag of good tea to it, if it sells books – an aesthetic bookmark. It is also a good idea to add a short note expressing the hope that the customer liked the little thing and turned out to be useful.

The packaging is just as important as the content itself. You can only make a first impression once, so it’s worth making sure that the first contact with the product is as positive as possible. A shipment in a stained envelope or crumpled packaging negatively affects the brand’s image. It’s a different story when the consumer receives an aesthetically packaged product in a unique, high-quality packaging. Thanks to good customer reviews, investing in better packaging will pay off in a short time.

Building positive experiences among customers is not easy and takes time, but it is an effort that will pay off in the future. Even if a customer feels disappointed with the services provided by the online store once, it will affect their loss of trust, which will contribute to the negative image of the online store. It is therefore worth taking care of every detail in building positive experiences, thanks to which the group of regular customers will grow.