Keep That Customer! Features Your Online Store Needs
Online stores are a necessary part of doing business nowadays. If your customer can’t find you online, they’ll look for a brand that is more accessible. However, don’t think that once you have your store online that you can relax. With many businesses setting up digital storefronts, your website should be able to offer something equal or better than the competition. If your store is just a bare-bones operation, here are some essential changes that you have to make to be competitive.
An Accessible Website
The first thing that you need to have is an accessible website. This means smooth navigation and easy loading. Visitors to your online store should easily get the idea behind the website within the first few milliseconds, or they leave. This means your site must be presentable within those seconds, whether the user is on mobile or desktop. With mobile users on the rise, responsive web design is an essential part of your digital store.
Complete Product Information
When customers are browsing through your store, they need full and accurate information. They are shopping online, and they don’t have the physical product in front of them, so you need to help them out. The description is just one part of it. Customers prefer it if there are high-resolution photos of the product itself. Suppose you can include videos with that, then it is even better.
Wishlist And Promo Features
Having customers sign up and make an account on your online store can be a hassle for them. Make up for it by adding more than the basics in their account. For example, allowing them to create an item wishlist in your store increases the chance that they will buy the item. You can also add price-drop or sales notifications so that your customer won’t miss a potential sale.
Varied And Easy Payment Options
In the early days of eCommerce, one of the barriers to successful purchases was how the customer would pay. Online stores then mainly accepted money orders and checks. This caused delays and even fraud. But now, stores should allow for multiple payment options. The popular credit card should be there; then there is PayPal, then finally the various other digital wallets. Even then you might want to add cryptocurrencies to ensure that anyone can buy.
Full Data Security
Online stores are major targets for data thieves. This is because of the personal information that stores gather, along with the credit card data. You need to assure your customers that you are protecting their data as much as possible. Implement several security measures like using SSL certificates and two-factor authentication so that no one can easily hack customer accounts. Your servers should also have heavier security so that no data breaches may occur.
Guest Customer Feature
Sometimes, some customers are interested in buying only one thing. Having them jump through hoops to create a permanent account will only inconvenience them. Allow guest accounts to buy from you to ensure a sale. Even if they might not have a permanent account, they will likely return for another guest purchase.
Clear Shipping Information And Options
An essential part of an eCommerce store is able to deliver the product quickly and securely. However, buyers should be given a choice on how the product is delivered. Different courier services can provide different results and have varying prices. Some customers might like it to be cheaper but slower while others prefer speed over the price. The option to choose will make customers feel better about it. Your delivery partners should also have an excellent tracking feature. Knowing where their product ensures that they don’t get worried so much.
Effective Customer Support
Products are not perfect, and customers might not be happy with what they get. There are several customer support services you should be able to provide. For one, you need to provide customers with a way to contact your team to have their problems solved. Being accessible can reassure your customers. At worst, you should have a good returns policy. This is a difficult process since you have to receive the returned product and send a refund or replacement. But it is worth it to offer that option.
A great digital storefront can drive sales up greatly. When your customers easily find what they want and seamlessly order it, you’ve already hooked a customer. If you then deliver their product quickly and smoothly, you can be sure that they will be back for more.
Meta title: Ensure Happy Customers With These Must-Have Store Features
Meta desc: When you have an online store, you want maximum customer satisfaction to stay competitive. For that to happen, you need to provide customers with essential features that they expect to find on your store, and here they are.
