11 "Must-Haves" for Successful E-Commerce (Pt.2)

Updated Feb 2006
In part 1 of this article, we discovered that customers will not give an e-commerce site a significant amount of repeat business unless they feel that they've had an "excellent" buying experience. This part of the article presents the final 6 of 11 tips for building excellence into your e-commerce operations.

6. Keep the Customer in the Loop

Imagine this: you fill up your on-line shopping cart, give your credit information, submit the order and.... nothing happens. Did the order get placed? Or did it scurry off, lemming-like, over a cliff into cyberspace, never to be seen again? Should you resubmit? Should you call?

Now imagine that as soon as you submit the order, a message on your screen confirms that the order was sent. Five minutes later, you get an e-mail that lists what you ordered and provides a confirmation number and estimated delivery date. A day later, you get an e-mail confirming shipment and giving you a parcel tracking number.

See the difference? In the second case, the customer is kept informed about the order and can even track its progress. Not only does this keep the customer feeling secure and valued, it reduces the number of customer-service calls the company will receive.

Dell's site has powerful tools for customer order tracking, including a tool for finding your order if you aren't sure of the order number or your customer number.

7. Ship it Fast

Customers hate to wait. To be competitive, you must ship within two days of receipt of the order. If an item is out of stock, let the customer know before the purchase is finalized, not after. If an unexpected shipping delay arises, contact the customer and ask if they would prefer to wait or to cancel. For long-term profitability, it's better to lose the current sale and maintain the customer's goodwill.

REI has two full page of informations designed to keep cutomers informed about out-of-stock items, backorder procedures, shipping timelines, and so on. Customers know exactly what will be involved in each order.

8. Make Communication Easy

Provide multiple ways (e-mail, fax, toll-free number, on-line support) for customers to contact you. Strive to reply within one business day, two at the most. Studies show that over half of all customer e-mail inquiries go unanswered. Providing fast, helpful replies is an easy way to distinguish yourself from the competition.

If a customer has a complaint, deal with it cheerfully and promptly. Most people will forgive mistakes. What they won't forgive is being ignored or treated badly. The most successful e-commerce companies give their customer-service reps the authority to do whatever it takes to resolve customer complaints on the spot.

Bosom Babies Natural Mothering Supplies uses a simple, highly effective Contact page.

Camera World even offers live on-line help in placing an order.

9. Use Incentives Productively

Everyone loves a deal. Handled properly, the creative use of "freebies" can help to cement customer loyalty. The key is to use the right kind of incentives.

Studies show that throwing in free shipping does little to encourage repeat business. Throwing in free samples, however, is another matter. For the same cash outlay, you can give customers a tangible, physical reward, and encourage repeat business by exposing them to products that it may never have occurred to them to try.

REI has an extensive member incentives plan.

10. Make Returns Easy

The average returns rate for e-commerce purchases is 25-35%. The easier you make the returns process, the more likely you are to retain your customers. Make returning an item difficult, and the customer will go elsewhere next time.

Amazon.com even offers an extended returns policy for the Christmas season, to encourage gift-buyers.

11. Show Your Legitimacy & Security

For people to buy from you online, they must believe two things:

1. their credit information is safe
2. you'll send them the merchandise, not disappear with their money

The best way to create this kind of credibility is to invest in the appropriate memberships and certifications. For example, the Better Business Bureau issues its members with a BBB Online seal of approval. Each seal includes embedded information on the owner, so the site visitor can check that the seal is legitimate, not just a stolen graphic.

Here's an example of the BBB Online seal in use.

For site security, companies like Verisign and Thawte issue security certificates that you can display on your site as confirmation that your e-commerce is secure. If you're going to invest in e-commerce, it makes sense to spend the additional few hundred dollars for these seals of legitimacy.

Summary

In their book "E-Service", Zemke and Connellan argue that in e-commerce, service is the ONLY differentiating factor. Anyone can undercut your price, and someone else will always offer a similar product or service. Only a superior customer-service ethic can earn your site the repeat business that will lead to long-term success.