How to Improve Customer Experience on Your Website Post the Pandemic?

Every relationship has an emotional component – this holds for people and brands as well. Your relationship with your customers is built over time and is nourished by their experiences along the digital and physical touchpoints of your brand. Unfortunately, a crisis puts the strengths and weaknesses in your relationship under the spotlight – the COVID-19 being a burning example of this. The "Locked down" nature of the response to this pandemic is pushing businesses to adapt to digital transactional models, and how to improve customer experience is what the business leaders are asking themselves today. The answer lies in what you choose to do today. How you help your customers thrive in this stressful, bleak period and how you mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on your business is the key to come out stronger on the other side of this pandemic crisis. Most offline events have either been postponed or cancelled, and physical spaces have closed in the wake of the outbreak. Naturally, people are spending more time consuming digital content – whether it is in the form of a hobby, course, shopping, or DIY tasks. Statista reports that online traffic across 20 countries increased by 25.4 per cent in the week ending April 19^th. Online transactions increased by 42.8 per cent. Since a vaccine for the virus is yet to surface, these figures are only going to go up soon. If businesses want to capitalise on this surge in online surfing and maximise traffic conversion, they must improve the shopping experience of customers on their online stores. In today's article, we will try to address specific pain points that users go through when shopping online. Improving these will bolster your site visits and increase conversions.

How to Improve Customer Shopping Experience on Your Website?

Step 1: Educate and market content that is value-adding.

A majority of the world's population is at home, away from friends and outside exposure thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of this, digital space is their only resort to keep up with trends, upcoming products, and new announcements. As a brand owner, your endeavour should be to proactively create content that educates your users and subtly coax them to try and buy your products. Here are some examples to get your creative juices flowing:   • Sephora China is now offering guided selling on make-up and skincare tips.   • Clorox in the USA is educating customers on how to use their products to sanitise their homes and office spaces. When customers see your sincerity towards their well-being and health, they will be more inclined to walk into your physical stores when the lockdown lifts – not just to buy products that you advertised during the lockdown, but also to try products that they require while getting used to the outdoors again.

Step 2: Keeping visitors engaged is a must.

If you're going to create content, don't do it just for the sake of creating it. Empathy is key to connecting with your customers during this moment of crisis, and it is the very foundation that will convert them into loyal brand followers once the pandemic is over. Try engaging social media influencers who are popular among your target audience. This will instil a level of trust in the viewers, and they will be motivated to visit your website and do business with you. Another good way to know what your customers like or expect from you is to ask them directly. But a small survey won't do it. You will have to build customer understanding.

Customer Understanding: How to Improve Customer Experience Tips?

Come up with a content strategy that includes:   • Having live conversations with your followers on your social media channels;   • Putting your research professionals to speak with customers directly;   • Proactively reaching out to customers and make them feel included; and,   • Come with truly enriching content, and not just fluff, sponsored pieces that exist for click-bait. If you are a small business or have just begun, being upfront with your customers will also put your brand in a positive light. Do sessions with them to find out what kind of content they would love to see from you, where they would like to see it, and how they want it delivered. People love to get involved, especially in the digital world where they can show it off on their timeline, snaps, and instafeed, and tweets.

Step 3: Keep Physical Spaces Touch-Free.

The world is slowly recovering, as people are learning to live with the COVID-19 virus. Although, in all likelihood, the way businesses used to operate has completely transformed when. People are now more wary of touch and are proponents of social distancing and frequent sanitisation of physical stores. If your customer journey must include physical touchpoints, consider introducing zero-contact operations. And make sure that your customers are aware of your new way of working. The USA alone has seen a 20 per cent surge in preference for contactless operations, and several industries have adapted to this change. This will motivate them to visit your store post the COVID-19 crisis. Some businesses that could use this to drive more footfall include the grocery stores, dining spaces, gaming alleys, malls, spas, and hospitality industry.

Step 4: How to Improve Online Customer Experience through Agile Innovation?

The businesses that fulfil customer requirements quickly during this time are going to emerge as market leaders. Facilitating agility across functions to accommodate changing consumer needs is the need of the hour, and it will have long-term benefits. This means speeding up supply chains for new user experiences, rapid prototyping and iterating, and offering innovations in their minimum viable state, rather than perfecting them. Additionally, businesses should adjust their innovation pipeline to prioritise customer expectations that include digital, remote, or home-delivery trends. These are expected to continue accelerating and changing visitor and consumer experience deliverables in the post-coronavirus world.

How to Improve Digital Customer Experience: Summing up

The coronavirus crisis will end at some point, but the changes in customer preferences will outlast the immediate crisis. In China, this has already begun, with a 55 per cent increase in customers with the intent to shift permanently to buying groceries online. The businesses that supplement their offerings with a robust customer experience will continue enjoying growth post the lockdown and will define new benchmarks for customer engagement and satisfaction.