How To Keep Omnichannel Retail Customers Happy And Make Their Online Experience More Human

There are 350 million websites out there.

Browsing activity on your site doesn’t compare with the human-to-human shopping experience in a brick and mortar store. So how can you humanize your website? 

Are you engaging your visitors with dialogue when they come to yours? Remember relevance is when what you want to say intersects with what shoppers want to hear. Are you irrelevant?

Are there barriers, friction points if you will, to getting visitors to buy?

We have to move from product centricity to customer centricity. It’s not about the products! You’ve heard me say that hundreds of times.

There are four stages of a shopper’s online buying process. Your  site should address each step seamlessly:

• Discovery – They see how a product is useful
• Exploring Options – They understand their choice of options
• Purchasing – You’ve made it easy for them to buy
• Relationship - They’ll choose to come back based on the good experience

 Discovery begins with the brand messaging on your home page. There should always be an emphasis on people and lifestyle, not just on products.

And to make your website design more human, design for mobile first. No one wants to pinch and scroll to try to make it readable.

As you make it mobile first, remove anything that makes the site hard to navigate, search, and ultimately buy from.

It’s funny, 69% of customers said they have had a superior customer experience online. But still only 1% of all e-commerce visitors convert to a sale.

I think that can be directly traced to the cookie-cutter inhuman design and features of most websites. Instead of adding more calls-to-action or discount codes, look at the customer experience. When you do that, you'll probably ask yourself...

How to keep customers happy and the experience a bit more human?

One way is to check in with online buyers at 30, 90, and 180 days from purchase with a simple email that asks, “How happy are you with your purchase?” You could then suggest they share their thoughts by writing a product review or replying with a happy face or frowny face. It’s up to you.

It’s follow-up that keeps customers loyal to you and builds word of mouth. Actually, that’s a good idea for in-person shoppers too.

We know the best service is personal one-to-one.

In fact, Tanmay Bakshi an IBM software developer said recently, “A computer’s power is not with natural language, it’s with math. A human is better at talking to people.”

I can’t agree more.

Where photos used to be the ticket, video is the new way to get human engagement. Why? Using video increases the likelihood of your message getting through.

While only 1% of e-commerce visitors convert to a sale, 65% of users will click a video PLAY button.

While that’s a great trend to know, the goal for smart retailers is to engage visitors on your own website’s pages as a human first.

As viewers become entertained and educated, they will return to your site for more. You can deliver how-to videos, do-it-yourself instruction, testimonials, and more.

Remember, online or offline: 99% of people are looking for engaging experiences.

If you only have a shopping cart, you’re only speaking to the 1% committed to buying.

And while I'm at it, if you have brick and mortar stores, you'll need to make them more human too so your employees sell value over price.

In Sum

It doesn’t matter if you are an online-only merchant, a brick and mortar shop with an informational website, or a fully capable omnichannel merchant, you have to make your online content more relevant and personal if you want to standout from the mediocre retail merchants on the web.

This is an excerpt from a three part blog about e-commerce, omnichannel and retail store operations that began with this post, How Retailers Can Keep Up With Retail Consumer Trends.
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About Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor?

I help retail companies and brands grow their business through retail sales training, motivational speaking, online retail sales training and in-person as a retail sales trainer.

I help my clients transform their employees from clerks to trusted advisors, ones who can focus on what a shopper wants, rather than what they just say they need. That training creates a bond that grows conversion rates, delivers higher customer service and leads to higher average ticket.

I'd value any opportunity to connect with you here on LinkedIn or visit RetailDoc.com to learn more about booking the Retail Doctor for a speech or his online retail sales training program SalesRX.com.