Linnworks reports that 81% of shoppers want a frictionless, cross-device, online retail experience. In addition, 76% say convenience is their key priority in selecting an online retailer, and nine in ten prioritise using a retail site that offers a seamless customer experience.
The impact of providing sub-par on-site experiences is evident. BigCommerce shows that 79% of shoppers would be likely or very likely to leave a website and purchase elsewhere if a website is too slow. On the flip side, delivering fast, convenient, and personalised shopping experiences boosts conversions significantly. For example, after implementing enhanced on-site search functionality, Boody saw revenue from search increase by 3.2x. Party supplies company CostumeBox r experienced 4.5x higher conversion rates from shoppers using search after implementing a better Search and Merchandising product than what is provided by their native ecommerce platform.
Retailers need the best available tools to stay ahead of the competition. To empower global growth, however, they need ecommerce solutions built around delivering the best possible shopper experience.
Payment Processing Options
By choosing the most suitable payment processing systems, you can speed up your order-to-cash process – and convert shoppers to buyers faster. According to Linnworks, nearly nine in ten consumers say seamless and flexible ecommerce payment options speed up their decision-making and prompt them to spend more.
It’s essential to choose a payment gateway (which collects, transfers, and authorises customer payment information) that caters to all your customers’ payment needs from the countries they transact. Some of these options include PayPal, Square, and Stripe. Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) options have also become rapidly more popular – so much so that even PayPal now offers its own BNPL service.
Where you plan to expand internationally in the future can also influence your payment processing needs. Think about the regional adoption of payment options, such as AliPay and WeChat in China, Paytm in India, and Samsung Pay in South Korea.
Shipping and Fulfilment
The last mile of the buyer journey can sometimes be a cause of customer frustration. When shoppers don’t receive their items on time or have to chase potentially misdirected deliveries, it can tarnish the entire shopping experience up to that point.
Of course, it takes time to track deliveries and send out updates manually. Automated fulfilment and shipping software, however, can help retailers outperform expectations. These systems import delivery events directly from couriers and send out updates with your custom branding and messaging. They can also include automated address validation to ensure parcels arrive at the correct address every time.
A 3PL solution (third-party logistics) can also handle your products’ inventory management and shipping. With a 3PL, you’re effectively outsourcing warehousing and logistics to speed up and streamline the pick, pack, and ship process.
Some of the leading shipping and fulfilment solutions for online retailers looking to go global include ShipBob, Rakuten Super Logistics, and ShipMonk. See further detail on these and other globally-capable options in GreenGeeks’ recent article.
Customer Service
Human interaction with customers is a vital component of creating memorable customer experiences, particularly as you scale. By delivering outstanding customer service (whether it’s before, during or after a purchase), you can increase retention, repeat purchases, and customer lifetime value (CLV). Conversely, serve a bad experience, and you risk losing that customer for good. Zendesk research shows that 61% of customers will now defect to a competitor after just one bad experience.
Modern customer service and support solutions can seamlessly integrate with your ecommerce platform to manage interactions quickly and efficiently. By providing excellent self-service options where appropriate, you can further enhance the overall shopping experience (and allow your team to spend more time on the customer service requests that matter most). For example, 93% of surveyed respondents in APAC, from the same Zendesk report, are willing to spend more with companies that let them find answers online without contacting anyone.
Popular customer service technologies include Gorgias, Freshdesk, Zendesk, and HubSpot.
Continue to Part 3 of Choosing Your Ecommerce Solutions for Global Growth.
Click here to see part 3 of this blog series, which explores the ecommerce platform and personalisation options for global growth.
Book your tailored demo of Searchspring to see first-hand how search, merchandising and personalisation delivers the ultimate shopper experience to support your global business growth goals.
