5 minute read
Drive More Revenue with E-Commerce Best Practices
MRCA Event
Drive More Revenue With e-Commerce Best Practices
Moderated by Stan Singh, Secretary-General of MRCA, the webinar featured Robin Choong, Head of Digital Strategy & Planning, Maxis e-Commerce, who expounded on best practices for e-Commerce entrepreneurs to start building their brand’s digital presence.
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peaking about how to manage a profitable and sustainable online store, Robin explains that the 3 key success factors are to craft the ultimate shopping experience on webstore, acquiring new customers, and winning loyalty and retaining repeat customers. Robin says that the million-dollar question is “what do customers want from you?”
Robin highlights that there are several questions that customers tend to ask, which entrepreneurs should address in driving more revenue via e-commerce.
Why should I consider visiting your webstore?
To address this question, Robin explains that entrepreneurs need to craft a strong value proposition on their webstores that include conducting a thorough brand audit, establishing a unique value proposition, and showcasing unique selling points for products offered by the store.
Do I get a smooth shopping experience?
Robin points out that a smooth shopping experience is achieved with easy webstore navigation. He adds that 88% of customers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience; while 90% of users reported they stopped using an app due to poor performance. Robin also highlights that up to USD2 billion in lost sales is recorded annually due to slow-loading websites. He advises that since 60% to 80% of website traffic is usually from mobile users, e-commerce entrepreneurs should design webstores that ensure a great experience for customers. He explains that other success factors would be to understand the flow of customers’ attention, ensure products are easily found, make browsing the webstore a breeze, and understand customers’ preferences or sorting conventions.
What’s so great about your products?
In addressing this question, Robin advises to win customers with great product presentations. To do this, he suggests a few tips which include providing all the necessary viewing angles; showcasing all available colours and designs; observing the basics of branding and consistency; and, using videos where possible. He pointed out that studies indicated that 22% of reasons cited for products returned were due to “product received looks different”; while 33% of customers indicated that they prefer to see multiple photos of a product. He added that 85% of customers are more likely to buy a product after viewing a product video.
Can your product do what I want it to do?
Robin advises to use compelling product copy to seal the deal. In essence, he recommends the use of bullet points to create clear and concise write-ups of product highlights, making sure to call out product features and benefits. He adds that persuading customers with the use of ‘power words’ is helpful in hyping up the product offerings.
Acquiring new customers
Delving into the acquisition of new customers, once again Robin reflects on a few compelling questions that customers may potentially ask.
Should I try buying from you?
He advises entrepreneurs to resolve and address any purchase barriers such as shipping, delivery, try-instore, and returns. Robin highlighted that 80% of customers indicated that they would buy a product from Amazon if they get free shipping.
What do I get if I buy from you?
For this, Robin recommends to craft purposeful promotional offers such as first-purchase incentives, gift with purchase, and limited time discounts.
Do I want what you are showing me?
To address this, Robin advises to tap into customers’ desires by crossselling and upselling. He highlights that in 2006, when Amazon introduced cross-selling, their sales increased by 35%.
Can I trust you?
In gaining customers’ confidence and trust, Robin advises e-commerce entrepreneurs to enhance website security, drive product reviews, and establish live chats. He adds that showcasing security badges and trusted/authorised payment gateway integrations work wonders in boosting customers’ trust and confidence. Robin highlights that 90% of customers’ claim that positive online reviews influence their buying decisions. Product reviews are integral because they provide assurance to potential customers, help to increase conversions, and improve Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) as well as page visibility. Three ways to increase online reviews is by creating attractive incentives, making it quick and simple to post reviews, and using social media.
Winning loyalty and retaining repeat customers
Driving the point of winning loyalty and retaining repeat customers, Robin suggests reflecting on two key thoughts.
Why you should pay attention to repeat purchases?
He explains that a 5% increase in customer retention can increase a company’s profitability by 75%. Robin adds that it can cost 5 times more to acquire new customers than to retain current ones. On average, loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase.
Why should I go back to you?
Robin advises to use emails to re-engage and drive returning customers; and, send reminders to customers on products that they have abandoned in their carts and encourage them to complete the purchase. He highlights that 29.9% of cart abandonment email clicks lead to recovered purchases. Robin encourages peer-to-peer sharing with referral programmes as people are 4 times more likely to purchase if referred by a friend or family members.
Navigating the e-Commerce landscape
On a question about videos taking up too much time and bandwidth thus disengaging customers, Robin explained that videos pose a lower chance of customers getting disengaged. Instead the use of videos result in increased customer engagement due to its dynamic nature by capturing the attention of customers. As for bandwidth issues, Robin explains that it will definitely disrupt the shopping experience but that is a matter of network coverage, hence there is no significant impact on the use of videos. In essence, the rewards of using videos outweigh the setbacks.
Touching on the onboarding rate of e-commerce entrepreneurs in Malaysia, Robin says e-Commerce adoption is accelerating at an unprecedented rate, for both shoppers and sellers. He adds that this phenomenon is poised to continue to grow in the years to come.
Addressing a question on how to win back a lost customer, Robin advises to reconnect with the customer and remind the customer of the presence of your brand, which is why top-of-mind is so important.
