data analyse

Data is a little word that carries a big concept – and a lot of uses. It does so much for so many companies, but today I am going to focus on eCommerce.

Customers respond, and are requesting, more and more personalisation in their shopping experiences. The exchanges between retailers and online shoppers provide web stores with tons of data, that stores can use to their advantage. Analysing this data and using it to make informed decisions will lead to optimised customer experience, keeping your consumers closer and your competitors at a loss.

Competitor data is useful for predictive analysis – how else will you know how to change prices or order inventory? – but it is not enough to run a business. Here are the best ways to take the data you collect from visitors and use it to improve the customer experience:

A. Personalised Offerings

Customer data can pave the way for personalized experience. As you compete against other online retailers, and even brick and mortar shops, being able to provide a customized interface is key to keeping your customers loyal. As you cannot interact with the customer face to face, use their data to create the ultimate shopping experience – starting with using their historical data to remember and greet them when they click to your site.

Read their current page or cart to make recommendations, or send them an email based on previous purchases. Product recommendations amount to 10-30 percent of ecommerce revenue, so do not miss out. Offer personalized discounts and other offers based on loyalty, average cart value, or abandoned carts.

Roughly a third of customers aged 25-34 want discounts, so promote site-wide specials on running banners or on the cart page. Limited-time free shipping can sweeten the deal for older customers aged 55-65.

B. Keep Them Shopping

While it is easier than ever to create an online store, it is also easier than ever to lose your customers to another site! Using data makes sure that your store stands out, and keeps them from moving on. Around 50% of online shoppers visit more than four sites before making a purchase, mostly for price shopping. Do their work for them, and place a “compare to” price beneath your listings using competitor pricing data. Prove that your price is the lowest!

Additionally, offering live chat can help create customer loyalty while also helping to move stuck customers to the checkout screen. Sometimes customers need additional data for a product before deciding to purchase, which customer service will assist. Make sure this tactic is working by tracking their data, and seeing if they make it through to a conversion.

On average, live chat gets about a 73 percent satisfaction level, so make sure your employees are all empowered to answer all questions. If a customer does not convert, set up retargeting ads to bring them back to their abandoned cart. These ads have as much as 26 percent effectiveness, so remind customers what they are forgetting!

C. Emails

When a customer reaches the checkout page, always leave an option to checkout as guest; registering can be a turn off and prevent conversions. Even though you may be missing parts of information, such as demographics, you will have their email. Use that email to send information about flash sales – click to open rates are 56 percent higher when regarding flash sales than any other campaign. These create a sense of urgency and keep the customer intrigued and coming back to shop with you. Exclusive discount codes relevant to prior purchases are also handy, as 64 percent of shoppers just want more discounts, period!

Make sure you are taking care of your customer’s needs with data, as well. Almost half of customer experiences end with customer remorse; keep that number down by offering a credit for a price difference to keep them from feeling like they got a bad deal. Approximately 84 percent of customers cite price as the largest influence on a purchase, so if the price changes after they purchase a product, alert them by email.

D. Saved Carts or Wishlists

Instead of letting customers abandon carts if they are not ready to purchase, let them save these items on a wishlist or in cart form for later. You can require registration – giving you greater demographics for your data collection – while also allowing them to browse at their leisure. Customers who save items are easier to turn into conversions than those that fully leave your site, so sweeten the pot with discount codes or special deals via email after they create their first wishlist.

As you can see, data is a beautiful thing, and can be used many ways to increase and optimize customer experience. Experiment and see what works for your site – a little data is a beautiful thing!