So you've got your fancy logo, sweet marketing materials and great advertising going but what to do now?
After you've paid attention to the initial marketing hurdles, the next phase comes in the customer experience and building a profitable and returning customer.
When the customer comes in your door, do you pull them through your store using lanes of movement and use a well thought out floor plan to guide them through your merchandise? Wal-Mart puts milk at the back of their store because it is the most commonly purchased item and they know they have a chance to market other items when placed along the route to the milk. Do you have lanes of traffic flow that you can market items effectively and use suggestive selling to increase per customer sales totals? Just the same as the brick and mortar store, the online store should also have sales promotions, suggested purchases to accompany the product sought out and a well organized structure.
When the customer needs help is there an available employee with a pleasant attitude? Nothing is worse as a customer than having a question and no one there to answer it and similarly having found what you need, and having to wait in line for someone to take care of checking you out is a bummer. Make sure you've adequately staffed the business at peak times. Your online store won't have a problem with long lines obviously but is there someone that can answer questions submitted from your web site? If you do quite a bit of traffic, do you have someone that can be responsive to immediate site visitors via a "Click for Help" button similar to a chat program?
At the end of the customer experience what do you do to collect further information and do you offer an incentive to come back? Online sales will easily give you mailing information for your customer but have you ever considered if these have a geographic correlation and maybe the addition of traditional advertising in that area may increase sales to your online store? You should always collect eMail addresses from potential and current customers to eMail sales offers or product updates. IKEA gives you a credit towards your next purchase on your receipt that functions like a coupon to giving an incentive to return and some restaurants offer incentives for taking a survey. Customers will tell you how you are doing for free if they are mad. It takes a little reward to get them to give you feedback when you are doing OK or excellent. Likewise, if you want customers to return to your store having a coupon or credit will help differentiate you from your competitors.
These all seem like good ideas but just as in the real world, they sometimes get overlooked online also. The same thing goes for store cleanliness, organization and impression that creates the emotional feel invoked by doing business with you. The total combination of look, feel, perks and service create a customer experience. Whether brick and mortar or online shopping, the same rules apply to building the customer experience to keep them coming back and ready to buy your services or products.
