Consumer behavior is changing.

Not only is it changing, but it’s changing faster than anyone anticipated. The perfect storm of a global pandemic, advancing technologies, strengthening infrastructure, and the need for flexibility while shopping has thrown ecommerce into hyperspeed. 

It’s no longer enough for ecommerce merchants to compete on price alone. Instead, shoppers are showing dedication to stores that provide the best experience. From the moment someone first spots an ad all the way through the checkout, consumers are keen to how they’re being treated.

Stores that neglect some or all of the customer experience are practically begging for their shoppers to head to the competition instead. You can offer free shipping and dirt cheap prices, but if you slack on experience, you’ll soon lose loads of customer loyalty.

Plus, the importance of improving experience in order to differentiate and scale is only going to get more intense in the coming year. Providing a better experience is the top priority for nearly half of businesses—beating out any focus on price or product. All of that makes perfect sense, though, when you consider that a better customer experience means:

• 86% of customers are willing to pay more for your products if the experience is better.
• 44% of shoppers establish loyalty with a brand after they feel they’ve received a more personalized experience.
• 1 in 3 customers will dump a brand they love after just one negative experience.

The point is that customers are making their decisions based on the experience provided by the seller, and if even one misstep happens, it’s not hard for them to buy from a competitor who’s been paying attention to the experience details. 

Customer Experience Basics to Nail Down Before the Holidays

With the holidays coming in hot, the last thing your store needs is one bad experience to damage the potential for fat revenue and loyalty this year. However, there are a lot of cogs in the experience machine across the entire customer journey, which can be pretty overwhelming to overhaul.

This is why we’ve laid out essential post-purchase experience touchpoints to master in our latest book 14 Ways to Optimize Your Store for the Holidays. 

We outline must-have optimizations from customer acquisition to shopping on-site to checkout and the post-purchase experience. The sky’s the limit when it comes to how your curate and create your brand’s customer experience, but this guide is the best reminder of experience essentials that will lead to happier customers who will return long after the holidays have ended (all because of the great experience they had during this hectic time of the year).

Best of all, this book is free. Download your free copy and start checking off which parts of your website are optimized and ready to go and which could use a little bit of love before Black Friday kicks off the holiday shopping season.