What Customers Want – When Ordering Online

Whether you are in the B2C or the B2B market, your customers play a huge role in the success of your business.

Here, at Quantum Marketing Services, we believe that finding out what your customers value when making an online purchase should be a business priority. If you do not consider the needs and wants of your end users when designing your order fulfilment processes you may find that consumers become disappointed with your brand.

In a study carried out by The UK cards association, the UK spent over £156 billion online in 2016. This figure highlights just how important it is to have an online presence and to be competitive in the e-marketplace.

Considering that 73% of online shoppers would switch to another retailer if they experienced poor online home delivery service, we take a look at 4 key things customers value when they order online.

1. Going the Extra Mile with Shipping

Futurepay considers cost of shipping, in their 2017 report, to be one of the top reasons for online shopping cart abandonment.

With major online retailers such as Amazon offering fast and free delivery to customers as standard, other eCommerce businesses now need to respond by meeting this customer expectation. 

A range of shipping options with a free delivery or collection option should help keep your customers happy and remain competitive. 

2. Serial Returners put Pressure on Businesses

Not only do consumers want free delivery, they also want to be able to return their unwanted items with no additional costs. Returning items is becoming more commonplace, often with multiple items being bought in order to compare sizes or products with the intention of returning some of the items.

According to a survey carried out by KPMG, free postage for returns was an important factor for 61% of respondents. 

A returns policy which is easily accessible to your consumers, as well as being easily manageable within your warehouse, is paramount in order to meet customer expectations. 

A number of couriers are responding to eCommerce business needs for easy returns, Royal Mail have posted a blog on their experience of returns and the service they offer in order to help create an efficient returns service

3. Resolutions – Don’t lose your Customers due to Poor Customer Service

85% of respondents would switch to an alternative retailer should they receive poor experience when resolving a customer issue according to Customer Pulse Report 2016.

This highlights how important customer service is within the online buying process. Being able to respond to clients quickly and across multiple platforms does play a major part in keeping your customers satisfied.

4. Online Reviews rival Personal Recommendations

77% of people read online reviews before buying online according to business.com, customers are more likely to share their views when they are either extremely happy or unhappy. Obviously, the extremely happy customers are welcomed to leave reviews but the unhappy reviews need to be carefully managed so that they do not escalate and cause a negative impact on potential new customers. 

If you decide that you are not able to commit the time to responding to reviews or to carefully crafting messages to those trickier customers, Entrepreneur.com suggests that using a third party is beneficial for your business.

Increased customer expectations are evolving quickly with higher service offerings being delivered as standard by large online retailers such as Amazon.

Quantum Marketing Services can help you to meet these high expectations, by providing you with secure warehousing and an experienced pick & pack team to handle orders as well as carry out ongoing customer service and response management. You can tailor your service levels with us so we can be as involved with your online order fulfilment process as you would like us to be. Contact us today to find out.

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