When it comes to driving eCommerce revenue, many retailers overlook the fundamentals behind the customer experience. Before investing in new AI tools or expensive marketing campaigns, conduct an audit of your current customer journey.
The eCommerce customer journey includes five stages: Awareness, Consideration, Purchase, Retention and Advocacy. Each stage provides an opportunity for you to deliver value, earn trust and build loyalty.
Awareness
Customers find your website through channels like social media, word of mouth, paid ads or traditional media. Fine-tuning your marketing strategy and optimizing your site for discovery are most critical here.
- SEO: Focus on helpful content, fast page load speeds, quality images, descriptive title tags and mobile-responsive design.
- GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): Optimize content for AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews by answering FAQs clearly, using header tags, bullet points and conversational language with long-tail keywords.
- Structured Data: Adding structured data enables rich search results that boost click-through rates and supports both SEO and GEO performance.
Consideration
During the consideration stage, potential customers research your brand and compare you against competitors. Key optimizations include:
- Site Architecture: Use category-level navigation and breadcrumbs to help customers find products and reach checkout faster.
- Site Accessibility: Maintain compliance with WCAG and ADA guidelines.
- Product Discovery: Enable category and search filters and invest in a robust on-site search with mobile-first design, autocomplete and alternatives to "no results" pages.
- Ratings and Reviews: Collect reviews proactively, allow photo/video uploads and engage with reviewers regularly. If you’re looking for a ratings and reviews platform to increase eCommerce revenue, book a demo of Revere.
- Question and Answer: Q&A features on product pages address common customer concerns and generate keywords that improve discoverability.
Purchase
The purchase stage is where a customer completes a transaction on your site, and streamlining checkout is critical.
Low-Friction Checkout
The average global eCommerce cart abandonment rate is around 70%. Below is a basic checklist of requirements that you should ensure you meet to reduce checkout friction:
- Optimize site speed and mobile checkout with one-tap payments
- Offer guest checkout
- Display return and shipping policies clearly
- Include SSL certificates and payment security badges
- Be transparent about taxes and fees
Personalization
Personalizing the eCommerce customer experience also drives conversions – use first-party data to power cross-sells and upsells, offer wish lists for shoppers and include urgency badges like “low stock” and “# others have this in their cart.”
Retention
The customer journey doesn't end at purchase. During the retention stage, customers are deciding if they will become repeat shoppers with your brand.
- Gamification: Quizzes, points, challenges and progress tracking keep customers engaged and coming back.
- Loyalty Programs: 77% of US consumers are loyal to brands with rewards programs, and 81% of free loyalty program members buy more frequently.
- Customer Service: According to HubSpot, 93% of customers are more likely to make repeat purchases with companies who offer excellent customer service. Include customer service contact information in all post-purchase communications, utilize chatbots and re-share FAQs about your return policy and order tracking information.
- Returns: 92% of customers who have a hassle-free return experience will make another purchase from the same retailer. Offer options like box-free and label-free returns. And reduce returns by clearly displaying your return policy on your site and including features like fit guides and 360-degree product views on your product detail pages.
- Post-Purchase Outreach: Keep your brand top of mind for customers after they make a purchase. Send review requests, encourage customers to follow your brand on social media and remind them to sign up for your loyalty program.
Advocacy
In the advocacy stage, happy customers become brand evangelists. Reward their advocacy with exclusive rewards and deals, amplify UGC in your marketing and run branded hashtag campaigns to show appreciation.
Looking Forward: Next Steps for Revenue Growth
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to eCommerce. Your site should reflect your unique brand and work for your customers.
For more than 25 years, Virid has helped leading retail brands like Journeys, Tory Burch and Johnston & Murphy grow their eCommerce businesses with an average 51% increase in online revenue in the first year. Sign up for a free eCommerce site evaluation to find out what’s holding your growth back and how to fix it.
