Are you prepared to drive your company’s online success as the e-commerce world prepares for Web 5.0?
E-commerce has evolved rapidly in the past twenty years, from SEO to pay-per-click to interactive technologies. As an e-commerce manager, you must constantly review, adapt, and change to meet the demands of this field.
Perhaps the two biggest areas on which managers need to concentrate are innovation and customer engagement. Indeed, the two often work together to drive sales, attract consumers, and retain customers.
Let’s explore how you can incorporate successful, innovative practices and accomplishments in customer engagement into your e-commerce manager resume.
Top Engaging and Innovative Practices in E-Commerce
The key to building customer engagement is using innovative technologies and practices that foster human connection to your company’s brand.
This connection might best be established through an online presence that reaches wider audiences, increases brand awareness, and expands sales opportunities. E-commerce is forecast to make up 41% of global retail sales by 2027, up from 18% just ten years prior.
The importance of effective e-commerce management simply cannot be overstated. Drive innovation and customer engagement with the following practices:
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Make it personal
Using purchase history, demographics, geolocation, and other information, you can make personal recommendations to customers that will greatly enhance their experience. Customized shopping carts, personalized pop-ups, and calls to action addressing the individual shopper are all effective ways that will keep customers engaged and bring them back to your webpage.
According to a 2021 McKinsey & Company report, companies that create personalized e-commerce experiences increase revenue by 40% compared to companies that do not employ this practice.
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Use interactive technologies
From videos to augmented and virtual reality that allows for innovations such as 3D images and pose tracking, you can totally immerse customers into your company’s world. Great examples would include IKEA’s IKEA Place app, which allows customers to use virtual technology to place furniture in their homes, and some beauty brands that have AR apps that allow customers to apply makeup products virtually.
Live chats and chatbots are also technologies that increase customer satisfaction. These offer instant answers to customers who do not wish to wait in long customer service queues.
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Be user friendly
Features such as easy drop-down navigation, search filters, and simple checkout processes make for an enjoyable online experience. Customers who can quickly find what they’re looking for and browse products without hassle are happy, often engaged, and ultimately pay.
Easy navigability has been shown to improve not only customer satisfaction but conversion rates and brand reputation as well. Simple checkout processes also make consumers much less likely to bail before finalizing their purchase.
This would also include optimizing your site for mobile apps. Minimizing loading times and adapting to mobile device resolutions and screen sizes creates a much friendlier mobile experience.
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Implement loyalty programs
Offer customers coupons, invitations to special sales events, and exclusive discounts that will make them feel more appreciated and bring them back to your online store. Gamification is an innovative solution that incorporates fun and engaging strategies such as challenges, quizzes, and games like spinning wheels that realizes positive impacts on engagement and retention.
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Get on social media
Build a digital community by engaging potential and existing customers on social media. Social media allows for real-time interaction, tailored messages, instant customer feedback, and wider audience participation. A social media presence also drives traffic to your online store.
Post positive testimonials and reviews. Identify any industry recognitions and endorsements. Announce any sales specials, rewards programs, and new product promotions.
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Follow up
Your interaction with customers should not end once they click the payment button during checkout. Send a post-purchase email to show appreciation for the customer’s business. Send reminder emails when it might be time for customers to purchase your product again or inform them about similar products. Use surveys to get feedback.
Be sure to follow up with unhappy and satisfied customers. Reach out to those who might have had an issue before they contact you with a complaint. Resolve any problems quickly to show that you value them as customers and prioritize their satisfaction.
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Adapt and Keep Learning
Technology changes at frightening speeds. Keep yourself and your team updated on the latest trends. Constantly review initiatives, encourage collaboration, and reward employees who come up with innovative ideas.
Build Loyalty and Sustain Success
Just as teachers must keep their students engaged to ensure academic success, so too must companies engage their customers to make sales, retain business, and increase brand trust and recognition.
E-commerce managers are tasked with devising innovative, fresh approaches to driving consumers to online stores and maintaining their interest as they browse and finalize purchases.
Developing and refining customer engagement practices based on personalization, interactive technologies, rewards programs, and follow-up strategies lead to strong customer relationships that build loyalty and sustain the success of your company’s e-commerce presence.
