Making the most of your eCommerce platform is the key to success in modern retail. While it has the power to enhance your business capabilities and the holistic customer journey, one of the biggest assets it offers small businesses and established brands alike is data.
Data allows you to optimise your eCommerce offering, allowing your actions to follow a customer-centric approach while helping you stay competitive within your industry and entice customers into becoming repeat buyers.
Why is customer data so important?
Making the most of the data available to you allows for smarter business decisions which align with what your target customers want. Speaking to the managing director of Pinpoint, Lewis Sellers, he explained what data has to offer:
“In today’s digitally driven world, listening to your customers is imperative. Shopping online provides users with endless choice and it has become even harder to capture their attention and convert them into loyal customers.
However, customers create and share data points throughout their online interactions. Using this data, you can cut through the noise and develop effective strategies to attract and convert your target audience.”
Enlisting the expertise of an eCommerce agency can help to bring these actions to life in valuable and intuitive ways.
Effective ways to utilise customer data
Personalise the shopping experience
Shoppers react well when they are treated as individuals rather than simply another order number. Monitoring order histories and behavioural patterns of each customer can help you tailor eCommerce experiences at an individual level.
This can cover what offers they’re shown, item recommendations similar to their previous purchases, or even unique discount codes. Remember, being on first name terms with each customer has its benefits.
Address inefficiencies in the user experience
From the moment a customer lands on your site through to completing a sale, there’s data which can be collected and analysed. If multiple customers aren’t converting at the same point on your eCommerce site, you could have a user experience problem.
Optimising how information is presented or how forms function can minimise conversion issues, but there are plenty of other obstacles which customers could run into. Tackle each obstacle in order of priority and track your changes against future conversion data to make sure the problem is resolved.
Focus on improving your product offering
Many eCommerce businesses will carry a wide variety of stock. This can cover several product categories in an attempt to provide all the possible items a customer could need.
Customer data can show you what your main money-making items are and what products are falling flat. This is incredibly useful when determining which areas of your business to invest in and which lines could be dropped.
Identify new functionality needs
As the digital sphere advances and more fintech options are integrated into eCommerce platforms, customer expectations also evolve.
Ensure your eCommerce site has all the functionality it requires to support your customers. Whether that’s live chat functionality for queries or additional payment security to reassure customers their information is safe. If you offer these features, don’t forget to signpost that they’re there.
How can you gather customer data?
Practically all eCommerce sites will provide you with a data output from your site. This can collect information on how customers use your site, what pages are visited the most and beyond. But how useful is that output in terms of depth and usability?
Having a system for customer relationship management, or CRM, allows you to put this data to use and start drawing valuable information from it. Further insight provided by Sellers from Pinpoint highlights some of the ways in which you can access data from your eCommerce platform:
“Using a data warehousing tool such as Magento Business Intelligence enhances your CRM system, allowing you to spend less time collating data and more time putting it to use.
This tool empowers informed decisions on advertising spend to help improve customer lifetime value and buying habits. As a result, campaigns can be driven further to generate a higher ROI, improving sales and ultimately accelerating business growth.”
In part, it can come down to what platform you are using for your eCommerce presence. However, using the available automation tools on offer can help to convert data into actions with less need for manual organisation of the various data points on your site.
Bringing in an eCommerce agency from day one can help you build your site using the right eCommerce platform for your business. This can ensure your site gives you the ideal insights for your business, as well as helping to work towards your wider objectives.
1637 Views
Trending Articles
