How to Provide Value to Your eCommerce Customers

Providing value is the ultimate goal of any self-respecting business venture. After all, the reason why customers opt for certain products and services instead of others has everything to do with how valued they feel. Consequently, the companies that manage to maximize their offerings in the eyes of consumers are the ones that tend to stick around for the long haul.

But is providing value as simple as offering quality, affordable products? Or are there some intangibles involved in the process as well?

As anyone who’s ever fallen in love with an Apple product surely knows, value goes beyond what you can see and touch. It is a feeling that’s created through commitment and tenacity on the provider’s side, one that often breeds loyalty on reputation alone. With that in mind, let’s go over some of the best ways to provide value for customers in the age of e-commerce:

Try to Identify What Your Customers Are Thinking

During their initial inquiries, customers are driven by conflicting feelings. On one hand, they’ve reached your site because they do indeed lack something that you possess. But since gaining whatever that is requires forking over some of their hard-earned cash, they will likely resist doing so with every fiber of their being.

The solution is to put yourself in their shoes and visualize the entire thought process from their perspective. That’s why clickfunnels work so well, because they focus specifically on fulfilling customer expectations and eliminating any doubts or worries that might surface along the way.

Go Above and Beyond

In this day and age, customers expect a certain level of service from every business they interact with. The trick, however, is to exceed their expectations in this regard. Whether it’s through exceptional customer support or by offering generous amounts of freebies, be sure to take the time to really make each and every one of your customers feel cherished and special. If you aren’t quite sure what to offer, check out some handy customer appreciation gift ideas here.

Facilitate Customer Engagement

The days of customers being solely on the receiving end of merchant’s products are over. Nowadays clients play an integral part in every product’s marketing cycle. Some harness their voices to create reviews that other customers can read, while others spread the news about their recent purchases on social media.

Either way, fostering a genuine engagement with these people is the key to building good word-of-mouth. Fortunately, this is as easy as organizing competitions that customers can participate in, or requesting their input and participation on various matters pertaining to your products and services. Most people will be happy to provide you with feedback in return for having their voice heard and acknowledged.

Offer Something New

This can be tricky, as the old adage about there being nothing new under the sun does hold some truth. But the idea here isn’t to necessarily revolutionize any aspects of modern civilization as much as it is to find what is already being done and do it better. When Apple first introduced their gadgets to the market they certainly weren’t reinventing the wheel, but their immaculately sleek design and the feeling of exclusivity they conveyed made them into must-have items.

Provide Value Throughout the Experience

By this point it should be clear that customer value isn’t tied down to any particular product or service. Instead, it encapsulates the totality of experiences a customer undergoes as they seek to fulfill a particular want or need.

As the provider in this relationship, your task lies in offering value before, during and after a purchase is completed. Only then do you stand a chance of obtaining your customer’s loyalty and trust, which invariably translate into bigger sales and higher satisfaction rates at the end of the day.

As you can see, there’s nothing mysterious about how value is created and perceived, even in the busy medium of online commerce. People are always looking for things to fall in love with, and it’s every entrepreneur’s job to inspire them and provide them with what they need. As with all things worth doing, the challenge of accomplishing this may seem insurmountable, but it is something that is well within the realm of possibility for all you dedicated dreamers out there.

Author: Philip Piletic’s primary focus is a fusion of technology, small business, and marketing. He’s an editor, writer, marketing consultant and guest author at several authority websites. In love with startups, latest tech trends and helping others get their ideas off the ground. He thanks shopify specialists for their help with this article.