The recent announcement that Amazon topped yet another customer satisfaction survey brought no surprises. They’ve been proving for years that they know how to capture and take care of online shoppers.
It’s nice to receive awards, but such recognition also confers huge commercial benefits. Satisfied customers keep coming back, tell their friends, and share their positive stories on social networks. With google paying attention to branding and social signals, that counts for a lot.
If you’re helping your clients with their ecommerce websites, you’d be wise to take a few pointers from Amazon. Here are a few of the ways in which they deliver a rich and convenient online shopping experience that keeps the punters coming back.
Clear Navigation
When you arrive at an Amazon product page, you’ll find it crowded and colourful. However, they leave you in doubt as to what you need to do. Everything is set up for ease of navigation and search, and particularly ease of purchase. Calls to action abound with “Buy Now” and “Add to Basket” buttons.
Personalisation
Through the artful use of cookies, Amazon can offer an individual experience to returning customers. This allows them to cater to customers in different stages of buying cycle. For example, consider the section marked “Customers Who Bought Items in Your Recent History Also Bought”. It’s the closest you can get to having a live salesman.
Presentation
One problem that people have about buying online is that they can’t touch or use the products before purchase. Amazon addresses this by providing very clear and vivid product information. Through the skilfull use of text, images and often video, the prospective buyer can get a clear idea of what the product is and what it does.
Maximising Visitor Value
While your visitors are in the buying mode, why not encourage them to shop as much as possible? Amazon does this through its “Frequently Bought Together” and “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” sections in which they recommend related products.
Social Proof
Each page on Amazon features testimonials, logos, guarantees and reviews. You’re in no doubt you’re dealing with a solid firm that’s intent on keeping the message ‘why shop with us’ very clear.
Catering for Mobile Users
Another reason for Amazon’s success is that it was very quick off the mark in optimising for mobile users. As a result, it’s been able to refine and enhance its mobile platforms to create a quality user experience for those shopping on the small screens of smartphones and tablets.
The battle to gain and retain online customers is fierce. Take a leaf from amazon’s book and create sites for your clients that delight visitors and keep them coming back. Ultimately Amazon succeeds by focussing on providing a solid and engaging customer and shopping experience, and that’s what you need to strive for.
