It’s both the best and worst time to be running an online store. On the plus side, the eCommerce market, already huge, continues to grow — with Grand View Research reporting a CAGR of 18.9% between now and 2030, by the end of the decade the sector will be worth a staggering $83.26 trillion. An increasing number of people are also comfortable shopping online, with 81% of adults having made an online purchase.
That’s the good side. The bad news? The rapid growth of eCommerce customers/spending has been matched by a rapid growth in the number of online retailers. While a precise figure isn’t known, it’s estimated that there are around 25 million online stores. In other words, however niche your offering is, you’ll likely have a lot of competition for customers.
So, how do you get ahead? It’s simple — you dazzle your customers so much that they don’t even have time to think about shopping elsewhere. While there’s no single ‘wow-factor magic bullet,’ you can combine a bunch of attention-grabbing strategies to ensure your customers always have a smile on their faces. Here’s how you do it.
Put Together a Flawless Website
And when we say flawless, we really mean it. An OK website is unlikely to have your potential customers rushing to the virtual exit, but it’s also unlikely to impress them. They might make a purchase, or they might look elsewhere.
A flawless website, one that’s well-designed, well-built, and intuitive to use, on the other hand, will provide such an awesome experience that your customers will naturally find themselves with items in their basket.
The bottom line? Don’t settle for a less-than-impressive website. Take the time to put together a great site (or hire someone to do it for you), and your customers will have no second thoughts about which brand they should be buying from.
Offer a Streamlined Checkout Experience
It can take a lot of time, effort, and money to get to the point where a customer wants to buy from a website. Amazingly, some businesses fall at the final hurdle, all because of something that could have easily been avoided: complicated checkouts.
It’s in everyone’s interest to make your checkout process as straightforward as possible. What does that look like, we hear you ask? Minimal steps, the option to check out without signing in, and multiple payment options. That last point is particularly important — if, in 2025, you’re still only offering classic debit/credit card payments, then you’ll likely be missing out on some customers, for no good reason. It couldn’t be easier to offer other payment methods, especially if you’re using one of the main eCommerce platforms.
Free, Fast Shipping
OK, the thought of offering free, fast shipping might sound good in theory, but not so good in practice. After all, someone has to pay for the shipping, and if it’s not your customers, then it’ll be you. But take another look at the title of this article — the goal isn’t to present a passable experience to your customers; it’s to dazzle them with your awesomeness.
And they will absolutely be dazzled by free, fast shipping. How could they not be? Having to pay for and wait for shipping are two of the biggest pain points that online shoppers complain about, and you’ll have removed both in one fell swoop.
Of course, it won’t always be feasible for online stores to offer free shipping, especially if they only sell low-value goods. In that case, offering free shipping to the customer if they spend over a certain amount can offer a good middle ground.
Premium Packaging and Freebies
Many businesses assume their job is done as soon as they’ve made a sale. But it’s not. The job of making that sale is done, sure, but what about the customer’s next purchase, or the one after that, or the one after that? The goal isn’t to get a bunch of one-time customers. The goal is to build an army of repeat customers, and how you do that is by offering a shopping experience that’s premium at as many touchpoints as possible.
Premium, custom packaging is an easy way to enhance your customer’s experience. Rather than receiving one of those generic uline boxes, their order will arrive in branded packaging that elevates their unboxing experience and reflects positively on your brand. Looking to really put a smile on your customers’ faces? Include a freebie with their order — a sample size of one of your other products makes sense, but if there’s no obvious branded item to include, then remember that even something as simple as a bag of candy can be effective.
Rewarding Loyalty
You see brands rewarding their new customers all the time. Free shipping, 15% off their first order, and things like that.
Existing customers usually get short-changed. Even though they’re the most loyal customers a brand has, they’re often at the back of the line when it comes to offers and discounts. You can understand why businesses take that approach, but you’d be hard-pressed to say that it’s impressive. It’s not.
Impressive is choosing to give existing customers exclusive discounts and offers simply as a reward for their ongoing support. It costs very little to give your customers an unexpected treat like a discount code or special offers, yet it will mean a lot to your customers.
There-For-You Customer Service
The test of a brand isn’t how it acts when everything’s going well. It’s what they do when things aren’t going well that matters. It’s easy to have a happy, positive relationship with your customers when they’re doing everything you want them to do, but what about when they need you, be it because they need help or they have a complaint?
You can wow your customers by going above and beyond to put together a level of customer service that truly demonstrates that you care about your customers’ experience. It’s not about reinventing the wheel — it’s simply about ensuring they can speak to you when needed, and that you’ll listen and take action.
Photo credit: Pexels – CC0 Licence
