Studies intimate that global customers are buying almost everything online. Many retailers have taken advantage of this to set up e-commerce stores.

As the e-commerce market develops, so does opponents among retailers. The simplest way for you to stand out from the crowd is by growing customer engagement on all your platforms.

Irrespective of whether you are running a modern e-commerce enterprise or an established business, there’s great significance in employing the best e-commerce customer engagement practices. Most e-commerce businesses fail to rake in as much profit as they should just because they do not engage clients as they should. Here are six great tactics that you can use to engage current and prospective customers.

1. Allow eCommerce Customers to Afford Feedback & Reviews

Nothing is more awful than talking without being listened to. This is how customers feel if they are not provided with a platform for exposing their feedback and reviews about your products and services.

With such a platform, it will be simpler for you to engage with consumers, thus giving you insight into what they feel about your company.

Exploring feedback from your consumers is pretty easy since you only need to avail to them a comments section on your website. Furthermore, you can allow them to rate your services or products. While at it, you should keep in mind the fact that enabling customers to provide feedback is only one side of the coin.

In this regard, you should make them feel that you’re listening. This can be done by replying to their comments and queries as well as addressing whatever complains that they have. If you engage consumers in this manner, they are likely to trust you. Therefore, retaining them will be easy.

2. Implement Loyalty Programs & Marketing Automation

One of the most efficient ways to create and maintain engagement with your clients, in the long run, is by offering loyalty programs.

A whopping 53% of account holders cite “ease of use” as their main reason for having the accounts, while 39% cite discounts offered as the motivation to have the accounts. Therefore, there’s great importance in incentivizing customers to opt for the loyalty programs that you offer. With these programs, you have an effective way of engaging many customers concurrently.

Besides loyalty programs, you should consider hosting giveaways. You are likely to endear your brand to customers by giving out free stuff. Hosting regular giveaways creates conversations about your brand. It grows your visibility as well as your email list. You can also engage with your customers by conducting contests and challenges. This helps you generate brand awareness besides building a solid customer base.

3. Provide Live Chat Support

Arguably, one of the most epic fails for e-commerce websites is the lack of live chat support. With this feature, you will be able to create a personal connection with your customers. Features such as chatbots help you to address customers’ concerns and questions in real-time.

Live chat support is convenient for customers since they don’t have to wait for too long to have their concerns addressed.

Customers get immediate help whenever they want to inquire about your products. Often, prospective buyers seek help whenever they are unsure about a specific product or service that you are offering. With live chat support, it will be easier for you to engage with clients and solve their dilemma. This will increase sales in the long run.

Apart from enabling you to engage with customers directly, live chat support gives you an insight into how they feel about you. Needless to say, you are in business to address the needs of clients. The easiest way to know what your customers need is by engaging them directly. Through chatbots, you will conveniently alleviate customers’ pain points by quickly identifying their needs, thus ensuring that you offer the support that they need.

4. Deliver an Excellent eCommerce User Experience

One of the aspects that you should leverage to ensure excellent customer engagement in your e-commerce store is customer satisfaction.

It’s good practice to ensure that your website looks great. Nonetheless, you should also ensure that you have clear site navigation, easy checkout options, flexible payment methods, enhanced search capability, and a convenient returns policy.

Moreover, shipping costs and delivery time should be indicated alongside the products that you are selling. In line with this, you should take note of the fact that fast shipping and free shipping are some of the most incentives that drive customers to make online purchases.

5. Ensure Mobile Optimization

It’s an undeniable fact that the number of smartphone users as surpassed that of desktop users. By 2021, mobile e-commerce sales are expected to account for 54% of total e-commerce sales.

Therefore, mobile has become a requirement for every eCommerce site. To ensure that these users buy from your e-commerce store, you need to ensure that it’s 100% mobile-friendly. This means that all pages should be optimized for mobile devices. Also, your website shouldn’t take too long to load on mobile devices.

Basic mobile optimization entails ensuring that your e-commerce website has a responsive design and a high hosting speed. To make lead generation and conversion easy, ensure that CTAs are strategically placed at the front and center. Menus should be kept short but insightful. It should be easy for visitors to get back to your website’s homepage.

Usability is also a crucial component of mobile optimization on e-commerce websites. One of the things to bear in mind is that users shouldn’t pinch to zoom in items. Also, make sure that product images are expandable. You should also inform users about screen orientations that work best.

6. Articulate Your Value Proposition

The global e-commerce industry is characterized by cutthroat competition. Your customers have to know what they’re going to get out of your product. If they don’t, they’re not going to hang around your page to find out. You might have heard of the saying “sell benefits, not features.” - Neil Patel

Regardless of how long your company has been operating, there’s a competitor whose products or customer service is superior to yours. This doesn’t mean that you should play second fiddle. To boost e-commerce customer engagement, you need to add a reason to buy. This entails ensuring that it’s easier for current and prospective customers to make a purchasing decision. By showing them what value they will derive from using your products or services, you will easily convince customers to choose you over your competitors.

Unique eCommerce Business Models

Adding a Unique Selling Proposition to an eCommerce offering can significantly boost sales. Think about your business model:

• Can you sell as a subscription or membership

• Offer affiliate programs

• bundle products to provide everything a consumer needs

• combine services with your products to deliver more value

Never limit yourself to the standard approach to eCommerce.

Valuable Content

Besides providing in-depth product descriptions on your e-commerce store, ensure that you deliver informative, refreshing, and share-worthy content via your social media channels, blogs, and other platforms. This content should be related to your brand to add value to readers. When it comes to selling products, educational content can provide a massive differentiator as well as bring in new customers. If a consumer can learn to use or get more value out of their purchase because of the content you provide, it adds a major reason to buy.