eCommerce Lessons from an Online Shopper
One of my earliest memories of online shopping in its modern form was when I first discovered sephora.com while cruising the internet at the job I had during my last semester of undergrad. It was 2002 and I worked in reservations at a golf resort. In between booking hotel rooms, coordinating spa treatments and reserving tee times, I spent most of my time in my little half-cubicle online shopping.
I loved that I could see all of the things and take all the time I wanted to compare products. I had a particular fondness for “value sets” of products and often made little spreadsheets calculating what the savings were for buying a bundle vs. buying individual items separately. I was lured by free gifts with purchase. I found great joy in the unboxing of things I bought just days earlier when I probably should have been working. It was a weird transitional time in my life but also one of the first times I had a regular 9-5 job and the splurges on high-end skincare were a salve for much more than my face.
To this day, it stands in great debate as to whether I quit or was fired from that job. What is true is that it definitely set in motion my love for all things e-commerce. And it wasn’t just because I thought it would be easier to have everyone just book their rooms and spa treatments and tee times online themselves so that I could be free to shop online.
It was just that even then, from a business standpoint, I thought it would be much smarter to invest in ways to empower resort guests to make reservations themselves in the same way Sephora allowed me to browse virtually. I knew I spent way more online than I ever would in person at the mall.
There was something way less confrontational about being able to read product details at my leisure, without the pressure to buy. There was room to explore, to discover, to truly take it all in. Whether booking hotel rooms or buying designer perfume, it was novel then to be given the authority to manage things yourself and I liked it.
Around this same time, there were the cries from small businesses everywhere that online shopping was either going to kill brick-and-mortar altogether, or that it was just a fad not worth investing in. The vestiges of these beliefs exist to this day - less so for startups who tend to be more open to seeing the value in technology - but definitely in the small business sector. You either see yourself as a local business that only serves other locals and therefore has no need for a website… or you understand the power of ecommerce but are not sure where you fit into the whole scheme of things.
Interestingly, in a new role sometime after the end of my storied stint at that resort I did go on to work for a company where I was given the opportunity to actually develop an entire eCommerce platform. I didn’t necessarily have any professional experience in the field yet but I had the overconfidence that comes with being fresh out of college and someone willing to give me a chance. If I knew nothing else, I knew that so long as I built interactions that would satisfy me as an online shopper that there was a pretty good chance it would resonate with others. I was right. That platform is still in use to this day and generates multiple millions of dollars for the company every year.
Here are some lessons from my early days as an online shopper that are still just as relevant today and which have now been thoroughly vetted through my involvement in successfully bringing hundreds of businesses to life online, many for the very first time:
1. Constantly give me new things to look at and explore.
If you want me to keep coming back to your site time and time again, you better give me some exciting reasons to do so. Change up that homepage hero banner and link it to some fresh content. Create a “new” category in your shop so that I can see everything that’s dropped since my last visit. Make me feel like I need to check back in often or else run the risk of missing out on something big.
A frequently updated website draws people (and Google) in and creates the ultimate sense of FOMO. Use this to your advantage.
2. Answer all the questions I didn’t know I had.
Your FAQ page matters more than you know. I feel like I can always pick up on how well a company treats their customers based on an FAQ page alone. People like me do, in fact, read every single question and answer – and not just because I want to learn more about your products or services. I do it because I want to see how you answer questions. Is your tone sassy? Sweet? Direct? Blunt? Does it sound like you would truly help me if I had a problem or does it sound like you’re just setting yourself up to cover your own ass with rules and fine print?
A great FAQ page is your secret, hidden way to show your customers a bit of your brand personality. Yes, that should come through in the copy on your other pages but those pages are where you talk about everything going right. An FAQ page is generally the only place where you talk openly about all the things that could go wrong. And it’s in those moments where I want to know you’ve got my back.
3. Show up in my inbox.
If I truly like your brand or your company or your products, I’m signing up for your email list. So, entice me with a coupon code or lure me in with the promise of special offers, whatever it is - I want to be in the loop and I’m willing to give you my email address in exchange for the good stuff.
The crazy thing about email marketing is that I know how the sausage is made and I still want some. I know the messages I get in my inbox aren’t really personalized, written just for me and catered to my personal shopping whims. I know that emails are, for the most part, trying to sell me something. And yet, for brands that I really love - I do not care. I like being invited back. I like feeling like I’m part of the family. I know I’m being marketed to and yet, done right, I don’t mind one bit.
4. Treat me like the VIP I think I am.
Perhaps you haven’t noticed a trend yet but most of what I like about shopping online are the ways it mimics (and sometimes goes beyond) the in-person experience. The best online retailers understand this and follow through with awesome ways for me to feel like I’m their #1 customer. There are so many ways to roll out the red carpet for your online guests and not all of them need to be expensive or complicated:
One of the easiest things you can do is enable customer accounts so that repeat customers like me can easily access my order history.
You can add a live chat widget so I can skip the customer service phone queue and not stress over sending a cold email.
Roll out an affiliate or referral program that recognizes repeat business or encourages customers to share your brand with friends.
Set up a simple, automatic returns process so that if I need to swap out a size or just return something that’s not exactly what I thought it would be I can do so in the easiest way possible.
Customers have a lot of options when browsing around online and all of these things just boil down to making each and every customer feel like they're your best one. Think of ways you can make their lives easier. Be empathetic to their needs. Reward them for their loyalty.
5. Send me packages that show me you love your own brand.
Lastly, the experience with your eCommerce brand lasts longer than you think it does. It goes way beyond the checkout page and extends right to my front door and beyond. Make a lasting impression with packaging that excites me. This means it needs to be 1) on brand, 2) potentially contain a little surprise and 3) anticipate my needs. And, yes, packaging can do all these things.
A branded box and packaging that’s filled with branded tissue or fill, and topped with a branded sticker or card – that’s the holy grail for an online shopper. This is the pay off for not just getting in the car and heading out to the store. The unboxing experience is the whole thing. That’s what we’re here for.
And it just says so much to me when I order something that shows up in a plain old, boring box with not so much as a thank you note. There’s something special about interacting with a company that’s confident enough in their own brand that they want to slap it all over everything and send it all over the world. Whatever it is, packaging matters.
The Bottom Line
20 years on from my short-lived stint as a hotel reservationist and I can tell you to not underestimate the power of eCommerce. It doesn’t matter your business or industry. I could be booking a facial, buying shoes, accessing exclusive digital content, or scheduling a meeting – and all of them are chances for your business to impress me, influence me and convert me into a fan for life. It’s not a coincidence that even after all these years, there’s still a magical delight in receiving one of those black-and-white Sephora packages at my door.
