The online shopping and services sector is going from strength to strength. In the last year, not only has eCommerce boomed, but many previously in-person services have found their way into the digital sphere.
Yoga teaching, piano lessons, legal services, house buying, investing- you name it, you can do it online. But with online commerce comes a new set of challenges. Mainly building and maintaining relationships, adding value to the client-customer experience, and ensuring customer loyalty. Adding value to your services is the best way to retain clients and make them feel valued and here we show you how to do just that.
Integrate New Technologies
Staying ahead of the times and offering your customers the best technological features is a great way to keep them happy and give added value. The inclusion of AI in front and back end processes such as onboarding, order processing, customer service, compliance, and experience personalization can go a long way in keeping customers happy. By saving time and reducing costs, the benefits can be enjoyed by those engaging with your services.
Other technologies to consider include biometric authentication, virtual currency payments, big data and machine learning, VR, and state-of-the-art app and browser experiences.
Give Back to the Customer
What do you to do thank your customer for their custom? Many online companies are guilty of not doing enough to retain customers by giving something back. Gifting or giving bonuses to customers increases their loyalty and encourages them to shop with you again.
Loyalty points, VIP schemes, and bonuses are techniques employed by a number of different online businesses including department stores, streaming and download sites, and trading and investing sites. In terms of the latter, those looking to invest in forex find themselves rewarded with the best forex bonus offers from a range of different sites. These serve as incentives to investors who are looking for a good deal and also trying to decide which option to go with. There are several options for giving back to your customer base and are well worth considering as the results in terms of retention and gaining a new customer base can be impressive.
Step up Customer Service
Do you offer 24/7 customer service? Are all customer queries acknowledged within an hour or two? Do you provide a way for your customers to give positive and negative feedback? These are things you should be doing in 2021. Especially with digital and online services where there is a lot of competition and low levels of loyalty, you need to go beyond what is expected.
Integration of a chatbot into social media, email, and your website can help to process more requests, quicker and more efficiently while taking up less manpower. Chatbots can funnel inquiries to the right department and even answer FAQs. This can greatly improve the overall functioning of your customer service department, therefore increasing loyalty and keeping your clients happy as part of your marketing strategy.
Keep Things Simple
You can increase value for your customers by not making things too complicated. Every feature and benefit you offer, make sure it has simplicity at its core. For payments, bonuses, browsing experiences, and even the products you offer, keeping things simple is the way to go. Needlessly complicating processes can confuse customers, take up more time, and make them less likely to engage in your services. If they cannot understand what is happening, they are likely to get frustrated and go elsewhere.
Offer Varied Payment Options
A great way to keep customers happy and to offer added value is by offering a variety of different payment methods. Not all customers have PayPal or credit cards, some may not have access to certain methods due to their location. To offer convenience and good support to your online clients, providing a range of payment methods can be incredibly helpful. It’s also worth considering that in today’s world, integrating cryptocurrency payments through a third-party processor could be beneficial.
More and more people are using cryptocurrency to transact due to the levels of privacy and security it offers. You could start by offering bitcoin payments as it’s the most widely used, and then consider adding others at a later stage. Offering virtual currency payments opens up your products and services to a whole new market segment.
If you want to give your customers a reason to come back for more, enlisting some of these tips will give you a good headstart.
