Launching into the ecommerce space means adhering to the industry standards and expectations. It’s not about selling online, but about helping buyers purchase your products in the most efficient, enjoyable way possible.
1. Train your internal team on using your website.
Don’t launch your ecommerce site to customers until your sales reps know it in and out. Training the team in advance will give you enough time to test various purchasing scenarios, catch any remaining bugs and prepare the sales team for a different kind of sale. They should be able to answer customers’ questions and guide them through the self-service buying process, if needed.
2. Plan communication to your existing customer base to introduce them to your new site.
While the primary goal of your new ecommerce initiative is to attract new customers, you don’t want to ignore the existing client base. Get ready to communicate about the launch via your usual channels, such as email or social media. To help with the onboarding, you may want to think about creating educational content like videos, webinars or how-to guides to explain the new processes and opportunities that lie ahead.
3. Make sure your customer service team checks emails frequently.
Timely customer service is one of the most important aspects of an ecommerce business. If you’re just getting started, customers are bound to have questions and concerns. Promptly following up on customer inquiries will boost your brand’s trustworthiness and encourage customers to shift to online processes. BigCommerce prioritizes merchant support to build relationships on trust through fast customer support response rates – merchants get connected to a US-based support rep in under two minutes.
4. Consider setting up live chat on your ecommerce site.
On-demand chatbots have changed the game in ecommerce. Instead of having to arrange a call and wait for an answer, consumers can now ask quick questions and get immediate answers right where they need them. Customers have more freedom to share feedback and voice their concerns, making communication easier and more effective. To really understand your customers’ pain points, look at your site’s search statistics to pinpoint what they’re searching for and not finding. You can also review and consider obvious friction points that prevent users from completing their buying journey or causing frustrations that delay the purchase.
