Creating eCommerce Shopping Experiences That Keep Customers Engaged and Connected

Follow these strategies to keep your brand top of mind and to create lasting impressions and shopping experiences that stick.

Brands and retailers are finding ways to thrive in the pandemic economy by leveraging industry trends and meeting customers where they are. While amazing products have a significant impact on the future of businesses, they are not enough to engage customers and sustain profitability.

There are some clever ways you can stay ahead of the game and create valuable customer experiences for the long haul. When done right, these strategies will help you to effectively position your brand and ultimately make you the default shopping destination that deeply connects with your customers’ lifestyles.

10 Ways to Keep Your Brand Top of Mind

1. Publish Useful and Evergreen Content

It pays to publish content that caters to your shoppers’ changing wants and needs. In this way, you not only promote brand awareness but also make customers feel connected and inspired.

One example of this would be gift guides created for different personas to inspire and enrich shopping journeys. You can also add a share function so users can quickly forward products they love to family and friends.
Shane Co.’s dedicated engagement ring buying guide adds more value for shoppers and helps them to make the perfect fine jewelry selection. It is a one-stop-shop for anyone looking to propose to their significant other, covering everything from popular engagement ring styles to wedding checklists. Evergreen guides such as this can also optimize your SEO efforts to improve search rankings.

2. Recommend Relevant and Personalized Products

Be your customer’s best friend and the first they go to for opinions and recommendations. You can turn up highly relevant suggestions for your shoppers through recommendation engines tailored to their preferences and browsing behavior. You can also add a personalization layer to ensure every interaction on your site contributes to a better understanding of your client base. Doing so can convert more site visitors, increase basket size, and ultimately boost brand loyalty.

There’s plenty to see on La Redoute’s product detail page. Beyond the product itself, you can find a complete-the-look carousel, user-generated (UGC) content, and reviews. The page has endless paths for discovery that inspire add-to-carts and conversion (CVR).

A screenshot of a complete-the-look carousel on La Redoute

3. Send Targeted Emails 

Engaging with customers does not have to be confined to your website or your app. You can also send targeted emails that consider your shoppers’ browsing behavior, previous purchases, wishlists, and real-time context such as birthdays, gift shopping, and holidays. You can also reach out for time-sensitive reasons, such as a sale, an item restock, or a wishlist piece that is low in stock.
Glossier does the job with a teaser email to trigger customer curiosity. Besides a clear call-to-action (CTA) that leads directly to the brand website, there is a specfic timeframe to fuel anticipation.

Screenshot of Glossier’s email

4. Encourage Organic Engagement on Social

Social media is a space to connect with your customers, promote your brand values, encourage shoutouts, and nurture community to boost word-of-mouth. You can promote your products with eye-catching posts, stories, and videos to create authentic interactions. Social channels also provide you with insights into what your shoppers are after through surveys, Q+As, and comments.

Take Chewy, for example. For National Shelter Appreciation Week, the pet product eTailer offered to make a $500 donation to a customer’s shelter of choice.

5. Stand Out With a Seamless On-Site Experience 

Make the purchase experience seamless so little effort is needed on your customer’s end. There’s no underestimating convenience, as shoppers will readily leave your site if it does not provide a flawless product search to checkout experience. This can mean requiring minimal information to make a purchase, a mobile-friendly website, or making the CTA buttons very prominent.

City Furniture does this right by giving users the option to immediately proceed to checkout once an item is added. The CTA is visible in red, and there is an option to continue browsing through complementary recommendations. The process is straightforward and keeps shoppers engaged with continuous product discovery.

6. Keep the Conversation Going

Your relationship with a shopper does not have to end once they convert. Brands can choose to foster an ongoing connection with a customer by turning them into repeat and long-time clients. The post-purchase timeframe is perfect for sending feedback emails to  ensure they are happy with the products and overall shopping experience.

Tradesy encourages continued connection by sending an email once an order has been shipped. The message contains all relevant order details, such as the fulfillment status and relevant contact numbers, and also gives customers a chance to send family and friends a referral offer.

7. Always Stay Fresh

Engage new and existing shoppers with newly added products, fresh offers, and dynamic homepages. By using technologies including visual AI and predictive analytics to leverage past and real-time user behavior, you can hyper-personalize the shopping journey on any page customers land on. This way, they always have something exciting and relevant to explore. 
Nalli Silks’ homepage encourages customers to explore different categories organized by patterns and occasions. If shoppers can’t find what they’re looking for in the navigation, they can use visual search. Once selected, curated inspiration galleries change to reflect the shopper’s preferences.

8. Add an Extra Layer of Fun

Rise above the competition with fun activities, such as contests and surprise discounts. Brands and retailers can also tap into immersive experiences, such as augmented reality (AR), games, and shoppable media powered by visual AI technology.

For Miu Miu’s introduction of its Twist fragrance, it opted for video games. Elle Fanning was rendered in 8-bit, and users had to guide her as she jumped through perfume bottles. At the end of the game, customers were redirected to a landing page to learn more about the perfume.

Screenshot of the Miu Miu game, “Be the First Woman on the Miun”

9. Build Creative Tracks for Loyalty Programs 

Get creative with your loyalty program to encourage your customers to keep coming back. Offer member-exclusive discounts and sales and reward customers with points during special shopping occasions such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM).

Sephora’s Beauty Insider is one of the most innovative programs around. Customers gain credits for every purchase using a traditional point system. But what makes it special is the freedom that shoppers have to use their rewards points. They can choose gift cards, discounts, experiences, and more.

10. Stay Consistent 

Be consistent with the customer experience you deliver down to your visual language, product quality, messaging, CTAs, and returns policy, among others. 

Boohoos visual merchandising and vibe are consistent across its online channels including the website, emails, and social media.  Boohoo’s brand voice and community engagement are immediately recognizable and foster continuous connections with shoppers.

Wrap-Up 

You might have attractive prices, unbeatable promotions, unique collections, and awe-inspiring aesthetics; however, for experiences to stick, your brand should deliver customer experiences that feel personalized and relevant. 
With the right strategy and technology, you can maintain your edge against the competition, impress shoppers, and make lasting connections that manifest as repeat purchases and loyal customers.