How to Improve Customer Shopping Experience for Your Dropshipping Store?

Affected by the global epidemic, more and more people switch to shopping online. And a large number of dropshippers from all over the world emerged. As the growth of the dropshipping industry in various regions of the world, the competition continues to intensify. Consumers' expectations for the online shopping experience are further enhanced. A high-quality shopping experience has become core competitiveness for dropshipping sellers.

 

China has become the preferred dropshipping purchasing place with its strong supply chain and abundant shipping methods. And SourcinBox is a Chinese dropshipping agent that is committed to helping dropshippers to expand their dropshipping businesses. In this article, we will put forward some practical ways to help you improve the online shopping experience from multiple aspects.

 

Why is Shopping Experience Important for Dropshipping?

 

People these days have countless options for buying an item. They can easily find and buy the best product with good reviews online. So people no longer put their expectations on getting a product they want. They would be more expected to have the best shopping experience when they spend money on a product and are even willing to pay more than the value of the product due to an excellent shopping experience.

 

The customer shopping experience, whether online or face-to-face, is crucial throughout the customer journey of buying an item. It finally affects the decisions of customer purchasing, sharing, and repurchasing.

 

So retailers including dropshippers gradually choose to differentiate themselves from competitors by improving the customer shopping experience. It is a long-term and profitable investment with the following benefits for the dropshipping business.

 

 • Increase Dropshipping Sales

 

A smooth shopping experience can reduce the difficulty of decision-making for customers. Such as fast store page loading speed, clear product images, obvious CAT buttons, order process guide map, multiple shipping and payment methods, etc. These all can allow customers to concentrate on shopping without being disturbed by irrelevant problems, which effectively increases the sales conversion.

 

Learn More about How to Optimize Your Dropshipping Store

 

 • Enhance Customer Loyalty

 

The excellent shopping experience is reflected in the customer's high satisfaction with product quality, fulfillment experience, and after-sales service, which also means the increase of customer's trust. Customers will rely on the excellent shopping experience you provide and also enhance customer loyalty.

 

 • Improve Return on Investment

 

The cost of acquiring customers in dropshipping is increasing year by year, and an excellent shopping experience can effectively improve the customer lifetime value, thus bringing you a higher return on every investment.

 

4 Ways to Improve Customer Shopping Experience

 

What should be considered when designing a shopping experience for a dropshipping store? We will elaborate on the following ways in detail.

 

1. Optimize The Product Display and Description

 

Creating a high-quality product display page can improve customer expectations for the actual product. Product display includes product images, videos, descriptions, product reviews, etc.

 

 • Use Proper Product Images

 

Use High-resolution Product Images

 

The recommended size of the shortest edge of a product image is 2000px and has a resolution of 72ppi. The image should preferably be less than 1M to ensure quick loading speed.

 

Display Products from Multiple Angles

 

Displaying the details of the product from multiple angles can help customers to understand the appearance, craftsmanship, and material of the product more clearly. Especially for clothing images, should at least include images of the front, back, and details of the product.

 

 

Show Product Features on Product Images

 

For tools and electrical products, it is recommended to use different images to show the multiple features of the product. As well as an image to describe the packaging and accessories of the product.

 

 

Avoid Using the Following Product Images

 

Blurred images not only make customers unable to see the details of the product but also make them think that the images are stolen from other people's websites, and if your product is not what it looks like in the image, you will lose your customers' trust.

 

 

Excessive post-processing of images, including excessive body shape modification, color modification, etc, will cause a large gap between the described effect on the image and the actual effect.

 

Non-real product images mean using PS to synthesize product images instead of real photographed images. In this way, the quality of the synthesized images will be poor, and the effect will have a certain gap with the real product.

 

If the product images, especially the main image, contain items that are not for sale, it is easy to mislead customers.

 

 • Use Videos to Bring Customers a More Realistic Product Display

 

Combine Product Video with Images

 

Combining product video and image can more vividly display product usage scenarios and functions, which is usually more suitable for tools and electrical products. But more and more fashion and apparel products also use video content to show the dynamic effect of clothing.

 

Use Models of Different Skin Tones and Body Shapes

 

As a global sales model, dropshipping should take into account the diverse aesthetics of customers from different countries. If you are a fashion apparel seller, you can use models with different body shapes and skin tones to display your clothing to meet the diverse aesthetic needs of your target audience.

 

 

 • Showcase Trusted Product Reviews

 

Improve The Quality of Reviews

 

High-quality reviews are far more important to conversions than low-quality reviews. Real reviews that include product photos uploaded by customers can effectively demonstrate the true quality of the products. It can enhance customers' shopping confidence and improve conversion rates.

 

Select Valuable Reviews

 

Valuable reviews can help customers when they are making shopping decisions, including sizes, fit, product quality, usage effects, and other aspects. The size and fit from the customer feedback are the key review information that needs to be selected. You can also collect customers' size data in their reviews to optimize your data structure.

 

Gain More Reviews

 

You can use email marketing automation tools to send automated emails to invite customers to leave reviews after they received the product. You can also use customers' comments on social media and share the content with the permission of customers.

 

2. Take Reasonable Pricing and Promotion Strategies

 

Reasonable pricing and promotion strategies can increase your customers' expectations of your product quality, thereby helping your store to increase sales conversion rates.

 

 • Learn about The Pricing and Promotion Laws of Your Target Market

 

Sales Pricing

 

Be very careful when setting sales pricing. You can determine by looking at the pricing of your competitors as well as the average market pricing. A competitive selling price is very important, but the pricing should not be too lower than the average market pricing, because the customer's perception of the product value is based on the product pricing. At the same time, you have to ensure sufficient profit margins. Even when using discounted prices on certain holidays, you are still profitable.

 

Discounts

 

Whether it’s a first-time purchase or repurchase, price and quality are the main drivers for customers to buy from you. Consumers all over the world like to choose high-quality and cost-effective products, but it does not mean that the low-price strategy is always effective.

 

Conversely, for products that are high-quality, durable, or have a sense of design, customers are more willing to pay a certain premium.

 

Please DON’T raises the price to create the illusion of a big discount, which may lead customers to expect too much and want to get more discounts from you.

 

Promotion Time and Discount Intensity

 

Seasonal Promotion: Seasonal promotions are suitable for seasonal products such as fashion, accessories, clothing. At the beginning of each promotional season, the discounts are generally 10%-20%, and the discounts will increase over time until the end of the season and the maximum discount can reach more than 50% to clear all the stock.

 

Holiday and Important Event Promotions: You need to know the time of holidays and important events in the destination country to prepare for promotions in advance. For example, your products are mainly aimed at American customers. Then common promotional holidays include Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, etc. And important events include Black Friday, School Season, etc. Marketing strategies can be designed in conjunction with holiday themes. Usually, the discount on the product is 10%-50%.

 

Clearance Sales: If your product is out of season, or you need to clear the inventory, you may have a clearance sale. Generally, the discount is more than 50%, which only appears during clearance.

 

 • Be Well Prepared for Promotions

 

Make Sure You Have Enough Inventory

 

We all know that the dropshipping model does not need you to keep inventory, so you need to make sure that your supplier has enough inventory. You can ask your supplier to reserve a part of the products for you for the promotional season sales. In addition, most dropshipping agents provide free warehousing services, which allows you to buy inventory in advance and keep it in their warehouse for free.

 

For the required number of inventory products, you can make predictions based on past sales data and market size, etc to reserve enough products in advance to avoid losses due to out-of-stock problems.

 

Provide Fast Shipping

 

Before the promotion, you need to prepare the shipping plan in advance. You can store the products in the warehouse of the dropshipping agent in advance according to the estimated sales volume, so as to ensure that the products can be shipped as soon as possible to shorten the delivery time.

 

Also, you need to choose the best dropshipping suppliers with fast shipping to ensure that customers can receive their products before the holiday season.

 

Ensure Timely Communication and Customer Service

 

It is crucial to have good customer service during promotions. You can increase the number of customer service agents in advance to ensure that customers' inquiries can be answered as soon as possible, as well as to deal with after-sales issues.

 

In addition, it is recommended to prepare a solution in advance for some unexpected situations that may occur, such as out of stock, order delays, etc.

 

3. Provide A Premium Order Fulfillment Experience

 

The customer placing an order in your store is not the end of the customer's shopping experience. They will also care about the entire order fulfillment process after placing an order. You need to improve the transparency of order fulfillment through store optimization, automatic notification, communication, etc.

 

Use SourcinBox to Optimize Your Dropshipping Supply Chain

 

 • Communicate Order Fulfillment Expectations with Customers

 

Add key information such as stock quantity, order processing and shipping time, and estimated delivery date to the product detail page. In the case of sufficient inventory, indicate how long it takes to process the order. If not, the customer's expected processing time is usually 1-3 working days. In the case of insufficient inventory, it is necessary to clearly mark when the product will arrive and the estimated delivery time.

 

all products need optional shipping methods, and the cost and estimated delivery time of each shipping method. If you sell to multiple countries, you need to provide shipping methods, costs, and time to different countries and regions. It is recommended to intelligently determine the customer's country based on the IP address to display the corresponding shipping information.

 

 • Use Automatic Notifications and Real-time Order Tracking

 

You can send order shipment notifications via automated email with a link to real-time order tracking. If possible, it is better to add an order tracking page on your store website, so that customers can query the shipping status by simply entering their email address and order number. And the shipping information should be updated every day.

 

In addition, you can use automated notification tools to update customers on the latest order fulfillment progress at key times, such as "the order is in processing", "the order has been shipped", "the order has arrived", or "the order was delayed", etc.

 

 • Customize Packaging to Impress Your Customers

 

Customize Packaging with Your Brand Label

 

Showcasing your brand label on the packaging can make it stand out from the ordinary packages, enhance the customer's awareness of your brand, and increase brand exposure.

 

Insert Product List and Return Instructions

 

Inserting the customer purchased product list and return & exchange instructions to the packages can allow customers to check what products they have purchased. At the same time, the return and exchange instructions can let customers quickly understand the process of return and exchange, etc, which is convenient for customers to operate return and exchange by themselves.

 

Put A Custom Thank You Card in The Package

 

Thank you cards can help you express your appreciation and care for your customers. You can also put in a promotional card for your brand to introduce your brand, inform customers about your promotional offers, and more. These cards can deepen your brand relationship with your customers and bring you closer to them.

 

Use Environmentally Friendly Packaging

 

Sustainability and recycling are hot topics in the current global market. You can choose biodegradable packaging instead of plastic packaging. This will make your brand more valuable.

 

4. Keep in Touch with Customers with Great After-sales Service

 

After-sales service is a key link in maintaining customer relationships and improving customer satisfaction and repurchase rates. And effective communication is the foundation of good customer service.

 

 • Provide A Variety of Communication Channels

 

FAQs

 

FAQs enable customers to obtain solutions to most problems in a self-service manner. The content needs to cover the most frequently asked questions such as order issues, shipping policies, return and exchange services, payment methods, etc. You can effectively improve the FAQ experience with a well-designed table of contents and search functions.

 

Live Chat

 

Live chat is usually the preferred method of communication for customers. Providing a live chat service requires attention to the response time. Usually, it is best to respond to customers within a few minutes, and arrange corresponding customer service personnel when the customer is active.

 

You can also use a chat robot to automatically reply, which can improve the online chat experience and the efficiency of customer service. But keep in mind that too many auto-responses can be annoying.

 

Emails

 

When communicating by email, you need to learn about the working habits and hours of your target audience. Generally, you need to reply to the customer emails within 24 hours. You can organize common questions and answers as email templates, which can be used in customer service work and can improve work efficiency.

 

Phone Calls or Text Messages

 

Compared with email communication, phone calls and text message are more time-sensitive, and you can understand customer demands faster and solve problems encountered by customers efficiently.

 

When you need to communicate with customers about some important matters, you can use phone calls or text messages, which can reflect better service quality and a sincere attitude.

 

 • Think from The Customer's Point of View

 

Empathy

 

You can understand what customers need from the customer's point of view. And judge whether your response can satisfy the customers.

 

Active Awareness

 

It is recommended to use more active words such as “I can” and “I will” to communicate with customers, and reduce the use of words such as “you should” and “you need”. Make customers feel that you are taking responsibility.

 

Quick Response

 

Ensure the smooth flow of various communication channels. Simple inquiries should be generally resolved within 48 hours, and the processing of returns and exchanges should be completed within one week.

 

 • Improve The Return and Exchange Experience

 

Loose Return Policy

 

For non-consumables, a no-reason return policy for at least 14 days should be provided. For returns due to quality issues, a full refund should be offered.

 

Self-service Process

 

You can provide a self-service return application, allowing customers to easily select the reason for the return, upload photos, download the return form, and fill in the shipping tracking number and other information to facilitate tracking the progress of the return.

 

Refunds for Cheap Items

 

For cheap items, you can choose flexibly between accepting returns and advising customers to keep the item and refund directly, since the cost of processing a return for cheap items can be high.

 

 • Collect Customer Feedback to Solve Problem from The Root

 

Collect Reasons for Returns and Exchanges

 

Usually, there are the following reasons why customers ask for a return or exchange: Bad quality, wrong size, wrong products, slow shipping, wrong delivery, etc.

 

Find The Root Cause of The Problems and Solve It

 

For quality problems, you should confirm with your supplier whether the product really has quality problems. If it has, you should immediately remove the product from your store and purchase new products with better quality. Also, ask the supplier to help you carefully check the quality of the product before shipping.

 

For the problem that the actual product does not match the description, you can buy samples before selling the product or ask the supplier for a real photo of the product for comparison. If the difference between the actual product and the product image is too large, you can replace the product image in the store with the actual product photo. Or you can re-purchase products that are closer to the product image.

 

For the wrong size problem, you first need to confirm whether the size selected by the customer is correct. If the customer chose the correct size, it may be because the supplier sent the wrong size or there is a problem with the product size. You can ask the supplier for detailed size information. Then check and decide whether to remove the product from your store, or mark the recommended size of the product in your store according to different body shapes.

 

For shipping problems, what you can do is to choose the fastest shipping method as much as possible and tell your customers about the estimated delivery time. At the same time, remind your customers to fill in the correct address to avoid undeliverable or wrong delivery. If there is a delivery delay, please patiently explain the reason for the delay to the customer, and provide a solution or make corresponding compensation to the customer.

 

How to Measure Your Customer’s Shopping Experience?

 

The customer's shopping experience is difficult to quantify, but you can use some metrics to reflect the quality of the customer's shopping experience from the side, so as to guide your subsequent improvement work.

 

 • Customer Satisfaction

 

Customer satisfaction is usually reflected in customer feedback on your products and services. Such as customers' reviews of your product quality, shipping timelines, and after-sales service. You can collect your customer feedback in the form of survey emails.

 

 • Net Promoter Score

 

Net promoter score is used to measure the possibility that customers are willing to recommend your product or service. The score is 0-10. The higher the NPS, the more willing customers are to recommend your product or service to others. It is often used to measure customer satisfaction.

 

 • Customer Loyalty

 

The better the customer's shopping experience, the higher the loyalty. You can judge whether customer loyalty is improved by observing the customer's shopping cart abandonment rate, repurchase rate, purchase frequency, return rate, number of subscribers, and other indicators.