Picture this: a prospective customer discovers your brand, browses through your website, and is excited to learn that you offer online shopping. He finds something he likes, adds it to his online cart, and then decides to check out. Since it’s his first visit, he’s redirected to your registration page, where he spends a fair bit of time creating an account for your online store.
After finally making his account, an interruption forces your new customer to complete his purchase some other time. Later that night, he remembers his purchase and decides to pay using his phone instead of his laptop.
Cue problem: Not only is your mobile site design entirely different from your website, but it also uses separate login information, so your online shopper has to create a second account for mobile shopping!
This poses an important question for online retailers: How many times will their customers endure a jarring user experience before they switch to a different brand or online retailer?
Online retailers often undervalue a consistent cross-platform brand experience. They also tend to underestimate the benefits of a seamless shopping experience. The quality and consistency of your shopping experience has a major impact on brand loyalty. Strong omni-channel customer engagement help brands achieve an average customer retention rate of 89% compared to just 33% for brands with weak engagement.
Modern eCommerce solutions assist retailers in delivering a unified shopping experience across channels by facilitating total omni-channel integration with their ERP system. These digital solutions centralize product information management across retail channels in real time, which enables streamlined eCommerce processing and fulfilment, resulting in an enriched customer journey.
Many solutions facilitate simplified order management and allow retailers to execute omni-channel processes like home delivery of products ordered online. These solutions enable smart clienteling and effective digital marketing that helps achieve higher customer engagement and satisfaction. Integrated eCommerce solutions also determine each customer’s lifetime value and offer accurate information about customer loyalty by generating analytics using cross-channel sales information.
To improve operational efficiency and achieve omni-channel retail capabilities, your business should consider investing in ERP-integrated digital eCommerce tools like CommerceLink by Visionet Systems, which integrates your eCommerce platform with Microsoft Dynamics 365 to efficiently monitor customer interactions, streamline product information and order fulfilment, simplify business processes, and help achieve objectives across channels.