3 Ways to Make Your E-commerce Store Stand Out From the Crowd

It's no secret that for many people, shopping is an emotional and therapeutic activity. Retail therapy, according to psychologists, makes consumers feel happy and is also a means to cope with any unhappy thoughts. It is suggested that the act of making purchases, however large or small, gives shoppers a feeling of power and autonomy.

When shopping becomes an immersive experience, e-commerce retailers, in particular, must pay close attention to the first impressions they make on website visitors. Similar to brick-and-mortar buyers who pause at a shopfront before choosing whether to walk in and explore, online visitors will form their initial impressions in the first crucial seconds.

As an e-commerce store owner, how do you project a good impression within the confines of a web browser? Aside from focusing on tangible things like UX and website design, it's the intangible things like trust, confidence and the initial interactions that matter. Read to learn how to stand out and make a good first impression with these 3 tips.

Who is this article intended for?

First things first. This guide works best for online sellers who have an e-commerce website, whether hosted on your server or platforms like Shopify, WordPress and Webflow. This gives you the most flexibility and customisation options over how you can implement changes and as well as engage prospective visitors at your website.

If you're selling through Instagram or Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), for example, you are locked into each platform and there are limits to what you can do with your store's presence and how you can interact with shoppers. Nonetheless, you can use convenient CINNOX web links that start a live chat or web call directly with an agent.

Why are first impressions important?

As an e-commerce store owner, you're competing for not only with online competitors to stand out with your offerings, but you're also vying to win over visitors to your website and convert them into customers. If you’re selling mass-produced products with similar prices for example, why should an online customer pick your store over many others?

The customer experience is the answer. Shoppers pick online shopping for the wider range of choices, the convenience of free delivery, the opportunity to save and the prospect of a seamless, fuss-free buying experience. The less likely people are to have headaches due to their shopping experience, the more likely they are to pick your store.

Here are 3 ways to deliver a first good impression and stand out when online visitors land on your e-store.

1. Offer as many touchpoints as you can

Remember the earlier example about selling through Instagram? This marketing channel may work well for always-connected Gen Z audiences. But what if you have other customers who don't use Instagram for one reason or another? Furthermore, can people trust you if your online presence is limited to just one social media account?

Just like your e-commerce website, social media like Instagram is just one of your marketing channels. Ideally, customers should have the option to interact with your brand through many touchpoints, choosing whichever one they prefer to use at whatever time they like: live chat, social chat, web calls, video calls, email, and more.

When people see that you're active and contactable through many channels, the trust quotient of your brand goes up compared with others who may only offer email support, for example. For more ideas on how to make omnichannel marketing strategy work for you, check out How an Omnichannel Solution Can Help Boost Holiday Sales.

2. Provide delightful digital customer experiences

Once visitors move from their initial impression of the communication channels that you offer, they will soon interact with you or your agents. This next step contributes to the overall impression that customers form of your brand, ranging from how quickly you respond to enquiries to whether they think your agents are friendly and knowledgeable.

The challenge is that today's savvy customers have high expectations for digital experiences online. Together with the convenience of online shopping, they want the same personalised service they have come to expect from brick-and-mortar stores. How do you translate high-touch retail service into interactive digital experiences?

One way is to unify all your communications through a web widget and on a single platform. This way agents and customers don't have to juggle between apps when conversations jump between live chat, voice and WhatsApp, for example. To learn how a web widget works, read How to Improve Your E-commerce Customer Experience.

When you group all your customer interactions on a single platform, your agents have a 360-degree holistic view of the customer. With a separate chatroom for each client, any agent can pick up where the conversation left off. Read how to use personalisation tactics in 5 Reasons Why You Need an Omnichannel Customer Strategy Now.

3. Move prospects along the customer journey

While making a good first impression counts, it isn't the end goal of why you are running an e-commerce store in the first place. Simply delighting and creating memorable experiences will not pay for inventory, salaries, or other running expenses. You now need to translate that positive customer momentum into real sales figures.

Your agents in the customer support and service teams have long been seen as a cost centre instead of a revenue generator. Not anymore! Instead of passively waiting for customer enquiries and then solving them, you can proactively reach out to visitors with the CINNOX web widget and engage them in conversational marketing for a change.

Conversational marketing means having live agents talk to prospects in one-to-one, real-time dialogue. When you humanise the interactions by asking questions, listening and building relationships, you move prospects through the buying journey a lot faster. Learn more about this tactic in 7 Secrets of High Converting Websites (+1 bonus).

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