By Craig Smith, Founder
Market leaders in ecommerce have mastered the art of providing touchpoint value. They understand that at any point, consumers have different goals and motives and have constructed their web stores to leverage these opportunities.
These touch points are vital at the initial interaction as well as within continued repeat visits. After a shopper discovers your brand and hopefully makes a purchase, at that point it is up to the retailer to extend their voice through technologies and processes that provide the customer a voice.
When thinking about mastering your interaction points, start with the high level three goals that should associate with your web traffic. Do these things with both browsers and buyers and you will keep them coming back.
Empower
Information overload is the norm in today’s world. Your customer wants every possible detail on that item he or she is looking at. Product descriptions that are robust are a must. You need comparison charts and guided selling tools for complex purchases.
Each product needs to have review capabilities and the right mechanisms for rewarding consumers to write reviews. QA functions embedded on the product page is also a new way of building interactivity. These consumer tools boost comfort and facilitate decision making, which is exactly what you want when you are marketing a product.
Interact
Conversations off of Facebook is becoming the forward trend in the market. By moving the conversation off Facebook the retailer establishes a more controlled relationship and is allowed to provide a much more custom presentation of the brand. Forward thinking retailers like Sephora and Home Depot have instituted new platforms to engage customers and spur conversations.