Why does eCommerce need customer engagement?

The answer comes down to one number, 86%! It is the percentage of users who are ready to pay more when being offered a better customer experience.

Customer engagement is the way customers see and interact with your brand’s journey. It is built through loyalty and awareness but is mostly influenced by the online experience. The better the experience, the higher your traffic, and sales.

Today’s digital consumers are looking for a personalized and seamless online shopping experience. It is important to them that they feel engaged and that their experience does not remain the same. According to the "State of the Connected Customer" report by Salesforces, 80% of customers believe eCommerce's experience remains as important as its products. 

1. Build a relationship with your customers

A personalized experience is no longer a nice to have; it's a must. 66% of users expect brands to understand their needs and act upon them.

It is more likely that consumers will return to your brand for future purchases if they feel that you truly care about their experience. Intercom offers live chats experience with sales advisors to strengthen the experience.

Moreover, Email marketing is a powerful tool that can help you reach your target audience and promote your products or services. You can showcase your brand, share relevant information and updates, and drive traffic to your website. Your business can build relationships with customers by providing valuable content and personalized recommendations. Overall, email marketing can be a highly effective way to connect with your audience, build brand awareness, and drive sales. Mailchimp is a great all-in-one tool to create customized email templates and automated campaigns!

2. Take advantage of social media

If your customers are on social media, then you need to be there, too. Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat & Tik Tok are the places of inspiration and engagement, the missing pieces of eCommerce websites. This is where users get inspired before visiting the website to purchase products, so this should be the place where you create interactive and engaging content. 

• Know your target audience
• Spark conversation about products 
• Post creative and valuable content
• Post reels and inspiration from your brand
• Manage your social media channels and plan your posts with buffer
• Create challenges and include influencer marketing strategies
• Post ads that drive users to your website

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3. Enable interactive shopping

Nearly 54% of customers say they feel like they are interacting with separate departments rather than a unified enterprise. Keeping shoppers engaged on a static eCommerce platform can be challenging. But imagine finding all the aspects of social media channels directly on your website.

Squadded enables your community to shop together on your eCommerce. The whole customer journey, starting from getting inspired to asking for friends’ feedback and finishing with the purchase, will be centered on your website. Users will be constantly entertained and won’t want 

to miss a thing that’s happening within the website’s community. They will share their favorite products and inspirational content with other shoppers or even privately with their friends' groups for a completely authentic and revolutionized shopping experience boosting loyalty, traffic, and sales.

• Easily test and install the channel on your website
• Share the brand’s content you want to advertise
• Create polls and challenges to engage the community
• Let your shoppers discuss and recommend products to each other
• Collect free UGC
• Include influencers in shoppers’ experience by letting them post inspirational content or reviews about products. This would lead to a lower bounce rate and longer sessions.

4. Leverage social proof

Customer ratings and reviews on product pages can help to build trust and motivate other customers to purchase. Social proof is the idea that people are more likely to trust and follow the actions of others, especially when they are similar to themselves. With product content generated by other shoppers,  you can provide potential customers with valuable insights and help build trust toward your products. With Judge.me, you can automatically collect reviews, display them on your eCommerce, and share them across multiple platforms.

5. Offer live shopping experience

Recently, we observed a 76% increase in live commerce purchases across the world. Through live shopping, brands can showcase their products instantly enabling users to get live reviews and make purchases at the same time. Live commerce has proven to be efficient in increasing engagement rates and strengthening relationships with customers due to its authenticity. TikTok offers this feature for free, so go ahead and try it on with your community.

Still not convinced?

Here are 5 reasons why your business needs engaged customers 

1. It reduces cart abandonment by keeping users entertained through email or social media which will remind them of you, and their cart :)
2. It enhances customer satisfaction by providing them with a personalized experience, which improves customer loyalty.
3. It drives sales & conversions by engaging users in interactive and fun experiences.
4. It offers valuable data & insights about user behavior & preferences, which can help to improve the customer experience and drive business growth.
5. It generates user-generated content. Social proof is a driving force behind a customer's buying decision.

Start humanizaing your eCommerce experience with Squadded now!