How to improve your customers' experience

Customer experience, under this name or another, is and has always been one of the fundamental concepts of all commerce. In today's competitive online market, sellers and companies of all kinds focus their energy on the key question: what is the most efficient way to improve your customers' experience when they shop with you?

The immediate answers are obvious. More speed: in responses, in updates, in processes. More simplicity and ease. More efficiency.

And yet, it can be difficult to know where to start, and there may be points that get overlooked along the way. In this article, we will cover 6 strategies to keep in mind to improve your customers' experience at different stages of the journey.

1. An efficient parcel shipping service

Statistics show that parcel delivery is one of the critical factors for customer satisfaction in digital commerce, and it is in this area that InPost's work develops. We represent a shipping service specially designed to meet the ever-growing demands of the modern world, whether in terms of speed, prices, or efficiency, through an extensive network of pickup points – more than 12 000 on the Iberian Peninsula and more than 82 000 across Europe.

Another of our focuses is environmental responsibility, which is an equally relevant issue from the customer experience point of view: a large part of today's public values sustainability in their consumption habits.

2. Getting to know people

Or, to be more technical, collecting and analyzing information. The more information you have about your customers, both as individuals and in general, the better you can meet their needs and preferences. IT tools give access to an ocean of important data, such as the links and ads they usually click on, or the type of content they are most interested in.

This and other data make it possible to personalize the way you deal with each person, for example through more targeted communications or specific recommendations – in this area, artificial intelligence has been widely used.

3. Transparency

The public expects an ever greater degree of control and access to information in its interaction with a store or other business. Being clear and frank in communication, giving the customer as much autonomy as possible, and being proactive in providing all information that may be relevant should be ongoing priorities.

An important factor for transparency in online commerce is the ability to locate an order easily. We consider this feature, which contributes to the peace of mind of both sender and recipient, indispensable in modern logistics. To track an InPost parcel at any time, you only need to access our shipment tracking page and enter the order number.

4. Improving support service

In online commerce, customer support is often the only human point of contact with a store or seller. Support channels that respond quickly and solve problems efficiently significantly increase satisfaction levels. Poor support service performance, by contrast, easily creates dissatisfaction.

One of the resources many companies use today to strengthen their support service is artificial intelligence at the service of human employees, as a valuable source of instant ideas and suggestions. Technology often makes it possible to systematize routine tasks, saving time and energy for complex problems.

5. Simplifying checkout and increasing payment options

A large proportion of people abandon their purchase during checkout: sometimes because the process is confusing or time-consuming, or because the payment options are not the ones expected. Of course, conversely, an easy and smooth checkout that includes the preferred payment option has a significant effect on the shopping experience and the willingness to repeat it.

In this other article we explore some ways to improve your checkout and payment options.

6. Returns

The post-purchase experience is critical: there is no more direct way to cause dissatisfaction than to disappoint after payment has already been made. It is necessary to always keep in mind that the goal is not just the purchase, but satisfaction: digital commerce lives on regular customers.

Many people check a seller's returns policy before a purchase, and they will be disappointed if the returns experience does not meet their expectations. Create a clear, simple, and easy returns policy.

InPost's network of pickup points also offers benefits in this area, making it possible to organize returns efficiently and quickly. Visit our page to find out more about this and other advantages of sending and receiving parcels with us.