Sunday, 13 November 2011

Measuring customer satisfaction in ecommerce business

One of the toughest questions that ecommerce businesses face concerns what is at the heart of a business –customer satisfaction. At first glance, anyone doing ecommerce business or having an interest for this subject may wonder if the idea of customer satisfaction exists at all in ecommerce. The reason for this doubt is well founded –when the customer is not at all seen, how does one get to know the level of satisfaction she enjoyed while shopping?
Keep in touch with the customer!
Drawing the visitor to the website and getting her to complete the purchase is one aspect of ecommerce. Once the visitor buys a product and becomes a customer, it starts a whole new dynamics of the relationship. It is from here that the ecommerce business should start thinking of customer satisfaction. The customer may not have shopped by being physically present at the store, but no purchase is complete without some information about the customer. Using the contact information, the business can start understanding the level of satisfaction she derived from the sale.
Start at the beginning
The easiest way to start measuring customer satisfaction is by asking how the customer felt about the shopping experience.A simple, courteous “Thank you for shopping from our site” could be a good beginning. It could be customised to include the shopper’s name, making it more personal and likeable. A few days later, the actual work of measuring satisfaction could begin.
Customer satisfaction surveys
One of the most effective ways of understanding customers’ perceptions towards the ecommerce shopping experience is to invite them to take a survey. Notice the word “invite” here: Unfortunately, no matter how important it is for the ecommerce business to have the customer take up a post-purchase survey; the customer is not obliged to do it. She can only be requested to take one up. The mail inviting her to take up the survey could say as much, while adding that a few minutes spent on completing the survey could enhance her shopping experience greatly.
Continuous exercise
Keeping in touch with the customer after she has purchased the product from your ecommerce website has to be done on a regular, continuous basis. And importantly, it has to also be done with repeat customers. When an ecommerce keeps getting responses from its customers on a regular basis and analyses their feedback dispassionately and seriously, it can be certain that it has a good measure of what customers feel about the way it does business. It helps the business to take important decisions. For instance, a new introduction of a product, such a quintessential feature of engaging the customer; can be decided based on what the customer may feel about it. In ecommerce, it may not be possible to quantify customer satisfaction, but taking steps like the ones mentioned above can lead to qualitative analysis –a better barometer for the business.

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