Getting online is crucial for your business - but how can you generate a sense of trust?
Gone are the days where purchasing online was seen as too risky. Now we're more than happy to whip out our credit cards for the sake of convenience. Fuelled by our love of websites like Trademe and Amazon, more than two million Kiwis spent $4.7 billion online last year (Nielsen).
Online shopping is radically transforming commerce, but consumers are adapting much faster than many Kiwi small businesses. The latest MYOB Digital Nation survey found only 51% of businesses had a website, and only a third were using social media.
Overcoming this lag between consumer habits and your business is critical. Research coming out from Google shows that 80% of consumers now search for a product before they buy it, meaning that businesses need to think about much more than brand awareness or point of sale. Businesses now need to consider how they manage how the customer moves through the entire process of researching your product or service.
The most important decision customers make in researching is whether they trust you and your business. But how do you emulate this trust when you are not face to face with the person?
One way to do this is to leverage your awareness of how people search for a product and upgrading your social media presence. Being able to see what your staff look like, or the satisfaction of other customers who have used your service creates a precious sense of intimacy that can't be gained from visiting a normal website.
Having a blog section on your website where you establish expertise in your field by giving away content for free also helps generate a sense of trust with the customer. This content can also be repurposed for your social media channels. For example, if you're a hairdresser or a builder, you can use your Facebook page to share expert tips that make people feel like you're the natural go-to for that service.
If you're building a website for your business or expanding it, you could think about ways to ensure that your customer is receiving recommendations for products that are similar to the ones they have chosen, or that other people who fit their profile have liked. For example, for fashion stores this might mean taking the fear out of buying by showing people styling recommendations.
Once a customer's bought their new item, they want to know that it's going to be delivered. For business owners, this can be difficult. Although you control 90% of the process, you can't guarantee that your customer is going to be home when it's delivered, making the experience turn from one of convenience to frustration.
Capturing the busy consumer for their delivery is important for generating repeat business. "All of the research tells us that our customers are much more mobile than they were in the past", says Ashley Smout, New Zealand Post's Group General Manager of Customer Engagement. "It's really important for businesses to understand how consumer lifestyles are changing and adapt their marketing appropriately".
New Zealand Post have recognised this and come up with a range of parcel delivery options that now puts the power back in the consumer's hands. Called "You Can" and fronted by internationally renowned Kiwi choreographer Parris Goebel, the delivery options are targeted at busy customers on the go, giving them more choice about how they receive their parcels. "For us Parris is the perfect example of the modern customer - someone who likes to order online but is often not at home!"
Parcel Leave is designed for customers that are not home at the time of their delivery. It allows them to use the tracking number to have their parcel left at home even if they're not there to sign for it. They can also provide the courier with instructions on where to leave it outside (such as the back door step or underneath the BBQ). Parcel Collect allows people to have their parcels delivered to a growing network of places that fit with their routines such as NZ Post retailers, supermarkets, service stations and CourierPost depots. For those customers that have discovered they need to change the delivery address - perhaps to the office or to family - Parcel Redirect allows them to get their parcel delivered to a new address within 75km while the parcel is in transit. There are also ParcelPods located in convenient places for customers to have their parcels delivered.
Although all of these parcel delivery options give consumers more control of how they receive their parcels, they also have many positive benefits for your business. By clearly communicating to your customers on your website how their goods can be delivered, and the options they have if they discover they're not going to be home, you can reduce the instances of queries about delivery. It also ensures that the overall shopping experience is a positive one, from shopping on your website to delivery, increasing the likelihood of return business.
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