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15 Nov 2000, Finland

Dear Dr.E-commerce

Please can you tell me how to get customers back?

I've learned a lot of ways how to do it, but maybe you will advise me something different and it will be the best way.

Thank you

best regards

Inna

Dear Inna:

This a question more e-businesses should be asking themselves! For too long, most have focused on acquiring customers through advertising, public relations, viral marketing, etc. But survey after survey shows that many customers are disappointed with on-line shopping experiences and don't come back again. There are three areas that you need to focus on to encourage customers to come back again.

1. Customer service. Unfortunately, many companies are focusing on Customer Relation Management (CRM) tools to deeply analyse their customers. Instead, these companies should be focusing on serving their customers. One big reason why Amazon has become the most famous name in business to consumer (B2C) e-commerce is because they have focused on customer service and a positive customer experience from the beginning.

2. Usability. A lot of e-commerce web sites are poorly designed from the perspective of customer usability. Unfortunately, designers with fast Internet connections, big screen monitors and a deep understanding of technology are all to often concerned with cool designs. Customers; who usually have smaller screens, slower dial-up connections and less familiarity with technology or the Internet get confused or frustrated with their e-shopping experience. And when they get frustrated, they go away - it only takes a click - and don't come back again. www.useit.com and www.uie.com are two good resources for usability information.

3. Content. Some e-commerce web sites have poor quality content that doesn't give customers enough information about their products, their company or their service. If people can't get sufficient information about products, they will neither buy the products nor come back again. Likewise, if the web site does not provide complete information about shipping times, shipping costs, returns policy, contact info, etc, visitors will neither buy nor return. Worse, without this information, visitors are unlikely to trust the e-shop, making it even more unlikely they will come back again.

Good luck,

Dr. Ecommerce