E-commerce shopping experience: how to improve it with comprehensive information?

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In 2021, Brazil reached a record volume of online purchases. There were 78.5 million purchases in the first quarter of the year alone, representing an increase of 57.4% compared to the same period of the previous year.

The numbers in the Neotrust report indicate that e-commerce is increasingly gaining strength in Brazil.

But, for companies operating in the segment to benefit even zalo database more from this new scenario, it is very important to invest in strategies that guarantee consumers a good shopping experience , because this way you will be turning them into loyal customers and promoters of your brand!

By the way, there is nothing better than accessing a website that is easy to navigate, where you can access products quickly and intelligently, with complete data and a chat available to ask questions, right?

However, the opposite can be extremely detrimental. Websites with complex usability or that take a long time to load can make customers impatient and give up, so they will consequently go looking for what they need on other e-commerce sites.

In addition to losing potential customers , a bad experience can lead to negative reviews and a poor reputation for your store on social media.

Did you know, for example, that 84% of consumers have already abandoned a purchase after reading other customers' comments? This information is found in the EQI Health, Hygiene and Beauty 2021 survey, which evaluates the quality of information on product pages in e-commerce from the perspective of the end consumer.

In short, delighting your customer during the purchasing journey is the key point to boost sales in e-commerce.

Do you want to know how to build a great customer experience and reach your full online sales potential? Keep reading this text until the end!

The importance of the shopping experience in e-commerce
Imagine a physical store that sells beauty and hygiene products. Now imagine a consumer looking for makeup items, like lipstick, for example.

In this store, she will probably be able to try several brands, colors, formats like stick and liquid, before deciding on one of them, okay?

But let's suppose that she was also interested in a hair strengthener.

In this case, she will not be able to certify the quality of the brand at the time of purchase, as the result is not immediate. However, it is likely that a salesperson will be available to answer her questions.

In e-commerce, this consumer has neither of these two options to help her in her purchasing decision.

That's why it's so important to provide photos and a detailed description of the items sold in your online store.

Benefits of offering a good experience
When choosing to buy something online, people are looking to enjoy all the ease that digital channels offer. But this alone is not enough.

They also need access to complete information about the product they want to purchase and have the same security as they would have when buying it in a physical retail store.

Some data from the EQI 2021 Health, Hygiene and Beauty confirm this. According to the research:

82.1% of consumers say that content on product pages influences their purchasing decision;
32.4% have already stopped making a purchase due to having little information and images of the product.
Do you see how important it is to offer detailed and complete information to achieve more sales conversions?

But the benefits of ensuring a good experience go beyond that.

If an online store provides customers with as much information as possible about a product, they are less likely to feel cheated or frustrated when they have their order in their hands.

This prevents the company from having problems with complaints and returns, for example.

Another advantage of offering comprehensive information on your e-commerce site is the improvement in your website's positioning on Google and other search engines.

The more relevant content a page has, the more likely it is to perform well in SEO and generate more visibility for your store!

How to improve the shopping experience
There is not just one factor, but rather a set of strategies that must be implemented to win over consumers even before they access your virtual store.

The first step is to map and analyze the profile of the audience you want to attract. All companies want to sell and stand out from the competition, but how many companies really know their audience?

It is essential to place the customer at the centre of the strategy , knowing their habits, preferences and motivations for making a purchase. But this is only the starting point.

Let's see below some other examples of how to promote the best e-commerce experience !

Provides complete product descriptions
Creating complete and detailed product descriptions is essential for consumers to make purchases safely, avoiding returns or exchange requests.

So, remember to provide technical data, items that are included, color, differentials , among others. The more complete the content, the better!

Ideally, descriptions should be at least 300 words long, according to the EQI 2021. To rank on the first page of Google, you need around 1,700!

But to give you an idea, according to research, in the Health, Hygiene and Beauty sector, pages have, on average, 155 words. This is less than half of what is recommended.

Therefore, make sure that when items are listed in your store, the description is complete, helping the consumer to place their order and return for new purchases in the future .

Invest in images
Even when the description is complete, this alone is not enough to convince the consumer during the purchasing process.

The image complements the description and is very important to generate interest in the product. According to Rakuten, 91% of consumers are more attracted to making a purchase if the offer shows photos or videos.

Ideally, each item in your store should have three or more images, according to the EQI 2021 Health, Hygiene and Beauty. The first ones usually present the product, but the secondary ones - which show the specific characteristics - are also important.

To delight the customer, provide images in good resolution , allowing the use of the zoom function so that they can see the details of each item.

Create descriptive titles
In order for your store's items to sell, consumers must have an easy time finding them. And it all starts with a good title!

Ideally, it should not be too short - at the risk of being incomplete - nor too long to the point of becoming wordy. According to the EQI 2021, it is important that the title presents the product in a descriptive way, between 20 and 300 characters .

Think about the keywords you're going to use to help your client find you in the top results on Google. To do this, perform a search in tools like Google Ads' Google Keyword Planner to evaluate the keywords more strongly.

This way, you increase the chances of your page performing better in SEO, attracting more clicks - and more sales to your website!

In addition to working on titles to attract more visitors, it is also essential to correctly categorize the products in your store.

Remember to register them in at least one category to make it easier for consumers to search.

Stimulates consumer opinions and ratings
Nothing has as much power to convince as what we call "word of mouth" propaganda.

First of all, what is more valuable: a company that promotes itself or that consumers praise it organically? This explains why ratings and reviews are so important in e-commerce.

Did you know, for example, that the probability of purchasing a product with 5 reviews is 270% higher than an item with no reviews ? The data is from the ebook Ratings and Comments.

In Brazil, data shows that e-commerce still needs to evolve considerably in this regard. The EQI 2021 survey revealed that, in the Health, Hygiene and Beauty segment, 90% of products do not have at least one consumer rating.

At the top of the "Rating Score" ranking in the same survey, the Drogasil online store was a good example in terms of how to use reviews.

The company encourages email responses after the customer receives the order, in order to generate more review volume on its pages.

In addition, the company audits the comments to ensure that they are real. This also reinforces another crucial aspect for making a purchase decision: credibility.

Other strategies for a good shopping experience
A good e-commerce shopping experience must necessarily offer complete information about the products. But it goes much further than this.

Invest in usability
As we said at the beginning of this article, website usability is also a critical factor in customer satisfaction.

If your pages are poorly structured and do not provide intuitive navigation, the dreaded shopping cart abandonment trend is likely.

To convert visitors into sales, put yourself in the customer's shoes and evaluate how much your website can help them - or hinder them - in the online purchasing journey.

Likewise, online stores that offer positive experiences tend to provide effective customer service. Thus, they are able to help the consumer if they need assistance to complete a request or even after this process has been completed.

In a survey by market monitoring company Hibou, only 11% of respondents said they were completely satisfied with the quality of service received at the time of purchase.

Even if your website uses chatbots, it's important to use this tool wisely, engaging your audience rather than alienating them.

Put yourself in the shoes of the person who is buying: you would like to know that they are listening to you, right? Then avoid robotic and bureaucratic communication .

The more personalized and effective your customer service is, the greater your chances of winning them over.

Pay attention to delivery times and payment methods
Finally, consider aspects such as payment methods and delivery times. A good shopping experience should take into account the entire consumer journey.

The decision to buy a product online also involves evaluating the advantage of the shipping offered by the store, the time it takes to receive the order and even the payment options.