Why Customer Feedback is Important in eCommerce

Why is customer feedback important in eCommerce?

1. Better customer experience
2. Improved products and services
3. Retain your customer base
4. Reduce customer complaints
5. Generate more sales

Understanding the importance of customer feedback in eCommerce is essential if you want to improve the way you deliver your products and services to your customers. In many ways, the feedback serves as the basis for how your customers perceive not only your products but also your entire business as well.

Your customers will likely want to be provided a platform wherein they could themselves out. While it’s important that you strive to generate positive feedback, understanding the reasons behind negative customer reviews is essential in growing your eCommerce business. Read on to learn more.

Better Customer Experience

There are many factors that can affect customer satisfaction, especially in the eCommerce and logistics industry.

Let’s say for example a customer is the first-time buyer of a newly-arrived product on your platform. If you’re involved in much of the process between the order request and distribution of the product to the customer, then you’re able to influence the quality of your services. If not, then you’ll find that it’s often the case that the customer will have complaints on issues such as delivery delays, damaged parcels, wrong SKUs, and the like.

Through your platform, when your customer is able to openly and honestly let you know what went wrong in the delivery process, then you can use the review they’ve provided to make changes in how you conduct your operations. You may need to switch your courier or delivery service to a company that offers your business with better reliability and accountability. More than that, you’re also able to communicate with your customers better and know their expectations from you in future transactions.

Improved Products and Services

Customer feedback is a way for you to improve your products and services. When the customers are given an opportunity to post reviews about a product they’ve ordered from you, you can have an idea of what changes you need to make.

To give another example, let’s say you’re selling your own brand of Bluetooth speakers. You put it up on your site, customers buy it, and they test out the products for themselves. Even if you think your product is good, your customers don’t have the same preferences as you — there’s bound to be someone who has some suggestions on how the speaker could sound better.

You could either dismiss these poor reviews, or you could use them to your advantage by making upgrades on your products.

Retain Your Customer Base

Similarly, customer reviews also provide you with an opportunity to keep your already-existing customer base. This is because you’re letting them know that you value their input and that they’re open to voice out any concerns they may have of your product or service.

Your customers would be able to consistently put up reviews on your platform, giving you five-star ratings, or posting positive feedback on your product. In much the same way, the more consistently you’re developing your products, the more you will be able to keep these same customers. They may even assist you in growing your brand network — i.e. through personal recommendations to their friends, family, or co-workers.

Feedback prevents you from losing already-loyal customers, even if they don’t necessarily provide favorable reviews all the time. Once they could see that you’re allowing them an avenue to express themselves, you’re giving them a chance to choose your business over and over again.

Reduce Customer Complaints

No customer wants to keep trusting a brand that’s always riddled with customer complaints on their products. This is a sign that the business doesn’t value their input and doesn’t make the necessary changes to improve the experience for the customers. You’ll often find that these businesses will eventually lag other businesses, especially in the face of stiff competition.

On the other hand, if you’re listening to feedback and making this the basis for many of your marketing strategies, you can significantly reduce the amount of customer complaints that you receive on a daily basis.

More than that, however, you should always ensure that you’re opening up multiple channels to receive feedback. Don’t just limit yourself to your platform’s review page. Instead, you’ll want to attend to other means of communication, like emails, phone calls, private messages, social media comments, and the like.

Generate More Sales

The easiest way of generating more sales for your business is through customer feedback.

Think about it. When satisfied customers are able to share their experiences with your products with other customers, there’s a good chance that the latter will want to see your services for themselves.

Of course, a boost in sales requires a combination of genuine business practices, like making products that are able to meet the expectations and demands of the customers.

To better illustrate, let’s go back to the example of the Bluetooth speaker. Since this is a new product, it takes just a single customer to get your sales on the right track. If the product is good, they’ll post a positive review about it. The more that your product shows up on the top results when people search for “Bluetooth speakers”, the higher your chances of attracting new customers and making a sale.

Key Takeaway

You shouldn’t underestimate the importance of customer feedback in eCommerce.

If you want to improve the way you deliver your products to your customers, even a single review can already have lasting effects on your sales. More than that, customer feedback is also a simple yet invaluable aspect of eCommerce that tells your customers you’re welcoming their comments and suggestions. Being receptive to their constructive feedback means that you’re able to figure out different ways to make your services better for them.