The Biggest Customer Experience Mistakes Ecommerce Brands Make (And How to Avoid Them)

By Richard McKay, ecommerce expert and Managing Director at Sprung

Finding your feet as an ecommerce brand isn’t always easy. The space is highly competitive, with more players taking to the stage every day. And in that rush towards ‘perfection’ and the desire to be ‘the best’, it’s easy to overlook what your customers actually want from you. While a sleek design and impeccable imagery are nice to haves, it’s customer experience (CX) that really matters.

Why is CX so important in ecommerce?

A strong customer experience is crucial in ecommerce because it directly impacts every stage of the customer journey. Without the face-to-face interaction that bricks and mortar retailers can provide, it’s down to your website, communication, and service to make a good impression. So, the simplicity of your website, the truthfulness of your content, the value and quality of your products, and your standard of communication ultimately determine whether shoppers buy from you, come back to you, and recommend your brand.

But while a smooth, reassuring experience builds trust and reduces friction, it’s not all about the technical elements. In a world increasingly dominated by artificial intelligence (AI), it’s often the human touch that is both most wanted and most overlooked. And this is one of the most common – and unrecognised – CX mistakes that that ecommerce brands make.

The CX mistakes letting down ecommerce brands:

Perfectly imperfect

We’re all familiar with Insta-perfect images. It began with the influencers and was picked up by ecommerce – that aim for flawless sterility, and brand voices that weren’t just cut-glass perfect, but had had all life, personality, and drama filtered out of them.  Too many startups have adopted that vibe, bringing a sense of inauthenticity, and a detachment from real life. And as such, we’re seeing a growing fatigue with overly perfect branding.

In my business, our aim is to be approachable, not aspirational. We want our customers to see that we’re human – and that means flaws and all. Because perfect is kind of boring, and no one genuinely relates to it.

Perfectly impersonal

When you’re running any kind of business, you have to keep things professional. But professionality doesn’t necessarily mean impersonal. When you take the personality out of a business and opt for cool, faceless professionalism, you lose the ability to connect with your customers.

If, on the other hand, you take a people-first approach, sharing employee generated content and behind the scenes footage, you let your customer community see the personality and character behind the business. When your customers feel that they know you – that they can hear James’ voice when reading a product description, or Ruhena’s when opening an email – they’re more likely to feel a connection to the business, which helps foster loyalty.

Straightforward communication

Chatbots are everywhere. Ecommerce brands use them because they’re quick and they’re cheap. But they’re also horribly frustrating. Even when they’re able to provide the exact information your customers are looking for, they feel impersonal and frequently exasperating, Because, if we’re all honest, we know that our customers don’t want to jump through multiple hoops in order to connect with a human being. 

In my business, we value conversation and old-fashioned emails. This not only resonates better with our customers, it enhances the overall purchasing experience, allowing us to make a worthwhile connection with every customer contact. 

Winning trust, not clicks

When it comes to content, the focus has long been on virality. How many likes, how many shares, how many comments and clicks. And it’s entirely understandable – online success is now judged entirely on customer engagement. But there’s a difference between being seen and being trusted. Anyone can grab attention with a few well-chosen words. But that doesn’t mean that they’ll be seen for the right reasons.

We’re not interested in going viral. Instead, we post content that is useful and engaging. And in doing so, we show our customers that we are listening and delivering what they need. Trust is earned when customers feel like they’re seeing the real you, that you’re genuine, authentic, not a rehearsed version. And that you sincerely wish to help them.

Customer experience is not a one-time fix. For any ecommerce business that wants to carve a niche and thrive within it, CX has to be an ongoing strategy. But it’s not a strategy that can be achieved by simple box ticking, or acquiring the right tech. It’s far more important to show that you are listening to your customers, responding to their needs, and doing your best to support them. That way, you can build stronger relationships, increase customer retention, and ultimately drive more sales.

Very few products are unique in what has become a truly global ecommerce landscape. But your experience and your service can give you the competitive edge that even the most optimised website could only dream of.