We saw sales increases of close to 18% on average last year in ecommerce and in 2017 we do expect to be faced with a revenue level close to $107 billion. It is time to get ready for a holiday season that is sure to surpass expectations. Most holiday packages in the US are handled by UPS and FedEX, with delivery being complicated as we have more shoppers. Businesses have to start working right now and prepare campaigns in advance in order to guarantee great results for customers. If you want to get the best possible results, remember the following tips.
Always Keep Forms Short
A main cart abandonment reason is form length. Close to 30% of shoppers are abandoning their checkout because forms are way too complicated or too long. As you reduce forms to bare essentials you manage to get a much higher possibility of driving completion purchases.
Then, you want to consider form labels and placement since this will impact shopping behavior. Labels placed above forms will be more effective, even when looking at mobile device use. Do be sure the labels are properly chosen.
Type-Ahead Address Verification
Most shoppers want to use a type-ahead address verification since it makes everything easier and faster to enter address details and enter it. This does include international information as data is verified against local postal databases. Keystrokes are reduced by around 80% while accuracy is higher at entry point.
Dealing With International Address Formats
When you ship internationally, you want to be sure that international address data is properly formatted so that checkout flow is frictionless. In many situations we see that this is forgotten and forms simply do not include what is needed. Sometimes forms cannot be filled simply because no appropriate parts are added. Using dynamic checkout fields that are adaptive will mimic formatting available in the country chosen so customers can easily go through the checkout process.
Make Sure Tracking Is Excellent
Because holiday shipments are going to be of high volume, delays are bound to happen. Make sure that you choose a really good courier that offers frequent tracking updates. This means all transit steps are to be covered. It is important for both you and the customer to know exactly where the package is as it is delivered to the target destination. Shipment monitoring is a great possibility.
Tell Customers About Possible Delays
Most of the bad reviews appear because of the fact that there are shipping delays that appear. It is definitely a hassle to deal with delayed or lost packages and when holiday season comes, this is much more often than what you may initially think. Always avoid a firm delivery date. Stay in contact with couriers whenever problems appear and customers should be updated in real time through text messaging or push notifications.
Final Thoughts
One of the most important things that you need to remember is that this holiday season ecommerce success is all about customer satisfaction. Have patience and be sure that your system is properly set up in order to deliver what is sold as soon as possible.
