Best apps to optimize customer experience in Shopify

‍Customer experience is essential for any business, but especially important for e-commerce shops. Online, where options are endless, a positive experience can be the difference between making a sale and losing a customer to a competitor.

Shopify provides with a wide range of features and applications that focus on customer experience. You can use them to create a memorable shopping experience that will lead to increased sales, repeat business, and trust.

Table of contents

• What is Customer Experience and what are its benefits
• Best Apps to create a stellar Customer Experience in Shopify
• Customer Accounts Concierge and Customer Experience
• Summary Questions

Customer experience is the sum of all interactions a customer has with your brand. These go from the moment they discover your company to any after-sales support activity (source: Shopify). In today's digital age, customer experience is more important than ever. With so many choices available to E-shoppers, businesses need to care about keeping customers coming back. Here's where customer satisfaction plays a crucial role.

Besides, the cost of acquiring new customers is often high. Businesses can find in customer experience a formidable way to cut expenses and maximize the lifetime value (CLV) of each customer. A good shopping experience can help you attract new customers and retain the existing ones at a lower cost. It will also lead to higher profits thanks to the increased trust in your brand and repeat business.

There are many other benefits to a CX strategy:

• Increased customer satisfaction. Better experiences build satisfaction among your audience. And satisfied customers are more likely to do business with you again in the future. They are also more likely to recommend your business to others.
• Increased customer trust and loyalty. A positive customer experience can keep customers coming back. Even when there are other, more convenient options available.
• Increased sales and revenue. Satisfied customers are more likely to buy from you again and to recommend your business to others. They are also more likely to spend more money in your shop.
• ‍Reduced customer churn. Satisfied customers don't quit :)
• Improved brand reputation. Customers who have a positive experience with a company are more likely to recommend that company to their friends and family. Word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful form of marketing because it is trusted by consumers. When a customer hears about a good experience from someone they know, they are more likely to try the product or service for themselves. When customers have a positive experience, they are more likely to have positive things to say about the company. This can lead to positive reviews on social media and other websites, which can attract new customers and boost sales.

Shopify is an all-in-one platform that makes it easy for businesses to approach and optimize customer experience. Yet, having a Shopify store is not enough. Businesses need to take steps and decide the features and apps that could help them keep a good customer base and stand out from the competition.

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A good customer experience is different for each business. It depends on what your customers value and what you can realistically provide. Having a great customer experience can mean something different for every person. For some, it’s being able to pay in their preferred method. For others, it’s about a website’s design and user experience. In short, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating a good customer experience. The best way to create a great customer experience is to understand your customers and what they value.

But, there are some strategies that always hold true when it comes to nailing a great customer experience. And there are also apps that will help you achieve each one of them. So we have included a different type of app on each of the strategies listed below:

• Personalize the customer experience. Use customer data to personalize the shopping experience for each customer. This could include things like recommending products they might like. Or sending them special offers, or thanking them for their buy. Check on apps that provide custom forms to collect additional data from your customers.
• Deliver a consistent customer experience with integrated compliance. Make sure your site design integrates essential elements like Shopify compliance and cookie banners, contributing to a cohesive and comfortable journey for your customers. Build trust and safeguard data with apps like Consentmo, guaranteeing full adherence to GDPR and Privacy Policy regulations.
• Make of every interaction with your customers a delightful one. It doesn’t matter if the customer interaction takes place in-store, online, or through customer support channels. Everybody likes a friendly answer or notification after interacting with the shop. You can also approach this with advanced methods like customer segmentation. Check on Shopify email marketing apps.
• Connect Sales and Support and excel on Customer Service. By connecting sales and support, businesses can create a more seamless experience for their customers. If a customer has a question or a problem, make sure you're there to help them quickly and efficiently. Have a look at help-desk and chat apps.
• Develop a distinctive Selling Offer. Offer something unique that customers can't get anywhere else. This will create perceived value for your business and make customers more likely to stay loyal. Customers are also more likely to be interested in specific items in certain categories. Consider if having product variants would help you create a unique offer.
• Offer a variety of payment options. Not everyone wants to pay with a credit card, so offer a variety of payment options, such as PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Check on native options in Shopify Payments.
• Meet your customers expectations, and give customers as much control over their decisions and purchases as you can. For example through a seamless return and exchange post-purchase process. Or tracking, reorder, and order management apps. Make sure your deliveries arrive on time.
• Grow lifetime value. Make your customers stay longer by building trust and confidence in your store. Run promotions and discounts. Install a Rewards and Loyalty app.
• Save customers' activity. Make easier for your audience to pick up their shopping journey where they left off. Enable Shopify Customer Accounts. Then have a look at apps that save account activity. Like Wishlist and Back in Stock. Or ease the login and registration process with Social Login apps.
• Collect feedback and make it easy to share. Encourage customers to say what they like or dislike about your store. And to share their experiences with your store on social media and other platforms. This will help you reach a wider audience and generate more sales. Consider installing a Reviews app.
• Take care of the design of your theme. Use clear and precise product descriptions and high quality images and videos. Make sure your store is mobile-friendly. More and more people are shopping online on their mobile devices. So it's important to make sure your store looks good and is easy to use on a mobile phone or tablet. Check Shopify for page builders.
  

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If you want to streamline your app usage, consider an app like Customer Accounts Concierge to help you optimize customer experience. Our application also features many of the functionalities that we were mentioning in the previous section. Customer Accounts Concierge upgrades the account page to build a more personal and functional space. A portal your customers can interact with and review past and future activities in the shop:

• View and Edit Profile
• Order History
• Reorder and Cancel buttons
• Recommended Products
• Wishlist
• Social Login
• Custom Forms
• Loyalty And Rewards
• Custom Pages
• Custom Design
• Integrations

Have a look at the demo site here, and don't hesitate to contact if you have any question.

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What is Customer Experience (CX)?

‍Customer experience is the sum of all interactions a customer has with your brand. These go from the moment they discover your company to any after-sales support activity. It includes experiences with customer service teams, branding, packaging, marketing communications. Any interaction pre or post-purchase.

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‍Is Shopify a good platform to optimize Customer Experience?

‍Shopify is a great platform for customer experience because of its wide range of compatibility with third-party apps. These third-party apps are designed by experts and cover all aspects of the relationship with your customers. The platform also offers a wide range of features that make it an excellent choice for business owners. These include great UX, unlimited bandwidth, marketing tools, product inventory and customer data.

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‍What are the benefits of improving customer experience?

‍There are many benefits to improving customer experience. A great customer experience strategy is at the heart of any successful ecommerce store. It helps improve customer engagement and reduces customer churn rate. Other benefits include:

• Increased sales: A positive customer experience can lead to increased sales. Studies have shown that customers who have a positive experience with a business are more likely to make repeat purchases.
• Improved customer loyalty. A positive customer experience can also lead to improved customer loyalty. Customers who have a positive experience are more likely to recommend your business to their friends and family.
• Reduced costs: A positive customer experience can also help you reduce costs. For example, you may be able to reduce the amount of money you spend on customer service or marketing.

‍Which apps and services can I use in Shopify to improve Customer Experience?

• Custom forms
• Email marketing apps
• Help-desk and chat apps
• Product options and variants
• Return and exchange, tracking and order management
• Rewards and Loyalty
• Wishlist and Back in Stock
• Social Login
• Reviews
• Page builders

Is there any workaround to installing as many different type of apps in my shop?

You could try our app that focuses on customer experience and includes several of these features. Customer Accounts Concierge.

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‍What are some of the most common customer experience issues that e-commerce shops face?

• Slow or unreliable shipping: Customers expect their orders to arrive quickly and without any problems. If your shipping process is slow or unreliable, it can lead to customer frustration and lost sales.
• Poor customer service: Customers want to be able to get help quickly and easily if they have a problem with their order. If your customer service team is slow to respond or unhelpful, it can damage your reputation and lead to lost sales.
• Inconsistent website design. Customers expect a consistent experience across all your channels. These include your website, social media, and email marketing. If your website design is inconsistent, it can confuse and frustrate customers.
• Lack of personalization: Customers want to feel like you know them and their interests. If your marketing and sales efforts are not personalized, it can make customers feel like they're another number.
  

How can I measure customer experience?

By measuring customer experience, you can identify areas where you can create a better experience for your customers. There are different ways to test metrics such as Customer Life Value (CLV) or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT). Some common methods include:

• Surveys and Reviews. Surveys are a great way to get feedback from customers about their experience with your business.
• Social media monitoring: This can help you identify trends or issues that are affecting the perception of your company.
• Customer support tickets. Support tickets can provide valuable insights into the specific problems that customers face.
• Website analytics. Website analytics provide information about how customers are using your website. Which pages they're visiting, how long they're staying on each page, and where they're dropping off.