BOOSTING ONLINE CONVERSIONS FOR TODAYS DIGITAL CUSTOMERS

Its no surprise that consumers love shopping online. Its quick, convenient, and incredibly easy to comparison shop, find product reviews, and ship directly to anywhere you want. Its forcing industries from retail to banking to insurance to battle for consumers who have more choices than ever before.

For many, clicking the buy button or moving on to the next web site often comes down to the experience that a company delivers on the web. According to McKinsey, 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated. So, whats the key to providing a great experience on the web? Engaging customers at the right time.

Understanding behaviors to increase conversions

Time is always of the essence when it comes to online conversions. Consumers demonstrate a short attention span when shopping online. In some ways, consumers treat the web the same we used to treat the traditional printed catalog. Shoppers quickly scan sites, spending little time to research products before moving on to the next web site. In some cases, web sites offer little more than a form for customers to use to request a price quote. Is this enough to convert todays highly informed, digital customer? According to Forrester, organizations need to understand that their customers expect effortless service. In their Customer Experience Online Survey, 2013 they reported that 52% of customers will abandon online purchases if they cant find a quick answer.

Web conversion rates often fall below expectations

Increasing sales conversions and decreasing shopping cart abandonment rates in a cross-channel environment is an incredible opportunity for organizations. To do this, you must identify and capitalize on the moment of opportunity within each online experience - empowering the agent to engage at the right time. And within that opportunity, a single view of the consumer needs to be seen by the company and engaging employee. A customer doesnt differentiate purchasing from a companys in-store consultant, online site, or contact center agent. Therefore, the customer experience should be seamless and consistent no matter the channel. A single customer experience platform is the key to capturing and closing opportunities across channels - on the web and across digital channels.

Rapid identification of leads, proactive human assistance are key

Studies consistently show that anywhere from 35-50% of all sales go to the agent or employee that makes first contact. The key is for companies to be able to identify when a customer is likely convert to a sale, then engaging them with the right agent - proactively or at the customers request. As a result, you can improve online conversions, as well as web first contact resolution rates for support issues. Your contact center should support a full set of capabilities for e-commerce including social, web callback, WebRTC, co-browse window-sharing, and proactive engagement.

Moreover, businesses need to be able to make online customer engagement decisions based on customer context, at the right moment and with the right representative to keep driving higher sales conversion while reducing customer effort.

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