Research shows that almost 70% of all shoppers conduct their research online before they go for the actual shopping. This trend has an advantage to savvy shoppers since they have the opportunity to compare products and services before they reach a conclusion. Even in scenarios where shoppers are recommended to a particular enterprise, they are still curious to conduct online research and price comparison before the final transaction. By doing so, online shoppers equip themselves with the best outlets in terms of price, quality and viewer reviews.
Thus in order to establish one of the best e-commerce experiences that attracts and retains customers, it is essential to invest in the best customer relation among other business essentials. E-commerce have opened up an avenue where web shoppers not only deserve quality products at good pricing but also desire the best customer interaction, transparent and powerful shopping experiences. E-commerce design is the fundamental factor that can make or break a successful brand of business.
Bumble Corp is a departmental store that offers home goods, fashion and electronics. It offers excellent services on the brick-and-motor stores, but the online customers are not pleased with the shopping experience. Thus in order to improve the online platform, they should recreate the brick-and-motor customer experience in the online platform. The creation of a successful e-commerce site is dependent on the balance between the dynamic synergy of usability, power, branding and persuasion. It is through a harmonious balance between these factors in the design process that a user-oriented and success-oriented site will be achieved that will fulfill the goals of the e-tailers and create a joyful user experience.
The first problem encountered by Bumble Corp customers is the lack of their profiles in the e-commerce platform. Most of the customers have long term records with the company, but the absence of information in the e-platform is a disappointing experience. The reward programs and credit cards are not recognized in the online platform, and the company is losing long term and loyal customers because they cannot associate with them anymore . An urgent strategy needs to be hatched that ensures that usability of the site is restored as soon as possible. This can be achieved by considering the following design principles.
Moving the business online
This can be done by contracting efficient IT companies that will develop information systems capable of storing all the customer profiles. Efficient migration of the business into the online platform has an effect of retaining loyal customers as well as attracting new clients enthusiastic with the online platform. Management information systems have the advantage of reducing operating and storage costs associated with the manual mechanisms.
Effective navigation
The current online platform lacks the charm to entice existing and new clients due to lack of proper design principles. Navigation is one such principle essential for attaining usability and retaining clients. Through effective navigation of the website, users are better informed of where to go and how to achieve it. The user interface should be easy to understand and promote online shopping tasks. The good pricing, quality of products and other dimensions of e-0commerce are put to exceptional waste if the company website is difficult to navigate. The products and services should be carefully categorized using clear labels and strong indicators through groupings to reduce the effort of finding them.
Uncluttered website
An uncluttered page full of information for customers becomes visually overwhelming and turn’s potential customers away. The application of page layout and design principles will keep the website organized and easy to use without sacrificing important information. This is achieved through grouping related items together, giving a consistent and clear structure, emphasizing the page elements and providing clear information on what the user is trying to accomplish without giving too much information.
The effectiveness of e-commerce sites lies in the innate value of the products and services offered as well as the way these products and services are relayed. The brick-and-motor model of the business is great because of the touch, feel and the customer service provided by the enterprise. This needs to be replicated to the online platform by developing a 24/7 customer service desk that can effectively respond to queries and opinions. A management information system with a 24 hour customer desk will ensure that all the customer concerns are addressed in real time. The company has three centrally located stores to serve shoppers. Online purchases should be processed and shipped from the nearest location of the buyer, and the company should introduce real time tracking of goods and update the customer frequently. This will restore customer trust that the company is doing enough on its part. Incentives such as free shipping and transportation should be introduced to guarantee a buildup of online purchases.
The on-line and on-store businesses should be separated and managed differently. In order to attract the right kind of attention for successful customer attraction and retention, there should be dedicated staff for each department. Shipping and delivery of on-line purchases should be carried out by a dedicated team other than the in-store staff. Currently, much attention is directed to the on-store shoppers in the expense of the on-line clients. The sub-division of the business and specialization will accord each division due attention in handling customer orders and delivery. This will ultimately improve the retention of new cliets as well as the loyal clients using the on-line platform.
Bumble Corp Company specializes in fashion goods and electronics. These goods and services can better be relayed through electronic media by the creation of value-added branding components that add trending “buzz” to it and improve sales. It is, therefore, of concern that the company considers the creation and utilization of social media as well as online advertising and branding. The use of rich content and fashion trends has an effect of informing consumers better and if coupled with efficient customer service and delivery, high traffic and robust sales are recorded. By allowing users to give ratings and reviews, the collective knowledge of the user community is leveraged, and an explosion of user-generated content is observed. This phenomenon is referred as the power dimension. It is used in major e-commerce sites and has an effect of increasing sales. The social consideration of Web 2.0 has impacted the way communities within an e-commerce site communicate through forums and discussions that lead to referrals of the best sites.
Mobile commerce is the utilization of applications that entertain, build brand awareness and lead to shopping using hand held devices such as mobile phones. The shopping experience is simplified through the use of browsers on the mobile phone and an application that aid in the shopping process. The adoption of a seamless e-commerce site that functions across mobile and desktop platform is a new phenomenon that is getting recognition among e-commerce sites.
Various companies are utilizing mobile commerce applications and sites to increase market penetration and share. Among them include eBay and Amazon. According to eMarketer, nearly 45 million Americans are shopping with their mobile phones a practice that has been exacerbated by able mobile apps that provide seamless shopping experience.
Mobile marketing can be incorporated into Bumble Inc as one of the long term strategic goals of the company. In order to attain real and long term benefits, the mentioned recommendations should be implemented first in order to attain an online platform that is capable of sustaining online applications and integration.
Mobile commerce is tied with social marketing platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace. Thus, the consideration of mobile marketing has an effect of personalizing shopping the same way brick-and-mortar shopping does. Efficiency and customer experience can, nevertheless, be improved on the mobile platform since the customer will be in touch with the shopping, handling and shipping processes all through. Customer service can be made more "real time" through direct interaction with the customer using his mobile phone. Feeds will be availed directly to the customer at their comfort without the worry of the need for a computer in order to confirm orders, make payments and shipping address. In summary, Bumble Inc can incorporate mobile computing as a beneficial long term measure that will enhance the customer experience and interaction with the company.
References
Ravi Kalakota, M. R. (2011). E-business 2.0:Road map to Success. Addison-Wesley Professional.
Reynolds, J. (2008). The Complete E-Commerce Book:Design, Build, and Maintain a Successful Web-Based Business. CMP Books.
Rich, J. (2008). Design and Launch an ECommerce Business in a Week(WWW.(Your Online Store).COM). Entrepreneur Press.
