To ensure the success of an ecommerce business, you should have a detailed communication strategy in place. Good communication is the hallmark of a people-centric ecommerce business.

Here are some things you can do to improve communication with your customers:

1) Implement live chat on your website:

Customers are people too, and if you can impress them with proper and prompt communication, you’ll leave them wanting to come back for more. Have a live chat mechanism on your ecommerce site. Doing so will help customers get answers to any question in real time. Live chat also allows customers to have a conversation with the sales reps about the product. It can help in persuading them in completing a purchase right away rather than putting it off for later.

2) Create a helpful FAQ section:

Anticipate customer questions by having a comprehensive FAQ section on your ecommerce site. Have a “Contact us” form on the FAQ page as well as on your site’s footer. Ensure that any queries sent through the “Contact Us” form are responded to within a maximum of 24 hours. Have an automated email sent out as soon as the customer submits the form, confirming that they will get a response to their message on a priority basis. If customer concerns and questions are promptly addressed, the customer will have an inclination to trust you. This, in turn, will lead to more sales in future.

3) Send follow up emails:

Sending follow up emails after purchases, or shopping cart abandonment is important. Doing so results in a positive customer experience. A follow-up email after a purchase is not meant to push for further sales immediately. Rather you should use the opportunity to connect with the customer and form a long term relationship. Ask for customer feedback, request for a review if they were satisfied and offer them a discount coupon if they do so. Doing so helps to make the customer feel valued.

Following up with potential customers who abandon their shopping cart is important as well. It can offer you invaluable insights into why the purchase did not happen. You shouldn’t try to tempt such customers by offering discounts. Doing so might affect your brand image. Rather try to get information about to what went wrong. Was it their user experience or something else? Getting feedback from such customers will help you know where your strengths and weaknesses lie. You can then go back to your drawing board to implement the inputs you received.

Your business plan is incomplete without having a proper communication plan and strategy. You should know how to communicate your brand, how to engage your customers and how to have a meaningful dialogue with your customers.