In our previous article, IT Ecology outlined the frustrations facing many customers as they interact with online retailers.

So, how do we fix e-commerce to ensure that it delivers the level of service that we expect of our brand?

Rather than rushing to propose a solution, let us first understand some of the major challenges facing retail:

The ticking time bomb

Covid was, and still is, a double-edged sword when it comes to e-commerce. While Covid massively expanded the online shopping community, it also forced retailers to respond rapidly to the growing demand – occasionally at the expense of quality and profitability. Time to market became the overriding mantra and, thankfully, customers were only too appreciative for the convenience, despite the initial hiccups.

It was amazing to witness how rapidly this expansion took place and the level of innovation that came with it. The expansion of Checkers Sixty60 was a perfect example. What was equally interesting to witness was how rapidly Checkers’ competitors responded. With practically every retailer now fully engaged online, the game has changed to the extent that customers are now spoilt for choice and have greater expectations. Failure to optimise and differentiate the end-to-end e-commerce experience will ultimately lead to regrets and declining online revenues.

Brand loyalty is dead online

Research consistently finds that more than 80% of customers rely on reviews to guide their purchasing decisions. While price continues to be a primary determining factor in an online purchase, it is increasingly clear that customers are tending towards loyalty to the complete shopping experience rather than a specific retail brand. It is no surprise, therefore, that the most successful e-commerce platforms obsess about delivering exceptional customer engagement, as it is the one thing that will continue to set them apart from their competition.

The omnichannel minefield

Seamlessly integrating the internal systems spanning point of sale, CRM, sales management, inventory management and purchasing, among others, typically with their own technology stacks, was a challenge. Add to that the fact that according to McKinsey, upwards of 60% of today’s customers engage across multiple platforms requiring even more front-end integrations, and it makes for a veritable nightmare. That price difference for the same product in-store vs online can create an unwanted perception of your brand. Do customers really accept the excuse that you cannot fulfil an online order because a walk-in customer purchased your last stock of the item yesterday?

Coupled with this is the need to incorporate, track and respond in real time to myriad new metrics spanning social media sentiment, search engine optimisation, customer acquisition costs, comparative pricing, conversion rate, average order value, customer revenue over time, customer retention rate, cart abandonment rates and customer experience along with a long list of other issues – all of this while ensuring a secure environment.

One means of dealing with this complexity was the adoption of the headless e-commerce architecture, which does, however, require a unique approach to testing. The story does not end there, though, because the customer has now been empowered to interact on their terms. So, do you test for iOS or Android, Windows or Linux, Microsoft Edge or Chrome or Firefox and which of the literally thousands of devices do you throw into the mix?

Balancing the need for speed and quality

Retail is often characterised by rapid innovation, but given the relative ease with which it can often be replicated by the competition, its value is generally short-lived. What persists in value is the ability to ensure that customers are always delighted by their interactions across the entire sales engagement process. Even where issues do occur, aligning a quality-driven response mitigates the impact of the negative review.

With the required rate of innovation for online growing exponentially simply to keep up or outpace the competition, it is surprising that some retailers continue to test manually, adopt a staggered roll-out of functionality or the use a pilot-based approach to quality assurance. Validating a large product catalogue listing, spanning imaging and FABs (features, advantages and benefits) is enough cause for concern, let alone validating the complex underlying technology landscape that supports the sales transaction. The balancing of the budget equation should also include the opportunity costs associated with the inability to provide a consistently good online experience.

Retailers often operate on thin margins, needing to justify every penny spent. The investment required for quality has traditionally been viewed as either unnecessary or too expensive. The bottom line is that it is no longer a nice-to-have but a necessity in support of shorter release cycles and the need to provide a continuous and easily repeatable evaluation of the platform’s quality.

What are we offering?

If you are exploring options to improve your e-commerce experience, IT Ecology will provide two senior consultants (with over 40 years’ combined quality assurance experience) to the first 10 respondents to facilitate a one-day workshop with your team. Contact us to book your workshop.

To find out more on how we can help improve your customer’s online experience, feel free to contact IT Ecology.

About IT Ecology
Founded in 2004, IT Ecology made it its mission to provide technical testing and monitoring competencies to the sub-Saharan African market. The company excels at delivering against unique customer requirements. Customers call upon IT Ecology as the solution thinkers and advisers. Coupled with a can-do attitude, our team has delighted our customers, again and again, exceeding their expectations. For more information, visit www.itecology.co.za, or connect on LinkedIn.