KPIs that help you improve the customer experience in e-commerce
We’ll start with a sentence that’s tried and true: what you don’t measure, can’t be improved. So, let’s focus on KPIs that can improve the customer experience to see what we should assess in our e-commerce and how to optimize the customer experience.
What is a KPI?
Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, are the target values on our website. A KPI, by definition, is a numerical, quantitative value, meaning they’re more efficient in identifying positive or negative trends. They tell us how much we should improve or what the positive deviation of our goals is.
KPIs and the customer experience
Almost everything can be measured, which is a reality that has become even more evident with the irruption of the digital age. We’ve gone from measuring something only if we make a sale, to a much broader range that enriches our strategy.
Of course, the customer experience isn’t far behind. Next we’re going to comment on some metrics that you should keep an eye on. Maybe the fact that many of them are business metrics grabs your attention, but aren’t customers the basis of a business?
1. Direct traffic
Take a look at your analytics tool. You’ll see that among the traffic channels there is one that is strictly the percentage of users who have accessed your website, not coming from any reference.
If you have a large number of these, you’re probably doing a good enough job getting in their head. Customers know you and associate your brand with their needs, you don’t need marketing campaigns or social networks.
2. Bounce rate
This refers to users who enter and leave the same page and don’t do any browsing or have any other interaction. This is a metric that you have to interpret carefully because thousands of reasons can be hidden behind a number: extremely slow load? The customer can’t find what they’re looking for? Is the content too convoluted? The bounce is much more in-depth than it seems.
3. Pages seen
You have to understand the type of page we’re working with. Is a large number of page views per session positive? Not always. For the averages, for example, yes; but don’t forget that we’re talking about KPIs and the customer experience on your website. It’s a metric that should be taken into account with another one: the conversion rate. If there are a lot of page views and the purchase percentage is high, congratulations! Your page is so appealing and your catalog so extensive that the customer can’t resist browsing.
On the flip side, if the user browses and navigates the page but doesn’t make a purchase, we have a problem (or more than one). This might mean that browsing is confusing, and they get disoriented. In these instances, a user test is recommended so you can directly look at what’s happening.
4. Conversion rate
This is nothing more than the number of users that do something specific (usually make a purchase) divided by the total number of visitors. What good is it having a lot of visits if they don’t buy our products? Why does this happen?
We may not be competitive in terms of price or we might have technical problems, but we might also not be doing things well at the customer experience level. Don’t toss it until you have it clear.
5. Churn Rate
This is a really revealing indicator. When there’s a fall in our databases and mailing lists, a serious error is being made from the customers’ point of view. Something that users are increasingly less tolerant of is SPAM.
If you’re sending marketing e-mails three times a week with newsletters and promotions and you see that users are unsubscribing, it’s probably because you’re too insistent. This culminates in the image they have of your company; it gives them a poorer customer experience, and can make them stop buying from you all together.
6. Contact rate
Of all the visits to your site, how many users have used the chat, gone to your contact page, looked at the FAQs or called you by phone? Clearly, if they’ve had to do this, the customer experience isn’t as autonomous as it should be. It’s better that you take note of the queries because if it happens over and over again, it’s something that deserves your attention.
I think it goes without saying that in this case you have to exclude proactive interactions and automations. For example, the Oct8ne chat lets you create triggers that interact automatically with the user if certain conditions are met, which would be more involved with sales rather than customer service.
7. Response rate
Clearly, a positive response rate to inquiries must always be as close to 100% as possible. In fact, this brings us directly to another KPI: the average response time. Try to always keep it as low as possible because the user (and the digital world) wants immediacy.
8. Average resolution time
When the client contacts you about an incident or a question, how long does it take to solve the issue? When you see this time frame deviate, you need to talk to the agent personally or with the team to identify the problem. You might not have clear procedures or you might not be giving your workers the correct tools.
9. Return rate
Once the conversion has taken place, the customer receives the ordered product and decides to return it, it’s probably the clearest sign of a shortcoming. We must be able to isolate the causes and section off the returns.
In many cases they might be issues related to the product, which directly affects the customer experience. The same goes for logistical problems, but it’s not because of a lack of attention. Whatever the reason, it’s important to keep this rate at a minimum and avoid all possible returns.
However, when a return occurs, it must be managed efficiently because, although sometimes it is hard to believe, customer service is an important area to build a brand on.
And you? What other KPIs in customer experience do you consider within your strategy?
