Optimise the business not just the conversion rate

CRO as a discipline is experiencing the same issues that SEO experienced a few years back where the initial remit of the industry was too narrow to achieve the results that were being requested.

If you want to double the revenue your organisation returns from its online presence than merely optimising your web site/app is not going to deliver the results you want.

When people judge your business they are judging more than your site they are judging your organisation as whole. So if the site is great but you take a week to deliver their goods when you said two days that’s a problem. If you deliver a damaged item and it take weeks for a refund/replacement then that s a bigger problem.

Negative publicity will spread much faster and wider than good publicity so it is imperative your customer service is up to scratch. One company that constantly finishes at the top of the table for online customer service is Amazon.

That is no fluke they have invested millions to make it so. They understand that in a market as cutthroat as online retail that your repeat customers are like gold dust and everything should be done to keep them happy even if it means taking a hit and losing money in the short-term.

Now smaller retailers say we need to make money to survive as they don’t have capital to operate at a loss like Amazon does. Well that’s true but you can still afford to break even or perform a small gesture such as a thank you card for the customer in their purchase. Hell if you have some stock you are about to throw away give it free to the user they will appreciate it even if they never use it and might just be enough to win you a repeat order.

In short the customer is king they may not always be right but they have the right to expect excellence from you if not someone else will be more than happy to take their money.