The success of popular online printing businesses starts with applying the basics of retail success. In creating a set of to-dos for your business, we took a look at what two of the most successful online printing businesses – CustomInk and Zazzle have in common.
Follow these rules to get your web to print e-commerce site visitors actually shopping online:
Authenticity
Authenticity comes in with who you are, it means you’re talking to the real people. At the end of the day, people want to buy from people and this is where the storytelling comes into play.
Storytelling
Starting from a genuine about us page that leaves you with a “wow“ feeling to every element of their business. If you look at the product pages, there’s a story about each product along with dozens of customer reviews each with own story to tell adding to the company’s transparency and trust from its consumers. In addition, both merchants are using their respective blogs as an additional means to tell their story, give advice or simply update its customers about the latest product launches. In short, everything has a story, so there’s that real brand touch, there are so many multi-layers.
Build brand loyalty
It is a well known fact that it is much cheaper to retain a customer than to gain a new one, so building brand loyalty to gain customers for a lifetime is an absolute must. So how do you make your customers trust you and ultimately love you? Besides being transparent, you must give the user an everlasting experience, quality assurance and guaranteed satisfaction with the order. Implementing fair refund and cancellation policies helps gaining customers confidence.
Be social; build relationships and community
Be where your target customers are. As the saying goes, if it wasn’t on Facebook, it didn’t happen. With majority of the world being on Facebook, it is only logical for brands to follow their customers and to be present on the channels mostly used by them, including Twitter and Pinterest as well. Social media channels are a great two-way communication channels between you and your customers and the best part of it is that you get the feedback almost immediately whether you want to get across a Friday sales or inform about a new product launch. So get the communication ball rolling and get those likes and shares that will increase your brand visibility and ultimately get you more website traffic and sales.
Offer a superior customer experience
Ensure that your website, content, merchandising, product personalization, landing pages, promotions, shopping cart, checkout, and customer service support your sales goals. Both CustomInk and Zazzle put in a genuine effort to cultivate friendship with their customers. Their website offers ease of use and best-in-class product personalization features. From their guarantee and return policy to an easy to use help center is built to answer any kind of question.
Stay fresh
Refresh your content, post seasonal messaging and offers, provide timely insights, and provide incentives for return visitors to your stores. Consider seasonal themes around your store to give it a fresh look.
Experiment
And last but not least, always look for ways to improve. Try new initiatives. Don’t be afraid to fail.
We wish you luck in implementing these guidelines to form your own unique success story and user experience that will eventually resonate in your own community of lifetime consumers. Just be yourself and the likes will follow.
