10 Ways to Boost Your Online Conversion, Pre-and-Post-Checkout

In 2024, retailers and consumers are on a highway together. Sure, there have been some bumps in the road. And there may be a speed hump or two ahead. But brands are still in the driver’s seat.

The 2024 Australia Post eCommerce Industry Report shows retail YoY growth has decelerated from 9.3% to 2.0% over the last two years. And while non-discretionary spending (for essential items) saw a 10.7% increase throughout 2023, discretionary spending struggled to climb a mere 1.1%.

How does this detour impact the way shoppers are spending their hard-earned dollars this year?

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data also reveals vital clues about shoppers’ priorities. In the three months from December 2023 to February 2024, consumers spent more on transport and experience-driven activities, including recreation, accommodation, cafes, and dining out, and less on home, clothing, and miscellaneous purchases.

When shoppers purchase from online retailers, they’re doing so more frequently. The same Australia Post report highlights intensified repeat purchasing consumer behaviours. The number of households shopping 26-51 times a year increased by 2% last year, while the most frequent shoppers, who made over 52 purchases annually, increased by 1%.

One key takeaway is that while some shoppers are squeezing their discretionary spending brakes, brands still have a significant opportunity to increase conversion rate, expand share-of-wallet, and enhance customer lifetime value (CLV) with frequent shoppers.

How?

We’re sharing 10 ways to demonstrate value to your shoppers and boost online conversion—before and after the checkout.

01 – Understand the Road to Conversion—with Customer Journey Mapping

Customer journey mapping takes a human approach to understanding the buyer journey. It requires retailers to take a step back and look through a customer lens, allowing them to take a giant leap forward.

Customer journey mapping can be a powerful tool to understand your shoppers at a deeper level, what they expect, and their potential frustrations. How does it work?

Here are three steps to get you started:

First, take the perspective of a specific customer persona (your description of one ideal type of customer) and think about what they want to achieve. For example, the persona of “Gavin” might be a time-poor but wallet-heavy executive who wants to make a hassle-free purchase of an extravagant anniversary gift for his wife.

Second, map that persona’s actions and feelings throughout their interaction with your brand. Let’s say you’re an ecommerce jewellery merchant. Is it easy for Gavin to find the perfect gift for his wife? Do you offer complimentary gift-wrapping to save him time? Will he receive live tracking once the jewellery has left your store?

Third, put yourself in Gavin’s shoes. Think about what’s important to him and the pain points he might encounter from order to delivery. Is it easy for Gavin to find what he needs on your website—or could your onsite product search and discovery capabilities use a boost? Are you offering a range of secure payment options? Does Gavin have a choice of delivery methods that satisfy his preference for reliability over cost? These are just a few of the potential roadblocks that can impact conversion.

After mapping out these scenarios, you’ll begin forming a clear picture of what’s working and what needs improvement. You can then start prioritising your process enhancements. We recommend using an Action Priority Matrix, looking at high-impact, low-effort actions first. 

While the above steps are a starting point for building customer journey maps, Atlassian’s excellent Customer Journey Mapping Team Playbook provides a detailed walkthrough for executing an in-depth journey mapping project.

02 – Bring CX and BX Together

In a recent Qualtrics study, 65% of people say they have switched brands because their customer experience did not meet the brand promise. That figure rises even higher for Gen Z and Millennials to 70%. Customer experience is a growing factor in converting (and reconverting) shoppers—and is even more powerful when working hand-in-hand with brand experience.

What’s the difference between customer experience (CX) and brand experience (BX)?

CX determines how consumers feel and react to direct consumption, purchase, and use of your branded products and services. CX metrics like net promoter score (NPS) provide a quick snapshot of how shoppers feel after engaging with your brand. We’ll cover this metric more in the NPS section of this article.

BX incorporates consumers’ feelings, reactions, and attitudes towards your brands as a result of direct or indirect exposure to interactions with your brand. While BX can be more challenging to measure than CX, review metrics such as social media engagement and customer acquisition to identify trends.

How can you make CX and BX work together to increase conversion?

It’s crucial to first understand the difference between customers and consumers. Customers have made a purchase or continue to purchase from your brand. Consumers, on the other hand, are your brand’s current, lapsed and prospective customers.

While CX traditionally focuses on current customers, for example, the level of service provided by after-sales customer care, the reality is that we live in a more connected world than ever before.

One bad customer service interaction can result in your shoppers taking to social media, sharing their experiences, and creating a brand perception that directly impacts BX.

Three vital ways to get CX and BX working together:

First, authentically communicate your brand’s values and purpose. Help consumers realise what your brand stands for and why they should engage with you. This tactic speaks to potential new customers while reminding existing customers they’ve made a good purchase decision by dealing with your brand.

Second, use your customer journey mapping process to identify customer pain points and improve the buying journey for your current and potential new customers.

Third, consider fostering brand communities that engage potential new and existing customers. Is a Facebook group right for your brand? What about an online forum? Loyalty and rewards programs can also drive another type of brand community.

Regardless of how sophisticated your branding, journey mapping, and community building are, the common goal of all these activities is to create engagement with customers and consumers alike. This engagement brings CX and BX together and can significantly impact your conversion.

03 – Offer Personalised Experiences – Before and After the Checkout

Personalisation has moved well past the point of adding a name token into email campaigns. Shoppers now expect more engaging personalised experiences, such as product recommendations informed by their purchase behaviours, customised display of products in search results, and highly-segmented marketing campaigns that speak to them on a more individual level.

These types of experiences are crucial to conversion. A recent Klaviyo x Power Retail report reveals that personalisation influences 59% of ANZ consumers to buy while also improving shopping experiences for 75% of respondents.

However, pre-checkout personalisation is only one-half of the story. How can you create better brand experiences in the post-purchase phase that boost reconversion?

• Send abandoned cart emails and add “you might also like” personalised product carousels to those communications.
• Create personalised offers such as birthday coupons that remind customers you’re thinking about them between purchases.
• Consider personalised delivery experiences, such as those offered by Deliver In Person, that enable professional, customer-centric drivers to extend your brand experience to every customer’s doorstep.

04 – Give Shoppers an Unboxing Experience to Remember

How does packaging impact reconversion? Here are a few interesting figures revealed by GWPGroup that highlight the effect:

• 41% of consumers indicated that branded packaging encourages future orders.
• 52% of consumers purchase again if retailers ship orders in luxury packaging.
• 27% will not purchase from the same retailer again if the packaging is not sustainable.

Consumers connect with much more than a name or a website. They connect with your brand’s story. That narrative is driven by your values, purpose, identity, and the experiences you create for customers.

Consider how your product packaging helps your brand to communicate:

• A strong identity that communicates your purpose and values—and drives brand recognition.
• How it stands out from competitors selling similar products.
• The joy that customers will associate with unique unboxing experiences.
• The story that you are bringing customers into.
• Perceived value that reminds customers why they choose you over competitors.

Rather than delivering your items in a generic brown box, use beautifully branded packaging that vividly portrays your brand identity.

Even something as simple as the correct sizing of shipping packages can have a dramatic impact—particularly for sustainability-minded customers. Avoiding oversized packaging has a positive environmental impact, is more cost-effective, and reduces the chances of any product damage during transit.

Lastly, take a moment to think about how many YouTube “unboxing experiences” have reached new customers and inspired their purchases. Is your packaging ready to be presented to potential new customers?

05 – Reduce Post-Purchase Dissonance

Post-purchase dissonance occurs when your customer feels unsatisfied or uneasy after making a purchase. This emotion occurs when a shopper’s expectation misaligns with the actual outcome of their purchase.

Impulsive purchase decisions can cause post-purchase dissonance. However, there are additional factors that brands have much more control over. Give your customers the reassurance they deserve with these quick tips to reduce post-purchase dissonance:

Product quality – include more detailed product information, high-quality images, and UGC to help users better understand the product they’re purchasing.

Communication – provide proactive communications beyond the checkout, such as new customer welcome emails, personalised abandon cart emails, and order confirmations with detailed instructions for returns or changes of mind.

Customer service – train your after-sales service representatives in customer-centricity. Whether your shopper is contacting you with questions about product use, order statuses, or warranties, positive customer service interactions reassure your shoppers they’ve made the right choice in buying from you.

06 – Communicate – Right to the Doorstep

Effective post-conversion communication can extend your customer and brand experiences—and go a long way to encouraging future purchases. A solid series of post-checkout comms also gives first-time customers peace of mind that they’ve made a good purchase decision.

When a new customer purchases from your online store, their first order is essentially an evaluation. They’re scrutinising how you create a memorable post-purchase experience that demonstrates value and your point of difference from the competition.

When a shopper orders but doesn’t receive a confirmation email or delivery update, they can quickly become nervous and start drifting into a state of buyer’s remorse.

The Körber 2023 State of Shipping and Returns Report shows the number of customers who want to know about various delivery stages:

46% – when the order is being packed.
51% – when the order is delayed.
60% – when the order is out for delivery.
58% – when the order is received.
17% – post-delivery, following up after order receipt.

To exceed your customers’ expectations and encourage reconversion, consider email, SMS, or app updates when orders have been released from backorder, picked from your warehouse or store, collected by a courier, almost at the destination, delivered, or delayed.

07 – Turn Your Customers Into Promoters

A range of complex factors influence customer satisfaction metrics and impact reconversion. However, the Net Promoter Score (NPS) is one straightforward metric that can give your brand clarity over customer sentiment.

NPS helps identify ways to improve customer relationships, predict future growth by gauging customer loyalty, and benchmark your brand against industries and competitors.

Retently data reveals some eye-opening NPS benchmarks by industry, including:

NPS 61 – Retail
NPS 50 – Ecommerce
NPS 41 – Logistics & Transportation

Think about how a low NPS affects customer loyalty, retention, and reconversion—and the acquisition of new customers by existing shoppers sharing their experiences through word-of-mouth, reviews, or social platforms.

Make sure you’re actively monitoring NPS and using tools and technology that enhance the post-purchase experience.

As an experience-driven delivery solution provider, Deliver In Person exists to create remarkable post-purchase experiences—and this shows in our consistent NPS scores around +98.

Turn your customers into promoters by integrating CX and BX throughout the shopping journey, including how your parcels are delivered.

08 – Make Sure Drivers Are Working as Brand Ambassadors

Wayfair has gone from an idea in a college dorm room to an $8.6 billion furniture and home goods giant with 19 million customers in Europe and North America. One aspect of the company’s success is its deep understanding of customer expectations—and how to deliver beyond the checkout.

Sascha Hower, Chief Global Supply Chain Officer at Wayfair, explains, “We’re trying to create an ideal customer experience, end to end—from first click, to selecting the product, down to the delivery. When our people go into homes, they’re not delivery drivers. They are ambassadors for Wayfair, and we need to train our people accordingly to deliver that experience, to create that trust between us and the consumer. In the future, we’re going to need even more of that.” See the in-depth interview from McKinsey for further insights.

Delivery drivers are your last-mile brand ambassadors who leave a lasting impression on your customers.

How can you tell if your couriers are performing at a brand ambassador level? Conduct “mystery shopper” tests to understand the experience for yourself, keep an eye on your NPS, and periodically examine feedback from review platforms, social media, and NPS comments.

09 – Keep Your DIFOT Front of Mind

How was your last ecommerce delivery experience? Did your order arrive on time and undamaged? Or did it fail to fulfil expectations? Particularly for high-value brands, low-value experiences in the last mile of the buyer journey can greatly affect your brand’s reputation.

Delivered In Full On Time is a metric that matters for both retailers and customers alike. Why? Because it shows whether deliveries are happening reliably and on time.

How do you know your DIFOT? Let’s say you delivered 50 orders on a particular day, and 40 arrived in full, on time. Your DIFOT score would be 80%, which isn’t astounding. Stock issues, human errors, warehouse inefficiencies, and other issues can all affect DIFOT. However, what happens at the delivery stage often has the highest impact.

Additionally, brands dealing with a low DIFOT have to deal with a lot more “where’s my order” queries and less-than-happy customers as a result. Keep your DIFOT front of mind to help reduce the load on customer care teams and protect your brand reputation.

Keep your DIFOT front of mind. And if you’re ready to join experience-driven brands like Samsonite, The Party People, and July, who see a consistent 99.6% DIFOT score, get in touch with the experts at Deliver In Person.

10 – Deliver On Your Promise

Consumers with thinner wallets are shopping around to find the best deals in 2024. For ecommerce brands, this means that loyalty is more important than ever.

Driving loyalty all comes down to how well you deliver on your promise to customers—before and after the checkout.

Naud Frese, Head of eCommerce Logistics, Europe, at A.P. Moller – Maersk, notes, “Having the right last-mile carrier, delivering the goods in the right quality at the right cost and with the right accuracy is key to enabling brands to deliver on their customer promises—and this is also crucial to developing and operating a successful e-commerce sales strategy.” Discover more ideas about planning for success in Maersks’ full article.

Here’s a quick recap of the ways we’ve covered in this article that will help you deliver on customer promises:

• Understanding your customers at a deeper level and bringing CX and UX together throughout the shopping journey.
• Creating those outstanding unboxing experiences that reflect your brand’s purpose and values.
• Communicate real-time delivery statuses and changes to give customers peace of mind with live information about their orders.
• Monitor metrics such as your NPS and DIFOT to ensure they’re operating at a high level.
• Balancing speed with reliability. The fastest delivery in the world doesn’t matter if the parcel doesn’t arrive when or where it’s meant to.

Remind Shoppers You’re Here for the Long Journey

2023 was a bumpy ride for the retail industry, and in 2024’s rapidly evolving landscape, knowing which way to turn to avoid future detours isn’t always obvious.

However, one thing remains consistent: customer-centricity drives conversion (and reconversion).

Everything that happens before and after the checkout affects whether shoppers look elsewhere or become loyal, repeat customers.

Consider the entire customer journey, scrutinise it through a customer lens, and look for opportunities to set your brand apart with outstanding experiences. By delivering beyond expectations, you remind shoppers you’re here for the long journey.

To learn how Deliver In Person can extend your post-purchase brand experience and turn more shoppers into long-term, loyal customers, get in touch now.