Die Geheimnisse erfolgreicher Direct-to-Consumer-Unternehmen lüften

What is customer experience in logistics? It starts in the shopping cart and ends once the order is delivered and sometimes even afterward when the customer returns the order. 

89% of companies surveyed by the Boston Consulting Group say that personalization positively impacts sales. When we hear "personalization," we immediately think of the product, but we will see in this article that it is possible to create a logistic experience for your image.

1. Personalize to boost your sales

Making the delivery experience unique to your customers by personalizing it with your brand image can be a fabulous sales booster. Delivery options and returns are important elements that your customers will focus on before ordering. 

Delivery options

Delivery options are essential to customers. According to IFOP, 62% of consumers consider delivery as a priority criterion in the purchasing process. 

It is not enough to offer a wide range of delivery options but to offer those that will appeal to your personas. For example, if your company is environmentally friendly, you may want to favor drop-off points and not offer express deliveries. There are many possibilities:

• At home: a classic solution proposed by all e-tailers 
• Relay points: a solution that may suit a customer who is never at home during the day or a customer committed to respecting the environment
• Express: can correspond to a customer in a hurry, for example, one who has forgotten his little sister's birthday
• Slots: Solution that allows customer’s packages to be delivered at home without blocking a full day

Returns

The returns stage can really make a difference. A customer who returns a product is not necessarily going to be in a good frame of mind and will therefore be very demanding. It's up to you to make their experience as positive as possible. But how? 

‍1. By creating a return page:

The process of returning a product can be different from one brand to another and therefore become obscure. 

Creating a page that details all the steps involved in the return process will improve the logistical experience for your customers. You'll be able to answer all the questions they have: 

• Where to download the return form, 
• How to pack the package 
• Where to drop off the package, 
• How to request a refund…

Making the return experience as straightforward as possible will improve your retention. In the future, if one of your customers needs to buy one of your products again, they will remember that you were there for them throughout the delivery process.  

2. Return methods:

We often talk about the importance of delivery options, but we forget that there are different return methods: in a branch, in a relay point, or even in a mailbox (the customer drops his return directly in his box). 

Few brands give their customers the choice of return method, so why not stand out? Your customers will not only remember you because you will have made the return process easier, but they will also have confidence in you, which will encourage re-purchasing.  

2. Personalize the delivery experience

In e-commerce, once the order is paid, your customer will wait between 1 and 7 days to get his parcel in his hands. The most stressful moment for your customer is waiting for his order: is it in preparation? Has it left the warehouse? When will it be delivered? 

Creating contact points with your customers will make the delivery experience more fluid, and they will feel assisted throughout. 

Follow-up emails

Follow-up emails allow you to inform your customers about the status of their orders in real-time(in preparation, on the way, delivered) and make the experience as smooth as possible. 

But receiving a tracking email from Chronopost or Colissimo, out of nowhere, can make the delivery experience confusing, especially since consumer habits have evolved a lot and consumers order from many different sites and may be waiting for several packages at once. 

Creating follow-up emails with your image (colors, logo, slogan) in addition to improving the user experience can help you re-engage your customers through upsells (push other products) or promotional codes, for example. You can even personalize your emails to your customers' names and orders. 

Customer service

The delivery of a package can be impacted by external elements: weather hazards, carrier delays, the pandemic... Your customer service must sometimes be proactive to avoid any friction with your customer. 

It is possible to inform your customer via different tools: a FAQ, chatbot, or email.The main objective is to give a good image of your brand to your customer. He will associate your e-commerce with a good delivery experience. 

On the Bigblue application, it is very easy to access all the information in real-time about your customers' orders. 

To be noted: A good customer experience can also lead to positive reviews on your website, which will improve the acquisition of new customers. 

3. Personalization of the package:

The package is the only physical contact you will have with your customer. It is important not to miss it! 

The packaging 

At Bigblue, we advise our customers not to burnish the outside of their packages to avoid theft. But the inside of the package can be designed to reflect their image: company name, a little word printed on the box, organization of the products... It's up to you to make the unboxing experience as memorable as possible. For example: ‍

The little touches 

How do you make your customer feel privileged? 

By adding small elements that they did not expect in their package. From a small user's guide to a package filled with candy or a nice thank-you card, it's up to you to choose which little attention you're going to slip into your customer's order. 

A real re-engagement tool, your customers will recommend you (and you) also because they remember these little touches.

Gifts

What if you surprise your customers by giving them gifts? 

81% of French people like to receive samples in their packages. Adding samples to your orders is both a way to reward your customers for choosing you and also tomake them test another range of products that they might like, potentially triggering a new purchase. 

For example, a cosmetic brand can add a hand cream or a mini body wash. 

4. In brief…

E-tailers sometimes forget that offering the best possible logistics is also about customer satisfaction. Transactional emails, samples, delivery options... It is possible to act at different levels to make your customers' experience unforgettable, which will push them to order again and recommend your brand to their friends and family. And who knows, you may have an influencer in your customers!

On March 17, 2020, Snapchat bought German giant Fit Analytics for an as-yet-undisclosed amount. Like Facebook and Instagram before it, the social network is entering the world of e-commerce. But the stakes of this merger seem all the higher. 

1. Snapchat and Fit Analytics: the main players in this merger

Snapchat: 

The little white ghost is a social network created in 2011, which allows you to share photos and videos with your friends in an ephemeral way. The strength of Snapchat is the creation of filters that punctuate the lives of its 249 million daily users.

Fit Analytics:

Founded in 2010, Fit Analytics is a German company specialized in solving the size problem on e-commerce sites of fashion brands like Asos, Puma, or Patagonia. It calculates the ideal size of a user from his morphological information: height, weight, belly shape, and hips. Today, Fit Analytics has more than 18,000merchants as customers. 

2. Why can this acquisition revolutionize e-commerce?

2020: the Covid crisis has turned retail upside down   

The closure of physical stores, the impossibility of trying on clothes in stores, the rise of e-commerce in France... Covid has pushed companies to go digital. They have also had to rethink the entire customer journey to try to offer the same experience online as in a physical store.  

This new wave of online consumption has pushed Facebook, Instagram, and now Snapchat to include e-commerce at the heart of their business models.

Merging a customer experience expert with a size calculation specialist, what could it look like?

E-shop user experience at the heart of acquisition

Snapchat, already a master in the art of artificial intelligence, could revolutionize e-commerce by recreating the remote store experience. 

But how? 

We can imagine that the merger of these two experts will lead to the development of virtual fitting. 

For example, Snapchat users could try on their favorite brands at home before ordering them online. Or that after a quick scan of a photo, a customer could find out his or her size at a particular brand.

Snapchat has already used this technology in augmented reality campaigns with cosmetics brand NYX. Users could try on products directly through the creation of filters that correspond to the different types of products of the brand: lipstick, eyeshadow, blush, etc.

Ecological spin-offs:

Today, brands like Zalando play on the "order now try later" strategy, which pushes consumers to order several sizes and colors of the same garment to try on at home and then send back those that do not fit. This practice has a significant environmental impact. Forbes has identified more than 17 billion product returns each year, emitting 4.7 million tons of CO2.

And yet, there are ways to effectively reduce these returns. We advise you to read our article: how to improve your eco-responsible image by reducing your returns?

Snapchat's latest takeover could make a difference on the environmental level. The possibility to try on clothes remotely could reduce the return rates, which are between 15 and 20% in the fashion industry.

Customers will be guided to choose the right size and try on clothes remotely. This will reduce, for example, multiple orders of the same product and returns, as well as the carbon footprint of e-commerce.

3. In brief...

Snapchat's acquisition of Fit Analytics is a source of speculation about its potential. It could be a value-add for fashion brands in terms of customer experience, environmental footprint, and cost reduction.

But, today, a week after the deal, Snapchat still hasn't said anything about itsplans for Fit Analytics. We're waiting to see what happens next! 

In 2019, e-commerce in France passed the historic milestone of 100 billion euros in turnover. Why not get started?

Asan e-merchant, it is easy to get lost, so many possibilities and choices to create or develop your online store. Which platform to choose for your e-commerce? Which payment solution? How to retrieve emails from potential customers?

In this article, we will see what the best tools are to create and boost your e-commerce.

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1. The choice of the platform (the CMS): 

Thee-commerce platform, called "CMS" (Content Management System), is the most important thing; it is where you will present and sell your products to your customers. It is the showcase of your online store. You might as well choose the one that best suits your needs! 

The universal platform: 

According to us, Shopify is a platform adapted to all styles of e-commerce, from the creative to the most developed. 

Why choose Shopify?

1. Easy to set up: 

Creating a store on Shopify can take only a few minutes! The platform has made e-commerce accessible to everyone: pre-created templates, affordable prices, Saas solution (i.e., you don't need to know how to code to use the platform on a daily basis).

2. Adaptable:  

Contrary to other CMS, Shopify is both ideal for e-merchants who are just starting out, but also for those who make several thousand orders thanks to differentiated offers: Shopify classic and Shopify plus for high volumes of orders!

3. Manages itself: 

The plus of using Shopify: is that the platform updates itself automatically, much like an application on your smartphone. You don't need to touch the code to manage regular updates. 

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The tailor-made solution: 

For e-merchants who want a flexible and fully customizable platform, we recommend Sylius. It is a more complex solution that requires one to know how to master open source (code in common language), unlike Shopify, which is SaaS. 

The advantage of this CMS is that it is flexible and allows you to adapt your e-commerce to your business: multi-shops, multi-currency ...

The disadvantage is that it involves a significant amount of development time, either in-house or outsourced. 

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2. A payment solution: 

As soon as your products are online on your brand-new CMS, you will have to ask yourself: which payment solution should I adopt? 

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For the French market: 

Payplug, in our opinion, is one of the two best payment solutions when launching an e-commerce. In addition to being reliable, it helps small e-merchants to develop by collaborating with partners who could support them. For example, if you choose Shopify and Payplug, you get 3 months free on both platforms. 

Why choose Payplug?

• Secure payment: Payplug gives access to 3-D secure, which systematically calculates the risk of fraud of a buyer. 
• CMS: it is perfectly compatible with many CMS (Shopify, PrestaShop, Magento, Woocommerce, etc.)
• Physical stores: Payplug can also be used as a payment solution in your physical stores with the provision of card readers

The little extra: Payplug is integrated with Oney, which is a solution for multi-payment for expensive products. 

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To develop abroad: 

Mollie is also a very good payment option that will appeal more to e-merchants with a large volume or who are looking to expand abroad. It allows your customers to choose the currency they prefer to pay in. But Mollie does not integrate multi-currency on Shopify. 

The little extra: Mollie is very well adapted to the German zone and the Benelux countries, which have a very particular payment system. 

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3. The choice of its customer service:

One of the peculiarities of e-commerce is that you have no direct contact with your customers. It is, therefore, essential that you choose a tool that will be your point of contact with them. 

In our opinion, there are two solutions that stand out, the first one allows you to have access to free customer service, and the second one is a turn key solution for Shopify users. 

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A solution to get started: 

Tawk.to is a perfect solution to get started. It's a service that allows you to follow your customers' activity in real-time, thanks to a summary dashboard, and to communicate with them in real-time via chat. This solution allows you to understand your customer service needs before spending part of your budget. 

The benefit of this solution: In addition to being completely free, it is quickly installable and integrable on your shop. 

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To take it up a notch: 

Our favorite solution, in terms of customer service, is Gorgias. It is a platform that allows you to centralize all your customer information: from your customer tickets to your comments on your social networks and the updating of order status from your shop. You won't miss any more of your information! Forget the Facebook message that went un noticed or the email that went unanswered. 

Gorgias is a "made in Shopify" solution, meaning that it has been developed to integrate perfectly with the platform. 

The little extra: A personalized onboarding and daily support by a French team. 

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4. Enrich your customer databases: 

Once your store is up and running, and it is possible to order on your site, you will seek to acquire new customers or bring back those who have already ordered from you. How can you do this? By collecting the email addresses of visitors to your site. 

What are the three tools that allow you to enrich your databases? 

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First step: 

The first solution is Privy. It is an application that allows you to retrieve contacts via the appearance of pop-ups. 

What is a pop-up? 

It is a small window that opens on your website to offer something to a visitor in exchange for his email address. For example, Big Moustache offers €10 from €60 in exchange for an email address: 

 The little extra of Privy: it's free! It's a good alternative to start with.  

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To spend the second:  

Wisepops is an application that also allows you to create pop-ups, but this time you can modify all the parameters that compose them:

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• The content: text, images, CTA...
• The appearance time: it can appear at the opening of the page or after 25 seconds, for example. 
• The design: it can vary according to the pages, the customers ...
• Appearance pages: pop-ups can be present on product pages, for example.

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A tool that converts: 

One of the tools that we recommend to e-merchants who are on Shopify is the Wheelio application. It is a wheel of fortune that will be displayed as a pop-up on your site and that will offer your customers in exchange for their emails to win various prizes (discounts, free e-book, free shipping, etc.)

Wheelio says that the wheel of fortune converts about 9% of your site visitors.

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5. The emailing strategy:

You've convinced your potential customers to give you their email addresses, now what can you do? You will convince them to buy your products through an emailing strategy!

For our customers, an average of 30% of their sales come from an emailing strategy.You might as well not be mistaken about the choice of software. 

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An almost universal solution: 

Klaviyo is the solution that best suits all sizes of e-commerce. The platform offers options to suit all budgets. 

With Klaviyo, it is possible to: 

• Create newsletters for your community 
• Create automated emails to bring one of your customers back to the site after a shopping cart abandonment
• Set up very advanced scenarios according to the purchasing process of your potential customer 
• Segmenting databases in a very precise way

We chose Klaviyo and not Mailchimp, mainly for the quality of the database segmentation. Klaviyo allows more flexibility in the choice of criteria for the automatic emails of e-merchants.  

The little extra: Klaviyo is perfectly adapted to Shopify.  

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For more information: 

We realized that the emailing strategy: the segmentation of the bases, the creation of scenarios, and the sending of automated emails were not necessarily very easy. So, we selected Splio, which has the same features as Klaviyo, but with more support. 

Each customer is followed and advised by an account manager on a daily basis. E-merchants benefit from a turnkey emailing strategy. 

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6. The importance of customer feedback:  

Customer reviews are very important for an e-merchant; they help to trigger the sale. According to Search Engine, 88% of Internet users trust online reviews more than those of their relatives. 

Therefore, it is essential to collect the opinions of internet users about your products! 

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Take your first steps: 

We selected Judge me to take the first steps in collecting customer reviews. It is a very simple, affordable solution developed for Shopify that allows you to setup a rating system on your products very quickly. The small negative point is that it is not possible to customize the rating in terms of design, for example. 

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To go further: 

Once you're familiar with customer reviews, you can move up the range with Yotpo. 

It allows you to collect and display customer reviews with a design customized to your site, such as colors, font, content, etc.

The little extra: Yotpo is certified by Google, which means that the reviews your customers have left will appear directly in the results after a search on the search engine.

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For more guarantee: 

We decided to offer you a 3ᵉ solution for e-merchants who have specific products and who need a very strict rating system to avoid fraud. 

Trustpilot is a real guarantee of quality and trust. A large majority of Internet users are familiar with the famous star logo, which is an extremely powerful and indispensable reinsurance argument in competitive sectors. Trustpilot guarantees its reviews are 100% verified, i.e., only those who order on your site are allowed to write a review. 

The little extra: Trustpilot can improve your Google ranking by creating a "brand" page on their website. 

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7. Manage its logistics: 

Once you have launched your e-commerce and start taking orders, it is important to take an interest in logistics: how will I send my products? 

We talk about logistics at the moment the payment is made by your customers. It, therefore, includes the preparation, shipping, and return stages. 

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For less than 150 orders: 

If your e-commerce does not yet make 150 orders per month, you can internalize apart of the logistic process, such as the preparation of orders, for example, but you will need help for the rest. 

Boxtal is a solution that we recommend to small e-merchants. It comes in the form of a platform on which you can centralize all the carrier tracking of your parcels in transit, but you can also generate shipping and return labels. 

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For more than 150 orders: 

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The preparation and management of orders above 150 orders becomes time-consuming and can impact the development of the brand: delay in the creation of a new product line, little time for a marketing strategy, difficulty in finding partnerships, etc. 

Why not completely outsource its logistics? 

Bigblue is a turnkey logistics solution. You can outsource 100% of your logistics: product storage, order preparation, and dispatch return management. Thee-merchant benefits from expert order management while monitoring the entire logistics process in real-time on the Bigblue platform. 

6. Other apps: 

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Manage cookies:

The RGPD (General Regulation on Data Protection) is essential on your website. It is a law that regulates the use of cookies on websites. Each e-merchant must inform and request the consent of its visitor on the use of its navigation data.  

Some applications used for the creation of pop-ups sell RGPD in their services, while they only display the message on websites without managing customer data. Studio Zerance has developed an app to meet this need: Cookibot! 

It allows you to manage 100% of customer data, display the famous cookie pop-up and record user preferences. In case of control, you can provide a recent audit of your site's cookies.  

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7. Find an accountant: 

As a company, you will have to manage your compatibility yourself: expenses, VAT, salaries, and so on.

Why not use a digitized solution that would be in line with your e-commerce? 

For us, Studio Zerance, the solution for e-merchants is Pennylane!  This is an accounting firm offering a custom online interface that is directly linked to Shopify. It is possible to import all sales flows automatically from your shop and manage all accounting operations online.

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8. In brief... 

In this article, we have made a non-exhaustive list of tools that we believe can help you on a daily basis to develop your e-commerce. There is no perfect solution that fits everyone. It's up to you to try and find the one that suits you best.

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Main image created by pikisuperstar - en.freepik.com

It is often imagined that the logistics stop when the package is delivered. But returns are just as important as the rest of the logistics process. From the creation of your return policy to the outsourcing of your logistics and the choice of packaging, there are many aspects on which you can stand out!

We will see in this article how returns can be both a gas pedal of your sales but also an element of unstoppable loyalty. 

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1. Return policy: How to use it well? 

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Create your return policy:


The return policy is made up of all the elements related to the return of packages: 

• The legal return time limits 
• Repayment terms 
• The return procedure
• The cost of returns ... 

It is important that you put yourself in your client's shoes to answer any questions they may have. In addition to saving your support team time, this strategy will reduce your customer's frustration and improve their logistics experience. 

For example, you can formulate it as an FAQ: 

Your return policy will not only improve the customer experience by avoiding surprises such as a paid return but will also reassure your customers about return times, for example. 

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The return policy in accordance with your convictions: 


All the decisions and policies of your e-commerce have an impact on your brand image. Returns can be a great tool to anchor your values. 

For example, let's imagine that you are an e-merchant selling eco-responsible clothing, Made in France. Adapting returns management to your social and environmental commitments will improve your brand image, such as: 

• Eco-responsible and/or reusable packaging
• A dissuasive return policy
• A return rate accordingly: free of charge, free of charge under certain conditions, subject to a fee.

Creating a policy to your image in addition to improving your brand image with your customers and prospects will be a foolproof commercial asset. 

You can communicate your commitment directly on your website, for example. Loom, a brand of eco-responsible clothing, commits to both a dissuasive policy and packaging as environmentally friendly as possible, which is highlighted on its e-shop through an article and photos: 

The return policy is a real asset to build customer loyalty and acquire new customers, it is up to you to create it in the most attractive way but also to make it as accessible as possible: at the time of checkout, on the product pages, in the footer of your website ...

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2. The return experience: 

Let's take our example again. If your customer has ordered, received, and tried on his linen pants and realizes that they are too small, how will he return them? 

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The process: 


You will have to explain to your customer what steps to take to return his product. Your goal: to reassure and retain your customer! 

How do you do it? By making his return experience as easy and quick as possible! 

A simple way to accompany your customer is to create several "guides": 

1. The first one is to create a specific page that details all the steps (with the return time): 

• Login to your customer area with your order number. 
• Generate your return slip on the site by selecting the returned products.  
• Print the voucher to include it in your package 
• Drop off your package at the post office 

This page can be included in your follow-up emails and should be highly visible on your site. 

2. Include a DIY ("Do it yourself") of the return process in your package. This is a guide that summarizes all the steps for a successful return! ‍

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The packaging:  

72% of French people are more and more interested in environmental issues.  

Why not improve your brand image to boost your sales by carefully choosing the packaging of your packages? 

There are different solutions for a more environmentally friendly package: 

• The choice of materials: 

Choose recycled and/or recyclable materials: cardboard, kraft tape, Kraft to protect your products ... 

• The choice of your shipping packaging: 

Send your orders in packages that can be reused for returns. In addition to boosting your sales through your commitment to the environment, this choice will improve your customers' experience. 

Let's take our example. Your customer who ordered a pair of pants that are too small will want to return the product. If you have opted for the classic packaging, your customer will have to tinker with the package to return the product, which can be frustrating, time-consuming, or even costly (if he has to buy a new box because he has opened his own box incorrectly).  

• The ecological bet: 

The next step is to create a partnership with solutions that innovate in terms of ecological packaging. There are brands like Hipli that have designed a package that can be reused more than 100 times. It also allows your customers to return their products. 

Thanks to this partnership, you will be memorable for your customers!

 All these solutions, in addition to being environmentally friendly, have a commercial purpose: to create a craze for your brand! You will retain your existing customers and convince new ones. 

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3. What if you outsource your returns? 

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The trend of e-shoppers: 


One of the most popular trends today is the home fitting of clothes ordered online, especially with the closing of stores due to the pandemic. 

Today, according to Metapack, about 41% of e-shoppers don't hesitate to order several pieces knowing that they will return a good part of them. While this is a very environmentally unfriendly practice, you still need to manage these growing returns. 

In order not to be overwhelmed by this practice within your e-shop, at Biblue, we advise you to:  

• Limit!: try to delay this behavior by creating conditional returns (for example, your customer has the possibility to send back an item for free, but the second one has to be paid for). 
• Outsource! 

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Outsource to a logistics solution:

As seen previously, returns can be a fabulous way to boost your sales, but it is a very time-consuming part of logistics. It is possible to outsource only returns, as with Shoprunback. But you can also turn to a logistician who will take care of your entire logistics process, like Bigblue. 

What would be the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing to a logistician? 

The advantages: 

• Saving time and money: returns management can be time-consuming: product reception, quality control, restocking, and potential return of a new product. Your logistician will take care of all these steps, and your team will be able to concentrate on other tasks with higher added value to grow your business: the creation of new products, dissemination of brand image, development of partnerships...

• Benefit from expertise: You will benefit from the expertise of a logistician who works with renowned brands and who will be able to advise you throughout your development to boost your business.

The disadvantages:

• Loss of autonomy: You are afraid of being subjected to the process of your logistician. 
• Lack of transparency: you won't know how returns will be managed: when you receive the return, when you send back the product, etc..

How to minimize these inconveniences: 

• The loss of autonomy: In reality, your logistician will adapt to the specifications that you are going to transmit to him. Detailing all the steps of the returns will allow you to delegate this task while keeping some control. 
• Lack of transparency: If you choose a logistician who has a platform connected to your CMS, he will always give you access to your orders, stocks, and returns. On the Bigblue platform, you can track your customers' returns in real-time, for example. 

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4. In short ...

Returns management, an underestimated step in logistics, can become your ally in acquisition and retention. Customer experience and brand image will be at the heart of your strategy to convince your potential customers. 

An effective returns policy, well-chosen packaging, and the expertise of a logistician are the different elements you can work on at your scale to boost your sales in 2021.

New technologies have changed the way consumers interact with each other but also with e-commerce brands. The French spend an average of 2,26 hours per day on the Internet, mostly on messaging applications. 

With the evolution of their activities, e-merchants are increasingly responding to the demands of their customers or potential customers. The problem? Managing responses can be both time-consuming and costly from a brand perspective and frustrating on the customer side. 

To meet this challenge, chatbots have become very popular among e-merchants. For 80% of consumers, receiving a quick response has a positive impact on their customer experience. 

In this article, we will see how the use of a virtual agent can bring relevant answers to visitors faster, improve the efficiency of the customer support team and thus optimize the customer experience.

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1. What is a virtual agent?

A virtual agent is a solution that allows you to respond in an automated and personalized way to your customers' requests from your website.

In general, your small virtual assistant takes the form of a chat that appears at the bottom of the screen when someone logs on to your site: 

Contrary to traditional chatbots, the virtual agent processes only the requests he understands and can answer using artificial intelligence. It will redirect those that are complex or with high added value to your customer support team.

For example, if you sell men's accessories, and you have 2 questions that appear in the chat on your site: 

• The first one, "Do you have any stock of the product "pair of blue socks,"will be answered directly by your chatbot. 
• The second, "I have a problem with my order, a product is missing. Can I speak with an advisor?" will be immediately referred to your customer service.

This solution allows you to automate the assistance you provide to your customers, which has two positive consequences: a significant improvement in the customer experience and an improvement in the management of requests. 

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2. Purchase assistance:

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Engage in conversation with your visitors:

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Just like an in-store salesperson, the virtual agent allows you to engage in conversation and interact with your customers during the purchasing process. 

One of the most effective ways to get the attention of your visitors is the use of chat triggers throughout your e-commerce site. 

But what is a trigger? 

It is a notification displayed by the virtual agent on your site. You can decide to display it immediately at the opening of the page or after a defined time so that your visitors don't feel assaulted. Notifications stimulate customer interaction, and this will help you maximize your engagement rate. 

It can be as simple as a red dot or as a small text displayed above the chat bubble.

You can also use these triggers to highlight one of your selling points: free shipping, a promotional code, a best-seller back in stock, etc.

This proactive approach is an excellent way to make your visitors understand that you are listening and available to advise them.  

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Create customized buying paths: 

One of the major features of virtual agents is the creation of personalized buying paths. In other words, it will accompany and advise your future customer throughout his visit. Depending on the answers collected, the virtual agent will provide personalized advice to the visitors, for example: on product sizes, new products, availability, etc. 

For example, if your customer is looking for a gift for Valentine's Day, the virtual agent will propose a selection of gifts: from a pair of socks to a special Valentine's Day package.  

The use of shopping pathways is an excellent way to engage the customer throughout the process. It allows you to increase your conversion rate and your average shopping cart, thus boosting your sales.

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3. Customer support assistance:

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Automate your customer support: 

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According to Zendesk, 52% of consumers have made an additional purchase after a positive customer support experience. 

Customer support can therefore make the difference between you and your competitors. To do this, they will need to respond to two keywords: efficiency and speed. 

The virtual agent is all the more relevant because while your customer support team will have more time for complex tasks, it will be busy answering frequent and repetitive questions, for example:

• Where is my order?
• What is the return process?
• Do you deliver to Switzerland?

Thus, the use of the virtual agent will not only improve your customer service KPI's (Key Performance Indicators), such as average response time, first contact resolution rate, satisfaction rate, etc., but will also reduce support costs. 

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Monitor the performance of your virtual agent: 

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In addition to being an essential guide for your customers, the virtual agent collects essential information for you following his conversations: 

• The number of automated conversions
• The commitment rates 
• The average number of messages per conversation 
• The most frequently asked questions

Thanks to this data, you will be able to immediately see if your agent is efficient or if there are friction points.

Let's take our example again. If 2 of your customers inform you that it is not possible to add the size M of the "indomitable" boxer shorts model to the shopping cart. Your virtual agent will forward the information to the teams in charge of the e-shop, who will be able to act pro-actively on this bug. 

One of the other strengths of the virtual agent is that you can also use it to generate leads. For example, if you decide to organize a Valentine's Day contest and offer a socks/boxes package to the winner, the virtual agent will retrieve and store the names, email addresses etc.

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4. In brief:

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Faced with the increasing demands of consumers in terms of customer experience, the implementation of a virtual agent is one of the most effective strategies to meet the expectations of your visitors. It allows you to combine the effectiveness of artificial intelligence and the expertise of your teams in the same channel to offer efficient support and a personalized customer experience.

Guest post by Jonathan Kam, co-founder at Botmind.io

1. What is a follow-up email? 

As an e-commerce brand, the tracking email will allow you to inform your customers that they have ordered the right products (phew) and the real-time position of their package.

In this article, we will give you the keys to create emails that are not only effective but that will allow you to sell more.

2. The essential elements of the follow-up email:  

To reassure your customers as much as possible, it is necessary to give as much (useful) information but without overloading your email. 

What are the elements to remember?

Branding! 

One of the major elements of your follow-up emails is your branding! 

The first thing your customers will see when they open your email and that will reassure them is your visual identity: your logo and your colors.  

We’ve all received an email from DHL, UPS, Colissimo to tell us that we were going to receive a package, but we couldn't know which order it was: no brand logo, no branding, not even a name...

If you order once a month, it's not too bad, but more and more people are ordering online several times a week, sometimes even several times a day. According to Fevad, in 2020, online buyers ordered, on average, 3.5 times a month. 

 The order 

Another way to reassure your customer (or at least to inform him) is to include a summary of the order in the email: give the name of the item(s), the number of pieces, and add the image of the product. 

In your email, there will be:

• The names of the products
• An image of the articles 

The status of the order   

Have you ever ordered on an e-commerce site? All you want is for your order to arrive quickly! 

Each follow-up email will inform your customer about the state of preparation of his order: in preparation, on the way, and arrival! You can even adapt the commercial elements to each email. 

For example, you can adapt the commercial elements to each email:

• When your customer receives an email announcing the preparation of his order, you can add the icons of your social networks at the bottom.
• Once the order has been shipped, your customer will be able to benefit from are ferral code in his email that he will share with his friends and family. 
• Once the order arrives, it will trigger an email alert that will contain a customer experience rating scale.

Adding the order status will reassure your customers and improve their experience! 

Bigblue Tip: you can even add "your package is on its way!" as a different item depending on the status of the order. 

3. Reinsurance elements:

There are small elements that, as their names indicate, allow you to "reassure" your client. They are generally placed at the bottom of your follow-up emails. 

The customer reviews 

According to Search Engine Land, 88% of consumers trust online opinions as much as the advice of their relatives. It's a great way to use your customers who have already ordered on your site to generate new sales. 

How do you get your customers to leave a review? 

In the email your customer will receive, you will add a way to leave a review at the bottom. This is a key element for you to make it as attractive as possible, like this one: 

If you are not convinced of the power of smileys, you can reward your customers for leaving a notice with a discount code, for example. We'll see that later in the article! 

Bigblue tip: You can use Trustpilot, which allows you to have 100% verified reviews. Future customers will want to order from you all the more!  

A contact in case of emergency 

During their post-purchase experience, your customers may have questions or a small problem with their order. Include an "emergency contact" at the bottom of your email that redirects either to your FAQ page or an option to create a new email. 

In addition to improving your customer experience, you'll build customer loyalty. 80% of consumers stop ordering from an e-merchant if the customer experience is bad. 

4. Creating a community:

Your customer has already ordered your product, and he is almost part of your community. All you have to do is push him to follow your news daily to turn this new customer into a recurring customer. 

You have a 60 to 70% increased chance to sell to an existing customer than to a new customer! 

How do you do it?  

Bigblue Tip 1: You can discreetly add your network logos at the bottom of the email.

Or in a much more visible way with photos of publications.

Bigblue Tip 2: Engage your clients more by marking "follow us on Instagram" or "join our community."

5. Discount coupons: 

Recent customers of your e-commerce may not reorder immediately.  Discount coupons will be your best tool to bring back your customers or attract new ones in their circle of friends and family.  

How can you do this? 

There are several types of coupons:

The classic coupon code: you send a coupon code right after the order to get your customers to reorder on your site. 

The reward code: you promise your customers a discount code under certain conditions: a subscription to the newsletter, in exchange for opinions, sharing on their social networks. This strategy allows you to involve your customers (in addition to having ordered from you!) by improving your visibility, for example, if they share their products on their social networks or increase your customer base if they leave their email address. 

The referral code: If your customer liked your little gourds, he might want to recommend them to his friends and family. Offering a sponsorship code that rewards both the new customer and your ambassador will build loyalty for the former and convince the latter. Two birds with one stone!

6. Other products from the product range:

Presenting your new product range, for example, or products that complement your customer's order is a strategy that pays off! 

Emails containing cross-selling have a 20% higher conversion rate than those without. 

But what is cross-selling? 

It is the presentation of additional products to your customer's order. Let's take our example again; with the email confirming that the orange gourd is on its way, you can add at the bottom of your email: 

7. In brief ...

The follow-up email is both a very good tool to reassure your customers but also to build customer loyalty.

How can you do this? 

The balance between reassuring elements (reassurance elements, customer reviews, contacts), essential elements (the summary, order status) and promotional elements (cross-selling, social networks) as well as the use of the different follow-up steps to push different content, will allow you to create a perfect follow-up email that converts! 

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Main Image designed by Freepik

The rules of e-commerce at the end of 2020 have changed: relay points overloaded, uncertainty, several quarantine periods... you will have to be strategic to take advantage of this new way of working.

Don't panic, though. We will guide you to boost your sales!

Inform, reassure, encourage! The 3 pillars of what you need to put in place to make your year-end profitable and attract new customers. 

Tip 1: Check your stocks 

Throughout this article, we will imagine that you are an e-merchant specializing in natural cosmetics.

In this period at the end of the year, whether or not you decide to organize BlackFriday, your orders will be boosted.  

In order to avoid an out-of-stock situation and to take advantage of this period, make a detailed inventory to check that your virtual stock corresponds to what is in your warehouse. 

Imagine having to inform your last customers that they will not receive their order because of a stock error. You risk losing potential customers who, in addition, will give you bad press with their friends and on social networks.  

Tip 2: Make a point with your suppliers  

The cornerstone of your business is the manufacture of your product. If there is no product, there are no orders. So, this is the first step of your "lockdown 2.0" checklist. 

Your suppliers can be affected both by carrier delays and by downsizing in many plants. 

Communication is paramount. You will define together the new manufacturing lead times for your products in order to organize yourself at the end of the year. 

Tip 3: Make a point with the carriers  

During the first containment, the delivery time for 75% of the orders was more than 5 days.

The overload of orders due to containment can directly impact your carriers: both from your supplier to your warehouse and from the latter to your customer.  

If your customer orders from you and you promise delivery within 2 to 3 business days and the package arrives 7 days later, you will certainly have lost a customer. 

How can I get this new information about delivery times?

Easy, generally, all the information you need is available on the carrier's website:

• Chronopost gives its information in real-time on its site
• Colissimo has announced the lengthening of delivery times depending on the destination
• UPS explains the changes on its COVID-19 specific page.  

Tip 4: Reassure your customers about delivery

During the first lockdown, delivery was complicated, with closed relay points, implementation of sanitary protocols in warehouses, and a significant delay of the carriers. Your customers at the end of the year may be reluctant to order on your site rather than Amazon, for example, which guarantees fast and efficient delivery. 

How can you encourage potential buyers to order from you?

Highlight on your site that delivery is always possible and reliable! 

Let's take our example. Before placing an order, our potential customer will look for information on your site regarding delivery. It is important to make the information visible. 

For example, you can create a banner on your Homepage "Delivery guaranteed during the entire containment period" or directly on your product pages. 

Another way to reassure your community is to publish content on your social networks with a valuable message: "order from us, we're open!". 

Tip 5: Keep the relay points option  

Relay points are very popular with customers in normal times. 86% of buyers used the relay point in 2017, according to FEVAD. 

After the government's announcements, so-called "non-essential" businesses closed, and with them, some of the relay points available. 

But don't panic! This new containment is different. Indeed, Mondial Relay has confirmed that 80% of its network remains open, and Chronopost has assured that ⅔ of its pickup relay service is working. 

Why keep this option?

Let's go back to our example. If your customer cannot receive the order at home and you no longer offer the relay points, what is he going to do? He will simply order from your competitors. Guaranteeing the possibility of relay point delivery will ensure that he will order from you rather than from your competitors. 

Tip 6: Communicate about your new delivery times

Once your customer is convinced that you continue to deliver, they will check the delivery times. As mentioned above, the lead times may be extended due to high demand. 

The wisest thing to do is not to commit to express delivery, for example, or to deadlines that are impossible to meet. Don't be afraid to extend the deadlines on your site. If your customer receives his order earlier, he won't complain, but if it arrives later, your after-sales service will be flooded with emails and calls.

Tip 7: Give your customers more time to return their products  

Return time has a direct impact on your conversion rate. Your potential customers maybe afraid to order too early and may not be able to exchange. According to aUPS pulse study, 68% of consumers check the return policy before buying from a merchant site. 

Suppose you only give your customer 15 days to exchange the product (legal delay). In that case, he will be faced with a dilemma: order now and no longer have the possibility to exchange the gift if it didn't please him or order later and risk not being delivered on time?

The solution?

Extend the return time and communicate about it directly on your website (homepage, product pages, checkout, etc.) or your social networks (newsletter, posts, stories, etc.): 

"Return time extended to 45 days" or "For all orders placed from November 1st to December 24th, return possible until January 31st.”

Major e-commerce brands such as Asos or Amazon have already implemented this policy. In addition to reassuring your customers about the possibility of returning their orders, this marketing strategy will smooth your sales over the months of November and December for Black Friday and Christmas. 

Tip 8: Integrate an FAQ page in a chatbot

With government announcements, your customers and potential buyers have many questions about return times, delivery times, relay points, etc. These will come up again and again. 

How can you solve them?

You will be able to gather all the questions from customers concerning the impacts of the COVID crisis in a chatbot to relieve your after-sales service and reassure your customers. 

What is a chatbot? 

It is a small virtual assistant that allows you to capture the attention of your potential buyers who browse your site to offer them help. 

Let's take our example again. Your future customer will be able to ask your small virtual assistant if there is still the product he is looking for, how many days it would potentially be delivered, or if it is possible to exchange it. 

Botmind, for example, is specialized in creating chatbots for companies. 

Tip 9: Choose a logistician

Why would you tell me? 

Imagine not having to worry about your parcels from the moment they leave the manufacturing plant: forget about storage, order preparation, and communication with the carriers. All you have to do is connect to your logistician's platform to track your orders.

Going through a logistician is a solution that will allow you to concentrate on your core business: selling your products and spending less time on logistics. 

At Bigblue, we've been there before, and we support our customers on a daily basis to help them maximize their sales. 

In Brief...

At the end of the year, many rules have changed regarding e-commerce, but it is possible to adapt and boost your sales. 

Check relay points, improve your site and communication. There are essential steps to reassure your customers and increase your conversions. 

The keywords to remember to succeed at the end of the year: analysis, transparency, and communication!

1. Warehouse 4.0: automation of the global logistics force

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Within a few years, only 12% of order pickers expect to work with logistics processes involving pencil and paper. The rest of them expect the entire supply chain to be automated.

New technologies will change the codes of tomorrow's warehouses: between artificial intelligence and technological innovations, the field of possibilities is infinite!

Among all this panel of solutions, some will support workers, and others aim to improve the purely logistical processes of e-commerce. But the digitalization of warehouses can also have its limits.

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2. Today's modernized logistics warehouse: the flexibility of IT and physical tools

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Today, order preparation and stock management are done almost exclusively by humans. And as humans, we are not perfect. An accumulation of fatigue and imposed numerical targets can often lead to many ordering errors. 

This is why more and more brands are including new technologies in their supply chain: 91.5% of companies are considering moving to cloud-based warehouse management. From artificial intelligence to changing the way the warehouse operates, the options are varied!

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Artificial intelligence at the service of logistics service providers

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The use of AI in warehouses greatly improves the productivity of order pickers. Many inventions such as the "Chuck" robot allow you to optimize the path of your employees in the warehouse when sending an order.

For example, if one of your customers places an order for a set of scented candles and an angora rug, these two products will not be in the same place in your warehouse. To prevent your employees from wasting time searching for the right aisles and locations, robots like Chuck guide them. In addition to working on multiple orders, they calculate the fastest route to minimize time loss. 

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In the same way, augmented reality is increasingly being used by logisticians. Leading brands such as Samsung and Google have developed intelligent glasses, which are a great help when preparing orders.Once they are on your picker's nose, they guide him by vision to find the right aisle for the scented candles. They indicate the product reference and check the consistency of the order with an integrated scan. From the reception of the order to its placement in the right dispatch area, the augmented reality glasses assist the pickers from point A to point B.

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Dynamic warehousing and transport of goods

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A more pragmatic way to reduce your pickers' movements: modifying the structure and operation of your warehouse.

The Scallog company for example has developed robots that bring the shelf back to the picker, instead of the other way round. In other words, instead of indicating the location of the angora rugs in the warehouse, the Scallog robots carry the shelf (built with this in mind) and bring it to the picker.

In this way, a picker can complete almost 600 orders per hour. The Scallog robots organize themselves and provide the shelf with the items the picker needs one after the other. 

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With today's technology, companies can save millions of euros a year that they would have otherwise lost due to incorrect orders or returns.

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Bigblue Tips: As an e-merchant, it is important to do some in-depth research before selecting a warehouse you want to work with. Some specifics and the use of innovations by a warehouse can significantly increase your efficiency, in addition to reducing order picking time. Don't skimp on doing exhaustive research!

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3. The warehouse of tomorrow: the complete and computerized logistics strategy 

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Beyond the technologies already present in our warehouses featured in this article, innovations are beginning to emerge.

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Robotization for increasing logistics capacity

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Since the health crisis following the Covid epidemic, the organization and management of warehouses has been shaken up. Indeed, in addition to extra safety precautions, consumers have been buying more on the net, causing the number of online orders to explode. 

Major brands such as Gap, for example, had to transform its warehouse management to cope with more orders and a reduction in the number of employees. Gap's management therefore decided to invest in the implementation of a fleet of order-picking robots created by the company Kindred AI. 

Unlike the robots that guide your pickers into the right aisles, Kindred AI's robots take care of order picking from A to Z. And from an efficiency point of view, there is no doubt about it: 1 single robot can handle the tasks normally carried out by 4 employees! 

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The drones, responsible for logistics expertise and inventories

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In addition to covering the entire length of the warehouse floor, aerial robots are becoming increasingly important in the hearts of logistics and e-merchants. For the time being, drones do not deal with order preparation per se, but with inventory and product identification.And as with robots, two drones can do the work of 100 people.

To take the example of scented candles and angora rug, if your warehouse operates on manual inventory, the risk of error is high. One of your customers can place an order for 2 sets of scented candles, before you realize that you are out of stock. And cancelling an order is not good for your image!

The implementation of drones in your warehouse allows you to avoid this kind of situation. Indeed, if you couple the use of drones with RFID product identification, the drones can identify and list your items from more than 10 meters away. With a success rate close to 100%!

In addition, drones do not need to sleep. This means you can schedule inventories at night every day, or even on weekends. Ideal for reducing your error rate!

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4. Does the automation of an e-commerce logistics platform have its limits?

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Digitizing warehouses can be a good thing for your performance and for relieving your employees of some tiring tasks. But like any innovation, technologies in logistics also have their downsides.

After all, order picking for your customers can be very time-consuming. Between closing packages and customizing them, some tasks can be very energy-intensive. And while robots can handle many steps, they can't handle everything. For example, if your customer orders a red angora rug, and the rugs have been misfiled in your warehouse, a robot may actually be packing a blue rug. In which case you may be faced with a product return! Checking a package may therefore involve a necessary human intervention, a task that order-picking robots do not yet perform.

In addition, the early stages of warehouse automation have been criticized for many reasons, including the fact that the use of robots may lead to the elimination of positions occupied by humans. Today, however, robots in the logistics area work more like helpers or assistants for order pickers. This is a collective effort, which does not lead to the unemployment of all employees.

Often, the tedious and soul-destroying parts like labeling and closing parcels will be automated, and the more challenging tasks (such as analyzing and optimizing parcel picking) will be reserved for employees. 

Finally, warehouse automation and the emergence of new technologies can be useful in restoring the image of the logistics profession.This sector of activity has been facing an image problem for some years now, with it often being considered dull. Implementing technological innovations in the supply chain could give warehouse management a new lease of life and a bit more of an intellectual dimension.

All in all, supply chain automation has its limits, and may have limits in the future. However, this will depend on changes in demand and the consumption habits of internet users.

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5. The efficient and automated logistics chain: the future of e-commerce?

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E-commerce warehouses are changing as a result of technological innovations in our society. Artificial intelligence, drones, assistant robots for order pickers... The Internet of Things is taking more and more of a place in the supply chain and within its management.

Technological innovations are perfectly adapted to the needs and desires for the development of a new generation of brands and warehouses: faster, more efficient, and less exhausting.

That said, they remain a personal aid, and significantly assist in improving the individual performance of order pickers. With the automation of logistics management, Warehouse 4.0 is on our doorstep!