Customer conversations, data, online experience and a sharp focus on the niche critical to growing business online say leaders at Shiprocket SHIVIR
New Delhi: E-commerce offers an unparalleled opportunity for businesses to achieve exponential growth and reach millions and millions of Indians taking to online shopping. However, focussing on key factors and the parameters is critical for the success of any brand, according to leaders at the Shiprocket SHIVIR conference.
These include having continuous conversations with customers before, during and after purchase; offering a good online experience; leveraging data; setting up the right systems and paying attention to key growth metrics.
Staying connected with consumers
Brand communication is a key aspect of customer experience, experts said. Not just the brand’s message and marketing, when a brand communicates is also important – not only before the customer buys a product but even immediately after purchases are made.
Atul Mehta, COO of Shiprocket compared the customer’s journey to different phases in a marriage. The pre-purchase is the wooing period, a purchase is the engagement period and delivery is akin to the marriage, he said.
“Will you not engage your fiancé in a conversation after the engagement?” Mehta of Shiprocket said stressing on the importance of keeping communication open even after the purchases.
According to him, building the right customer experience becomes the key enabler for growth. “And this journey starts after the order has been placed. This plays a significant role in how you are able to build trust and drive growth,” Mehta added.
Zairus Master, chief business officer of the personal care brand Mamaearth feels that online brands have the advantage of better knowing their customers and driving better conversations.
“One big power of digital is that you know your consumer to the power of 1. You know every consumer and I think that’s a huge thing even if you are a single-man startup,” he said. “One of the things that I would really inculcate is talk to a certain set of your consumers all the time and I think the kind of insights they will give you will be amazing. It’ll be more than any data tool that you may actually end up using,” Master said.
Measuring the right metrics
It is important to have the tools and the right metrics to measure customer behaviour and customer experience among other metrics.
“Business, for me, cannot be run without those three, four or five key numbers that we have to be looking at,” said Brijesh Agrawal, Co-founder & Director, IndiaMART.
He said it was important to know what these metrics are and keep a close eye on whether they are improving. “First of all, we need to know what those metrics are for our business, then we need to track those metrics… see how they’re trending and then think about what we should do in business which will not just take care of my customers and my people but also drive growth within these metrics,” Agrawal said.
Online experience
Customer experience also matters online and is a key driver of growth, experts said. According to them, things like UI/UX, speed of website are simple but can actually drive trust, customer service and build that credibility, online.
Another thing that small brands should pay attention to which helps them scale is to actually look at their online feed, and what kind of information they are putting out.
Setting up the right systems
Setting up the data system is the most important element according to the leaders. Brands should keep themselves abreast of where their orders are going, how much is their time to deliver and all of those right information comes from having the right systems in place. “A lot of real execution lies goes into getting your data and tech right. It’s not easy as it’s broken. But there is clearly an opportunity and if you do it well, there’s an alpha to be created here, Vinit Garg, Founder & CEO, Mylo.
Adding the piece on data and technology, Bhakoo said, “The third piece is all about using technology to get that high-value customer and that profitable customer. We need to find those customers and again find those product SKUs and push them which are generating that high value,” she said.
Paying attention to speed
Speed is a critical component of online growth, be it product development speed or time to the market or deliveries. “We need to focus on speed because the consumers are spoiled for choice. If you do not innovate and give something new to consumers fast and tell them about it, they will go out and try other brands,” said Varun Gupta, Co-founder, Boult Audio.
Focusing on niche
One thing that sets apart successful brands is their focus sharp focus on their target segment and their niche. “It is important to evaluate what you have and hit that point with absolute focus,” said Prateek Mahajan, director and head of business operations, Unicommerce. Giving an example of baby care, he said if that is your niche, it’s important that brands keep a laser-sharp focus on it for the first few years. “Companies like Google and Apple have a razor-sharp focus on what they want to do,” he added.
From driving massive traffic to conversion optimization and beyond, the session sought to equip businesses with the tools and insights to achieve exponential growth in the virtual world.
Shiprocket SHIVIR 2023 held on was the meeting ground for more than 100 speakers, over 1000 attendees and over 500 brands. The summit offered unparalleled opportunities for knowledge-sharing and networking.
