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A couple of weeks ago, I decided with summer coming it was time to get myself a new pair of sandals. I did what many many other people do when they are searching for something online, I began at a search engine. In Google, I typed in Birkenstock. From there based on the natural search results, I don’t click on PPC, I began looking at many different web sites to see what kind of selection they had, what their prices were and what kind of experience they gave me on their site. In today’s world, what a user experiences when they land on a web site will have a significant impact on not only if that person buys, but also, how that person thinks and feels about the company, brand and products. In other words, if your web site is crap, users will equate your company with crap as well.
As I surfed on these sites, if I ran into any problems like not being able to find what I was looking for quickly and easily, poor content or product pictures, I would immediately close that browser tab and move on to the next result in Google. You have one chance when a user lands on your site, if you do not take advantage of that chance, you most likely will not get another.
After looking at a half dozen different sites, I finally landed on a site that I really liked. The site had a clean look and feel, good navigation, great content and product pictures. Before even knowing what I wanted to buy, I had already decided where I was going to purchase from. After a little bit of time surfing and exploring different styles, I decided. The checkout process was easy and before you can say, “Damn Fricken Hippie” my new sandals were purchased.
Now many E-commerce players out there might believe that this ends the customer experience. I would disagree and say that once an order is purchased, the experience continues with the kind of service a user gets post purchase.
About a day or two later after ordering, I got an email from the company saying that my order had shipped. Fabulous! The company did everything right in the email which included a link to UPS so I can track my order. I clicked on the link with great anticipation to see when I could expect the package and that is when the wheels came off the wagon. UPS’ expected delivery was 9 days. NINE DAYS?!?!?!? Was this package coming in from Neptune or had the pony express come back?? NINE DAYS?!?!?!? What takes nine days to be delivered these days?
Annoyed, I went back to the companies web site and found in very small letters that ground shipping can take from 3 to 11 days. Now maybe I should of looked more closely when I was ordering, but I would guess that I am far from the only person who had ordered from this company and then was surprised at the great length of time it will take for delivery. If that was properly communicated to me during the checkout process, I would of probably been willing to pay more for quicker shipping, but instead this was hidden from me.
This company just lost any chance of me becoming a repeat buyer for them. But even more importantly, they turned a user, me, from a possible customer evangelist into a person who will never recommend this company to his family and friends. No matter where a customer is in the process, the customer experience never ends.
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Technorati Tags: search engine, Google, Birkenstock, PPC, E-commerce, customer experience
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I agree entirely.
Customer service does not end with the purchase. If anything, for eCommerce one might say that post-purchase is the most crucial tipping point for the service.
Do you give them a tracking number? Does it get to you in a quick manner and is it on time? Is the packaged damaged? If there was an issue with the size, is returning a hassel? etc.
A while back I ordered a manga (Death Note) online from an eCommerce site that seemed good. One of the keys of that site, and one reason that brought me back, is they were doing a lot of things both pre and post purchase for the customer. As a new customer, they included a personalized, hand written letter thanking me for my purchase and commenting on how they hope I enjoy the manga I purchased as one of them certainly had. Each book sale also comes with a bookmark with their logo on it, which is great cuz I am always putting random things in mine. Fantastic way to stay in front of your customer. But as you say, that is great post service customer experience.
And heh, were it me, I would have been frustrated if my order didn’t go out for 2 days AND took 9 days to ship. 2 days juar to ship sounds lazy to me.
I hear what you’re saying but did you ever think that maybe they selected that shipping option as the standard option might have been due to input from their regular, long time customers?
Did you share your feelings with the company? They obviously had a lot going for them but you seem rather quick to ‘throw the baby out with the bath water’ - could you have been in such a ’smoke induced haze’ due to the euphoria you had been experiencing that you overlooked the option to modify the shipping option?
In an ideal world, they should follow up with you since you’re a new/first time buyer - take the time to offer them constructive feedback. Come on man, show a little love and make the world a better place.
As an online retailer myself, I understand how this happened: they give themselves nine days because they want a cushion of shipping time. UPS takes five days tops, but chances are, you’re getting such a good deal because they don’t stock all of their own products.
I purchased some ribbon online a while back, and after two weeks and no ribbon in hand, I was super frustrated. I called them and got them to admit what was going on, and again, they were reselling goods not in stock.
I’m really enjoying reading your blog– thanks!