There's More to Checkout: The Consumer Journey in E-Commerce!

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E-Commerce in Portugal has shown a constant growth trend in recent years, with the pandemic driving the migration of several businesses to digital channels with the adoption of this sales channel.

It is estimated that the national online market, between goods and services, will have reached 10 billion euros in 2023 ( CTT E-commerce Report ). However, only 16% of Portuguese businesses use digital channels to conduct business, with Portugal below the European average in terms of digitalization, and with great potential for expansion.

Consumer Journeys in E-Commerce
To scale an online business, we need to understand that when we talk about e-commerce we are not just referring to the online store, but rather to a more comprehensive ecosystem, made up of several areas that have an impact on the customer's decision-making process.

The online store, the way it is structured, the clarity overseas data intention with which the different product pages are created, and how it guides the customer intuitively and without friction from the home page to the checkout are decisive factors in the purchasing process. But it is in the ecosystem surrounding the online store, in After-Sales, Logistics and Customer Care that the game changes. This is where we effectively work on repurchasing and potential customer loyalty, and consequently increasing the average Lifetime Value of the operation, which will contribute to improving and stabilizing its results.

At a time when we apparently live in a Traffic Acquisition dictatorship, in which this area plays an increasingly important role in companies, which are focused on bringing more and more potential customers into online stores, it is important to look at what the statistics tell us: convincing a customer to buy from us again costs, on average, 6 to 7 times less than attracting a new customer.

Optimizing the consumer journey in e-commerce does not end with identifying potential bottlenecks to conversion on the website, carrying out A/B tests, and applying CRO tactics. Optimizing this journey involves an in-depth analysis of the purchase, research and browsing history of those who have already interacted and purchased from us and improving that experience. It involves auditing our logistics processes in order to improve the flows of receiving goods, sorting, and lead times for picking, packing and shipping. It involves looking at our Customer Support operation, identifying which contact channels our customers prefer (and not those we want them to use), complying with and fine-tuning response and resolution SLAs, working on mapping, anticipating and resolving incidents and complaints, and actively listening to customers, integrating their feedback into improving our service. It means that, from the moment the consumer comes into contact with our brand for the first time, with our business, we are able to convey an image of trust and security that leads them to assume that “if I buy here I know I will receive a quality and excellent service”.

And, above all, it involves measuring and monitoring everything, every step the customer takes on our website, the entire process from receiving the order to delivering the goods to the customer, to after-sales service, in order to continuously improve the experience of those we have the mission to serve: our customers!