Going on the digital customer journey

If you run an online store, have you noticed your site visitor count is high while your conversion rate is struggling? What’s up with that? You might need to take a look at your digital customer journey: that is, what a customer is doing from the moment they identify they have a need to the moment they acquire a product to satisfy or solve it.

Who’s on the internet, anyway?

Your customers, of course. Out of increased convenience and pandemic-era habits, consumers are now relying on the internet for almost all their needs. As of 2022, nearly 1 in 4 consumers buy automotive parts or accessories online, and on SimplePart’s platform, we’ve seen anywhere from 15–33% of OEM vehicle owners shop from OEM program sites.

Just know that if your customers aren’t buying from you, they’re buying from your competitors. No, not that guy down the street with the bigger inflatable–the aftermarket.

Step 1: Identify a need

Consumers aren’t just identifying a need for auto parts and accessories through their parts and service advisors: they’re also being influenced by the internet. Digital influence–or the impact of digital media on retail sales–is estimated at $177 billion in the auto parts & accessories market. Because consumers are spending more than 6 hours online every day, it’s easy to understand how this influence grows.

Not convinced? Here are some of the cold hard facts:

What you can do

You can’t beat ’em — so join ’em. Create your own digital influence by:

• Sending email campaigns about your promotions, both in-store and online. You do it for your new cars and service specials–parts should be a part of this, too.
• Advertise across channels. Get on the omnichannel train and make sure your customers are seeing your ads: in-store — in waiting rooms, at the parts counter, and on the showroom floor; on social media; and in search engines via search engine marketing and through SEO

Step 2: Research

The next step in the digital buyer journey is research: once customers know that they want or need something, they then must determine which product they need, and which best meets their needs and budget. In fact, 80–90% of consumers will conduct research online before they buy. This can include:

• Searching — 55% of consumers rank search as their top source of pre-purchase info
• Reading reviews — 95% of consumers read reviews before they buy a product
• Looking over product photos — 85% of consumers say product imagery influences purchase decisions

What you can do

Make sure you’re meeting customers where they are by:

• Optimizing your search engine strategy. Make sure you have a targeted SEM strategy that makes the most of your advertising dollars.
• Provide as much accurate product information as possible:
• Ensure product descriptions are rich and descriptive, especially for your most viewed and popular products
• Have color photos of products from a few different angles
• Display inventory availability
• Provide clear, fair shipping and return information
• Pay attention to your reviews
• Remind customers to review products after purchase
• Respond to product questions and both favorable and unfavorable reviews

Step 3: Look at alternatives

It’s easy for consumers to find alternative places to purchase products online. What are they looking for? The top factors that influence online purchase decisions are:

• Trust — in the brand, its product, and the website
• Ease of use — in browsing, searching, shopping, and checking out
• 33% of consumers say an easy-to-use website is important
• 80% of consumers say website speed is important
• Shipping costs
• 62% of people say that free shipping is very important
• Price — contrary to what you may think, consumers aren’t just looking for the cheapest price, but one that’s fair for the quality they expect.

What you can do

Stand out amongst your competitors by making your store the easy choice:

• Evaluate your pricing strategy. Are you priced within the range that customers expect? If you’re a SimplePart customer, you can ask our dealer coaches for pricing strategy advice that places you exactly where shoppers are buying.
• Evaluate your shipping strategy. Shipping fees will turn customers away before you can say “wait!” Our dealer coaches also have extensive experience in pricing shipping in a way that meets customer expectations but is still profitable for you.
• Make it easy to reach you. Retail stores have people manning the phone lines and customer support email at all times–this can be a tall ask if you’re a volume player, but for smaller businesses, it should still be manageable and is important.
• Update your phone number to one that actually reaches your parts counter
• Respond to emails and inquiries in a timely manner
• Ensure your website is fast and easy to use. Most people won’t wait for a website to load if they can just go elsewhere. If you have a SimplePart site, you don’t need to worry: our teams ensure your site is fast, follows best practices in UX, and is secure.

Step 4: Purchase

Concerned about inflation and an uncertain future, consumers are realigning their shopping habits and adopting cost-cutting, convenience-seeking behaviors.

• 96% of consumers intend to adopt some type of cost-saving behavior over the next six months
• 48% of people who picked up their order did so to avoid shipping costs
• 40% of global eCommerce spending came from a digital wallet
• 60% of consumers have reported using a BNPL service
• 67% of consumers indicate that inventory visibility is an important service to offer

What you can do

In these uncertain times, provide the ease and stability your customers need.

• Make it clear what they’re purchasing and where it is. Provide a helpful product description, full-color image, and product availability
• Make it easy for your customers to give you money (to put it frankly!). If you can make it easy and comfortable for them to pay their way, you can reduce friction at a critical point in purchase. Provide multiple options for purchase:
• Buy Now Pay Later services
• Digital wallet options (Google Pay, Apple Pay)
• PayPal
• Make it known how they’ll receive their order.
• Make your shipping and returns policy clear and easy to find
• Communicate at every stage of order fulfillment
• Provide “email me when back in stock” options

Step 5: Post-purchase

Your job isn’t done when you receive the order–it’s important to pay attention to the post-purchase experience, too. Sustainable, incremental business is built through a good customer experience. In studies, a 5% increase in retention correlates with at least a 25% increase in profit.

What you can do

Give your customers a reason to come back, and utilize their good experience in a way that helps new buyers come in:

• Fulfill orders in a timely manner
• Provide customer service post-purchase
• Encourage repeat orders
• Incentivize reviews

To summarize…

Creating a good online experience for your customers can take some effort, but once you have the fundamentals down and a process set up, it’s all routine from there. SimplePart’s sites and services are structured to help you meet customer needs throughout the digital buying process, and if you’re already with us–well, that’s half the battle!

Got questions about how to optimize your site for the digital buyer? Reach out to us at support@simplepart.com and we can put you in touch with our in-house experts.