Optimize Customer Journey for Your WooCommerce Store [A Step-by-Step Guide]

Optimize Customer Journey on your WooCommerce Store

Do you want to enhance the customer experience right from your first online store visit? When you pay attention to what your customers want, you can make their journey from discovery on your site to purchase much better. Optimizing the WooCommerce customer journey increases conversions, improves customer satisfaction, and grows profits. 

In this post, we’ll take you through each step of optimizing a customer journey for your WooCommerce store.

What is a WooCommerce Customer Journey?

In eCommerce, a customer journey refers to the steps your customers take from the moment they first discover your WooCommerce site to the point that they finally complete a purchase and beyond. Each of these steps can be easily identified as belonging to one of five key stages:

Stage 1: Awareness and Discovery

Here’s where it all begins. Customers find your store through some channel – organic search, social media, personal recommendation, advertising – and are enchanted by your products or services, or perhaps just your brand’s cachet.

Stage 2: Exploring and Considering

Once customers are on your site, they explore. They browse product listings and descriptions and – hopefully – interact with your site content. From there, they evaluate the offer, pitting your products against others, considering prices and shipping options, and perhaps even looking for some social proof if they are scouring third-party reviews.

Stage 3: Decision

A customer has a product in mind and is contemplating an ‘Add to Cart’ button. This complex process can involve multiple touchpoints, such as browsing products, adding items to a cart, and completing the checkout process. Therefore, this stage becomes one of the most essential areas to focus on when optimizing the customer journey since it is the most likely to result in abandoned carts.

Stage 4: Loyalty and Retention

The journey doesn’t end when customers hit ‘Buy.’ After the purchase, perfect delivery, give good after-sales support and implement post-purchase marketing to turn the one-time buyers into long-term, loyal customers.

Stage 5: Brand Advocacy

You can gain a loyal customer if you have made the journey so far. Happy customers are the sources of powerful word-of-mouth or posted online recommendations, which often become successful tools in driving more traffic and sales.

  1. 71% of shoppers say they use their mobile devices in stores to complete tasks such as product purchasing to reading reviews. (Salesforce)
  2. 95% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business. (Learning Hub)
  3. Buyers are conducting more detailed ROI analysis before making a purchase decision. (Business2Community)
  4. Most B2B buyers are already 57% of the way through the buying process before the first meeting with a representative. (The Marketing Blender)
  5. 80% of business decision-makers prefer to get company information from a series of articles versus an advertisement. (Content Marketing Institute)
  6. 70% of buyers fully define their needs on their own before engaging with a sales representative, and 44% identify specific solutions before reaching out to a seller. (The Marketing Blender)
  7. 63% of consumers who ask for information about your business or products won’t purchase for at least 3 months. (Marketing Donut
  8. There may be 6-10 people involved in any given B2B purchasing decision. (Gartner)
  9. When B2B buyers are considering a purchase, the majority of that time is spent researching independently online. (Gartner
  10. The leading reason why customers have limited engagement with B2B companies is that marketers are sending them too much irrelevant content. (KoMarketing)
  11. Content marketing gets 3x more leads than paid search advertising. (Search Engine Journal)
  12. 46% of shoppers will leave a website because of a need for more messages. (KoMarketing)
  13. After reading recommendations on a blog, 61% of online consumers in the U.S. decided to make a purchase. (Content Marketing Institute)
  14. This year, mobile commerce is predicted to dominate online sales, driving over 50% (or $659 billion) in sales. (Retail Dive)

Essential Strategies to Optimize the WooCommerce Customer Journey

1. Optimize the Discovery Stage By Making It Easier for New Customers to Find You

Your target customers can’t begin their journey through your WordPress eCommerce site if they don’t know you exist in the first place.

That’s why it’s so important to up your game in the discovery phase and make a solid first impression that compels audiences to give you their time and attention.

Here, your optimization strategies should include:

a. Search Engine Optimization Based on Targeted Keywords

If you haven’t already been doing so, now is a great time to dive into some thorough and effective keyword research to discover the kind of search terms people enter into Google to find products like yours.

The easiest way to do this is with a keyword research tool, such as Semrush or Ahrefs.

For example, in the search box on the top of the page, we can trigger keyword research for an online store selling computer hardware components.

To begin, we can enter a generic term for one of our product categories, for now, “graphics card.”

Adding that term into Semrush’s search box brings up a wealth of data about real search terms people use when looking up graphics cards on Google.

Here, in the output displayed, we will get to see that the term “graphics card” has a high search volume (40,500 searches per month) but also a high KD (Keyword Difficulty) percentage of 97%, which means it’s also going to be very hard to get ranked in the top 10 search results for that search term.

Furthermore, results would also display a specific type of graphics card that still has a pretty high number of searches but is less difficult. So, assuming our store has stocks of that product, this makes it a great place to start.

Clicking on that keyword will further reveal more information about it.

Here, the screen will display the “search intent” value as ‘transactional,’ which means people are typing “4090 graphics card” into Google because they want to buy that “particular” model.

As such, it would be wise to begin optimizing our product descriptions for this keyword and creating valuable content that drives people toward our “4090 graphics card unit.”

To help with that, we further scroll down to the Keyword Ideas section.

Here, under the “questions section,” you will see that plenty of search users have questions about the ‘graphics card.’

Take note of these questions as reported by the analytics, because answering these questions via well-structured, fully-optimized blog posts, reviews, and other content will not only help you drive traffic to your site from these search terms but also establish your brand as a trusted, authoritative source of information on this particular product.

Once customers learn to trust you through your content, they’re more likely to retain that trust when handing over their credit card information.

b. Utilize Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool for brand discovery and engagement, especially for eCommerce businesses. Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are perfect for showcasing product aesthetics. By creating visually appealing and informative posts, you can boost user engagement and drive traffic to your online store.

Additionally, adding social sharing buttons to your WooCommerce store enables loyal customers to share your products with their online communities. This can be easily accomplished using a WordPress plugin like Sassy Social Share, which customizes social media icons for easy sharing.

c. Add Your Products to The Google Merchant Center

Run a quick Google search for any product types you sell, and you’ll probably discover a host of product listings that stand out from the usual organic search results.

Simply visualize that such manner of prominent listings, complete with product images, pricing information, and even customer ratings, make a big difference in getting new people to your store to begin their journey toward checkout.

To get your products in these listings, you’ll need to connect your WooCommerce store to the Google Merchant Center.

First, point your browser to https://merchants.google.com/, and sign up for a Merchant Center account.

Herein, you’ll need to add a few details, such as your business name, website address, and the physical address of your brick-and-mortar store if you have one.

Next, log in to WordPress, navigate to Plugins – Add New Plugin, and search for a plugin called Google Listings & Ads.

Install and activate your plugin, then, from your dashboard menu, go to Marketing – Google Listings & Ads, and click on Start Listing Products.

For this to work, you’ll need to be connected to the plugin via three accounts:

  • Your WordPress account
  • Your general Google account
  • Your Google Merchant Store Account.

By clicking Connect on each of these, ensure everything is synced up and ready to go. Go ahead, and connect your accounts on that page.

Once fully connected, you can begin to configure your product listings by:

  • Selecting which languages and locations (by selecting countries or regions) your products should be displayed in.
  • Adding shipping and various tax information.

On the next page, you will also need to verify your contact information to prove to Google that you’re legitimate by selecting all values, which are true and applicable to you.

Finally, you’ll need to ensure that you meet all the criteria listed in the Pre-Launch checklist to meet Google’s requirements.

When you’re all done on that page, you may find that you are (maybe or maybe not) displayed a list of issues that need to be resolved. This is because the Google Listings plugin adds more attribute fields to your product pages, which need to be filled in before you can get your products into Google Shopping results!

To do that, click on the ‘Edit’ link on the extreme right end for any of your problematic products.

This will take you to your product page, where you can scroll down to the Product Data box, select Google Listings and Ads, and enter all the required data.

Don’t worry if your items don’t have Unique Product Identifiers (UPIs) like Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) and Manufacturer Part Numbers (MPNs).

These two attributes aren’t required, though including them can improve the prominence of your listings if you do have them.

When you’ve completed entering the data, hit Update, repeat for each product with issues, and begin to watch as each item makes its way into those prominent Google Shopping Results.

2. Guide Customers Towards a Purchase Decision

Once your discovery stage optimizations kick in, potential new customers will begin arriving at your site to begin the Exploration and Consideration stage of their unique customer journey.

At this stage, your goal should be to give customers everything they need to make an informed purchasing decision.

You can do this by including:

a. Detailed Product Information

Provide comprehensive and easily accessible information about your products, including extensive specifications, an informative and compelling product description linking features to benefits, and visible tax and shipping information.

All this information helps to build consumer confidence in your brand and your products, and the more confidence you inspire, the more likely people are to hit that Add to Cart button.

b. High-Quality Media

Nothing is as likely to make or break the success of your eCommerce store quite like your product media.

Add high-resolution images that showcase your products from every conceivable angle.

You may also want to use the Product Video Gallery for Woocommerce extension to add videos, especially if you sell something designed for practical use, such as electronics or equipment.

By default, WooCommerce doesn’t allow you to add videos to your product galleries.

Install this extension, however, and when you go to edit or add a new product, you’ll find a new Product Video URL tab.

In this section, users of the free plugin can add a video by pasting a YouTube video URL. At the same time, paid users can also embed videos from Vimeo or their WordPress media library.

Make sure to update the product page, thus, when you view the live version of that page, you’ll find the embedded video, now visible, in the product gallery.

c. Customer Reviews and Ratings

User reviews and ratings can significantly influence a potential customer’s decision.

Although there are scores of top-rated review plugins out there, WooCommerce also has its own built-in reviews feature, which is helpful if you’re looking for a quick and easy win with your eCommerce optimizations.

You’ll find this “Enable product Reviews” option by scrolling down to the bottom of the WooCommerce settings page.

Ensure that all the checkboxes are ticked, thereafter, you can configure various settings relating to verified owners and star ratings.

d. Comparison Tools

Even after customers have decided to consider your store over others, they may still have a wealth of potential products and options to choose from.

The last thing you want is for those customers to be struck with a dreaded case of “paralysis by analysis,” becoming so overwhelmed by the multitude of options that it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to decide.

That’s where tools like the COMPE – WooCommerce Compare Products plugin are useful.

This excellent WooCommerce extension makes it easy to create detailed and attractive comparison tables featuring two or more products, all of which you can edit via the WordPress customizer.

3. Boost Conversions With Decision-Stage Optimization

You’re almost there! Customers have found a product that suits their needs, and they’ve decided to make a purchase, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to follow through with it right away.

Even if they attempt to, a poor checkout experience can frustrate customers to the point of leaving your site, increasing your abandoned cart rate in the process.

To prevent that, we recommend investing in upgrading the standard WooCommerce checkout process using a plugin such as WooCommerce Fast Cart, which adds attractive, functional, and highly customizable shopping cart tools designed to reduce friction and cut down on the number of abandoned carts.

Elsewhere, you may also want to consider using conversion optimization plugins such as OptinMonster to create pop-ups, opt-in forms, and other features designed to convince hesitant shoppers to complete their purchases.

To do that, you’ll first need to create an OptinMonster account or log in to your existing one.

Next, complete the setup wizard, select ‘reduce cart abandonment’, and ‘show targeted offers’ as your goals.

Once you’ve done all that, select the ‘Create Your First Campaign’ option.

In the next screen, you’ll be presented with multiple options for encouraging users to complete their purchases. For this guide, we’re going to use a standard pop-up to offer first-time customers a 10% discount if they go ahead with their purchase.

To do that, we first select the ‘Get a Discount Code’ template from the expansive library available.

After giving our new campaign a name, we can use the highly intuitive drag-and-drop editor to create an attractive, captivating pop-up.

When you’re as happy with your pop-up as we are with ours, switch the ‘Display Rules’ Tab, select ‘When’ from the conditions options as displayed on that screen, and choose Exit Intent.

This means that when visitors display any behaviour that appears as though they’re leaving your site, your pop-up will appear, offering them a 10% discount if they stick around and complete their purchase.

4. Turn One-Off Customers into Repeat Sales With Loyalty, Retention, and Advocacy Optimizations

Beyond the initial purchase, the true magic of eCommerce lies in cultivating long-term relationships with your customers. This final stage focuses on transforming one-time buyers into loyal, repeat customers and brand advocates by following these steps:

a. Using Loyalty Programs

Loyalty programs reward customers for repeat purchases with points, discounts, or other exclusive offers.

Prominent tools like Points and Rewards for WooCommerce offer an efficient, user-friendly management system to help you devise and develop an enticing program that keeps customers coming back for more.

b. Offering Personalized Recommendations and Offers

Personalization is all about making the shopping experience more relevant and convenient for your customers so that they will view your brand as one that not only understands their needs and preferences but also goes all out to meet them.

This is another task that OptinMonster can help with.

Instead of ‘Exit Intent’ being the condition that triggers an offer or list of product recommendations, you could create offers based on your customer’s shipping address (for example, free shipping for deliveries within a 10-mile radius of your brick-and-mortar store) or based on their previous shopping history.

c. Using Automated Email Marketing for Post-Purchase Follow-Ups

Finally, consider how WooCommerce marketing automation tools like ShopMagic can help you nurture post-sale relationships with your clients.

You could, for example, use it to create follow-up emails thanking customers for their purchase and ensuring they know exactly how to contact you if they face any problems. Including an exclusive “new customer discount” or offer in that email would be even better.

You could also use it to send customers automated, personalized emails encouraging them to leave a review or even upsell emails with product recommendations based on their purchase history.

Key Takeaways

To make sure you know all you need to do with WooCommerce, we have included lots of tools, techniques, and best practices in this guide that should help you draw potential buyers to your store and make them come back. This may be a very complex process; there are several steps involved in the process of taking a customer through the whole process. Make sure all these steps are fully optimized to have your E-commerce website succeed.

Given this much information, I suggest we wrap up by summarizing the most crucial things we learned: There are five significant parts of a journey that a customer follows in engaging with a company-Discovery/Awareness, Consideration, Decision, Loyalty and Retention, and Brand Advocacy.

The core WooCommerce functionality can be enhanced by many plugins to improve customer experiences and increase conversion rates. For instance, you should consider using OptinMonster, Google Listings and Ads if you want to optimize and boost your online sales.

Customize and humanize your approach in sales. They could embrace offering new customers discounts or taking advantage of gratitude moments but personalized product recommendations are far more convenient in helping customers choose and buy products from you.

If you feel like it’s too much to manage right now, do not hesitate to get in touch with us. At KrishaWeb, we are always there to assist you with our top-notch WooCommerce development solutions.

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Girish Panchal
Technical Architect

A Technical Architect, proficient in WordPress, Drupal, Laravel, and DevOps tasks, crafts robust IT solutions with a blend of expertise and versatility in web development and infrastructure management.

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