Customer journeys are the series of events that take place from the first time the customer interacts with a company until he or she takes the next step - making a purchase. Every company, no matter what product or service it offers, has a customer journey. Understanding customer journeys is important for all types of businesses, large or small, to be able to engage, retain and grow their customer base.
As a customer begins to interact with a company, the first thing that might catch their attention is the company's name or logo. If a customer is particularly interested in the company, they might take a look at the company's website and confirm they have a product they would like to purchase. Next, the customer might visit the company's blog, social media pages, speak to a real person on the phone or contact the company by email or social media to inquire about purchasing the product. If the customer is sufficiently interested in the brand, the next step is to complete an order.
The customer will go through a verification process on the order form, providing their email address and other personal information. At this point, there are two potential outcomes: If the customer passes the verification process, they are sent an email confirming their order, which they can then use as proof of purchase if they ever need it. If the customer is not approved for an account, they are given an explanation of why they were not approved and can then take the information they learned and find a new store to purchase the product.
A customer may also be referred to an online store by a friend, or they may have found the product on social media. In this case, the customer might visit the online store and proceed through the process of creating an account and purchasing a product without having visited the company's website previously. In this case, the customer would have been referred to the online store by the company's social media presence.
Once a customer has purchased a product, they are given access to the company's online store through their account. The customer can then view any available coupons, discounts and other offers that may be available before proceeding with their purchase. If a customer returns to an online store after purchasing a product previously, they are given access to all of their previous orders and can print receipts for any products they have purchased in the past.
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e-commerce companies offer additional services that are designed to help customers manage their account more easily. These services may include:
