No matter the industry or size of your brand, customer feedback is a vital part of doing business. And the customer feedback loop allows you to take note of your shoppers’ pain points and develop a strategic plan for improvement. If there are any gaps within the products you’re selling, this process will help you recognize where they are and determine what you can do to improve.
Here’s more on what this feedback process looks like, as well as the benefits and importance of feedback.
What is the customer feedback loop?
The customer feedback loop is the process of collecting feedback from your customers about your products, services, and/or site. eCommerce brands looking to gather feedback from their shoppers typically do so by asking customers for reviews.
The loop often consists of gathering, analyzing, and acting on feedback and then responding to your customers afterward. For instance, let’s say that a customer ordered a pair of jeans. If you were to follow the feedback loop, it may look something like this:
- Gathering feedback: A week or so after a customer has received their jeans, you request a review. When the customer reviews the jeans, they mention that they really liked the style, but that the jeans fit larger than expected although the customer ordered their usual size.
- Analyzing feedback: Depending on how long your eCommerce business has been selling this product, sizing may be a new or recurring issue. Nonetheless, use this as an opportunity to reflect on past feedback from customers. Determine whether this a one-off situation, or if this is a recurring issue that needs to be addressed in order to keep your shoppers happy and returning.
- Acting on feedback: If it’s a one-off matter, strategize on creative solutions to rectify the issue such as offering to send them a pair of jeans in a new size with a free return label for the old pair and quick delivery for the new pair. On the other hand, if this is a recurring complaint that you’ve received, it may be time to consider adding a disclaimer to your product page. A disclaimer recommending shoppers to size down as the jeans tend to run on the larger side can go a long way in helping them make purchase decisions.
- Responding to feedback: Remember to respond to your customer’s feedback — whether it’s an isolated issue or not. This will show new and returning shoppers that you hear their concerns and want to make things right. Inform your customers of the actions you’re taking to rectify the matter.
Are you working to meet your customers’ expectations? If not, they will go somewhere else for the products they need. Keep in mind that customer feedback — good or bad — is essential to doing business. It provides a dedicated space for you to take note of what your customers need and how you can fulfill those needs.
The benefits of the customer feedback loop
Feedback is important when it comes to maintaining your eCommerce brand’s reputation. Some of the benefits of the feedback loop include:
Clearer insights into potential improvements
Do you need to add in a disclaimer to your product page about the sizing of your jeans? Offer different denim washes? Or, perhaps provide extended sizes? The shoppers who are buying, using, and reviewing your products are the ones who know them the best. Use their feedback as intel to improve your products.
Acting on these insights from your customers will allow you to build a stronger relationship with them by showing that you value their feedback.
Increased customer retention rates
Implementing a customer feedback loop strategy will allow you to increase customer satisfaction and retention, which will give them a reason to visit your site more often. This increased retention may also lead to repeat purchases and increased average order value (AOV).
If you’re not responding to or acting on your customers’ feedback, they may be under the impression that you don’t care and don’t value their opinions — and they could end up churning.
More customer loyalty
As a result of the positive customer retention, an added benefit of the feedback loop is customer trust and loyalty.
When shoppers see you responding to the concerns within their reviews and finding ways to resolve the challenges that they’re facing, it increases how loyal they feel toward your brand. According to the Yotpo State of Brand Loyalty survey, increased customer service and trust and enhanced shopping experiences proved to be most valuable to shoppers. What better way to build on this loyalty than by taking their feedback into consideration.
Understanding the importance of feedback and the benefits that the feedback loop can bring to your brand will help you expand and excel into the future.
Using the customer feedback loop to scale
Once you’ve collected reviews, it may be challenging to execute on the feedback you’ve received. But with the right tech partner, it can be done easily. One brand that has seen a lot of benefits from navigating and executing on the feedback loop is Adore Me.
As a direct-to-consumer lingerie brand, Adore Me understood the overall value of customer feedback and how it provided an opportunity for them to really listen to their customers and respond accordingly. However, with so many reviews coming in, it was becoming too time consuming for the brand to go through each and every piece of feedback they received. As a result, important details and sentiments about their products began to fall through the cracks.
But because the brand partnered with Yotpo for Reviews, they were able to leverage Insights — an AI tool that uses natural language processing and opinion mining to analyze customer feedback and sentiments. With Insights, Adore Me was able to analyze more than 60,000 reviews and 452 topics that their customers were mentioning within their reviews. The brand was also able to save 20 hours on a monthly basis that would have otherwise been spent manually analyzing their customer feedback.
Customer feedback: The key to understanding your shoppers
As your eCommerce brand evolves and engages new and returning customers, continue to gather and analyze their feedback on a regular basis. The feedback loop will allow you to gain new insights into what’s working and what areas may need improvement, allowing you to increase retention as well as loyalty.
And when you partner with the right reviews solution for your brand’s needs, the trust you’ve built with your customers will grow even stronger.
