Give an incredible buying experience

People remember the unexpected. Think about the last time you got a pleasant surprise. That compliment on your shoes, the message of congratulations out of the blue.

As humans, we crave wonderful experiences. Online shopping presents an excellent chance to provide unique, memorable, and exceptional experiences for your customers. Feedback on Felt often reflects how much this means to the buyer.

Here are some ideas that you might like to try or twist to fit your unique style and flair. The sky’s the limit! Any of these ideas could be easily built into your standard way of delivering things, and any costs can be built into your pricing approach.

Offer gift wrapping

In your first messages to your customer, ask if the item is a gift and offer to wrap it for them if so. You don’t want to make too many assumptions about who it’s for or what colours they might like, but asking a few brief questions can take the load off your customer and give them a memorable and easy experience.

Write a thank you note

People shopping on Felt understand that you are a real human being who has lovingly crafted their item. Reminding them of that with a short hand-written note to thank them for their purchase is a wonderful human touch that you won’t get buying from a big box retailer.

Include a freebie

There’s nothing better than an unexpected extra on top of your purchase. Consider throwing in small samples of your other products. A simple little thing that you can easily add with negligible cost might be just the thing that makes your customer tell all their friends about you.

 

Offer to personalise or inscribe

Chances are high that your customer is going to tell their friends about the item they’ve bought from you. If it’s easy to do then offer to inscribe their name, or the name of who it’s being bought for. This makes your unique item into a cherished personal taonga simply by adding “Crafted for <name>  by <your name>” or similar.

Appeal to the senses

This can be a tricky one as you do need to be aware of potential irritants or allergies, but consider the joy of unwrapping a new item and having a gentle fragrance drift up to your nose. Smell is the sense most closely linked to memory, so if it makes sense for your item then use it. Subtlety is key here – a little goes a long way!

Build a movement

If your item ends up on display, why not ask your customer to send a photo of it through or tag you on social media? There’s no better endorsement than your customers freely telling their friends about you. Add a sentence to your note “I’d love to see <the item> on display/on your wall/in the garden, would you mind putting some photos up on my social media page?”. (Don’t forget to give them the link!)

Whatever your item, whatever the shape or size, there are things that you can do that a big box shop or online retailer can’t and won’t do. That’s a huge competitive advantage that you have, and you can make use of it!

Thoughts? Share your ideas, questions, and suggestions in the comments below.