With Amazon taking the top spot for the most popular online marketplace with its one-stop-shop approach, it has become increasingly difficult for eCommerce stores to retain customers and keep them shopping on their site. However, it’s important to note that selling with Amazon is a great way to increase reach, discoverability, and social proof. To help brands save on fees and keep customers purchasing directly through them, we’ve summarised 5 strategies to reduce customer attrition to other marketplaces.

Why do customers choose Amazon and how can brands implement these strategies?

Wide product selections, competitive pricing, convenience, prime membership, trust, and reliability are just a few of the many reasons why consumers choose Amazon. So how can brands take a leaf out of Amazon’s successful book? We delved into customer surveys and shortlisted 5 simple strategies from Amazon that brands can implement to reduce customer attrition to Amazon, eBay, or any other platforms. 

Shipping

Amazon excels with its selection of shipping options providing convenience, speed, and reliability to consumers. Amazon’s extensive logistics network allows for fast and efficient delivery, including free two-day shipping for Prime members. The reliability and consistency of these shipping services reduce uncertainty and help to provide a seamless shopping experience to the customer. The combination of fast, reliable, and customer-centric shipping options makes Amazon a preferred choice for many shoppers seeking timely delivery of their purchases.

Brands can follow in Amazon’s footsteps by enhancing their shipping options and offering multiple shipping choices, including a variety of carriers and delivery speeds. It’s important to add that Amazon has an expansive network of warehouses and fulfillment facilities. This network is what gives them the edge in their shipping and fulfillment. However, by exploring fast and reliable shipping options and showing real-time delivery times, customers feel more confident in knowing exactly when they can expect their order. In addition, streamlining order processing, providing transparent shipping policies, and implementing free shipping thresholds drastically improve the customer experience and increase average order value. Additionally, brands should prioritize efficient handling and fulfillment. This ensures products arrive in excellent condition, and utilize shipping protection to ensure a seamless service on every order.

Learn more about how shipping protection can enhance your brand’s post-purchase experience.

Variety

Also known as the one-stop shop, Amazon stocks a vast selection of products across numerous categories. This wide variety allows customers to find niche or hard-to-find products easily and conveniently. The breadth and depth of choices available on Amazon make it a preferred choice for customers seeking a wide range of products. This broad range ensures they can find exactly what they want in a single online marketplace. Within this variety, Amazon does a great job of upselling and cross-selling these products with the “frequently bought together” and “bundle with” options below, making it quicker and simpler for customers to get everything they need in one click. 

Brands can better utilize cross-selling and upselling while ensuring they sell necessary items to complement and complete orders. For example, an eCommerce store selling jewelry may also want to sell products to clean the jewelry, jewelry boxes, and gift boxes. This helps the store to become the one-stop shop within its niche, increase average order value and reduce customer attrition to other marketplaces.

Reviews

Another element setting Amazon ahead of the rest is its vast number of reviews. This allows customers to share their experiences and opinions, offering valuable insights for potential buyers. In addition, due to the verification processes, Amazon has in place, customers find these reviews and ratings trustworthy and honest. This rating system and the ability to ask questions or engage with reviewers contribute to the helpfulness of Amazon’s reviews. This makes Amazon’s reviews a go-to resource for customers seeking feedback and recommendations before making a purchase.

Reviews provide social proof, helping to build trust and credibility for the brand and its products which are crucial for eCommerce stores. Positive reviews can sway potential customers and increase conversion rates. Additionally they also offer valuable feedback and insights into customer experiences. This enables brands to identify improvements and address any areas of concern. By showcasing these reviews, brands also demonstrate transparency and authenticity, helping to build trust and loyalty.

Clear Return Policies

Amazon returns are simple, straightforward, and convenient adding yet another gold star to their customer experience. Amazon provides a hassle-free and transparent return process. This allows customers to return items easily with clear instructions for packaging and shipping. This includes features like prepaid return labels and free return shipping in many cases, making the process more convenient and cost-effective for customers. Prompt refunds and responsive customer service also contribute to a positive experience. This helps to instill confidence in customers and ultimately enhancing overall shopping satisfaction.

For brands, it’s essential to have clear and simple returns policies displayed on the site to reassure customers that their purchase is risk-free, helping to build trust in the brand. Secondly, easy returns contribute to customer loyalty and repeat business. When customers have a hassle-free experience with returns, they are more likely to become loyal advocates for the brand and make future purchases. Finally, clear and easy returns help minimize negative reviews, reduce customer complaints, and mitigate potential damage to the brand’s reputation.

Offers and Membership

With over 200 million Amazon Prime members in 2023, this membership offers a multitude of benefits, including free two-day shipping, access to streaming services, exclusive deals, and early access to sales. This incentivizes customers to join and renew their Prime membership, creating a loyal customer base. Second, Amazon’s Lightning Deals and Daily Deals offer time-limited discounts on popular products. This creates a sense of urgency and encouraging impulse purchases. Third, personalized recommendations and targeted promotions based on customer browsing and purchase history help to showcase relevant products. If that’s not enough, Amazon’s Subscribe & Save program provides discounts and convenient recurring deliveries, further encouraging customer loyalty. Overall, these special offers play a crucial role in enticing customers and fostering a returning customer base by providing value, convenience, and a sense of exclusivity.

Brands can learn from Amazon’s approach and effectively use special offers and memberships to entice and retain customers. Firstly, creating a loyalty program or membership with exclusive benefits and rewards can incentivize customers to stay engaged and return for future purchases. Offering free shipping, early access to sales, exclusive discounts, or personalized recommendations can enhance the value proposition for customers and help them to feel valued. Additionally, time-limited special offers, such as flash sales or limited-time discounts, can create a sense of urgency and drive immediate purchases. Brands can leverage customer data and preferences to personalize offers and promotions, tailoring them to specific customer segments.

To reduce customer attrition to other marketplaces, it’s key for brands to adopt effective strategies from the industry leaders. These strategies include improving shipping options, offering membership benefits, leveraging customer reviews, providing special offers, and simplifying return options. By implementing these strategies, brands can foster stronger relationships with customers, increase loyalty, improve the customer experience, and reduce the likelihood of customers migrating to other marketplaces.

Book a demo with Corso today and learn how Green Shipping Protection can support your brand.

In the realm of online shopping, the convenience and luxury of having packages delivered directly to our doorsteps have become the norm. However, with the increase in online shopping and shipped packages, the number of lost, damaged, and stolen packages has also increased. A staggering 49 million Americans had at least one package stolen from their porch in 2022. This reflects more than $2.4 billion in stolen goods. The increase in “porch pirates” poses a significant challenge for both merchants and customers alike. Not to mention, the increase in damaged and lost packages. In this article, we explore the question of whether shipping protection is worth the investment in today’s eCommerce landscape.

What is shipping protection?

Shipping protection is a service or insurance offered by eCommerce brands that covers the loss, theft, or damage of packages during transit. This added protection provides financial compensation or reimbursement to merchants or customers in case their packages are lost, stolen, or arrive damaged. The protection aims to offer peace of mind and financial security by alleviating the risks associated with shipping goods. Some brands include this protection in their pricing, whereas others have it as an optional extra at the checkout. This added layer of protection can significantly impact brands from increased profitability to a rise in customer loyalty, which we’ll delve further into below.

Learn more about Corso Green Shipping Protection and how it can help your brand get ahead.

Benefits of shipping protection for brands and customers

Increases Revenue

Shipping protection plays a crucial role in saving brands money and increasing revenue. It allows brands to recoup the cost of lost or damaged items and associated shipping expenses. This means that brands don’t have to bear the burden of replacing the lost products out of their own pocket. By transferring financial responsibility to the protection service, brands can better manage their budgets, minimize losses, and maintain a higher customer satisfaction rate. Ultimately, the investment in shipping protection can prove to be a cost-effective strategy for brands, safeguarding their bottom line and preserving their reputation in the market.

Time Efficient

When a package is lost, stolen, or damaged, the process of resolving the issue and compensating the customer can be incredibly time-consuming. However, with protection in place, brands can streamline this process by relying on the protection provided to handle the necessary steps. This includes filing claims and facilitating reimbursements or replacements. This allows brands to focus their time and energy on other important aspects of their business, such as customer service, marketing, and product development. By entrusting the responsibility of shipping protection to a specialized provider, brands can efficiently resolve package-related issues and focus on moving the needle on their business.

Enhances The Post-Purchase Experience

90% of consumers state that the post-purchase experience is just as important as the product. This doesn’t leave much room for error. Shipping protection plays a key role in the post-purchase experience. It allows customers to shop in confidence knowing that their packages are fully protected. In the event of a lost, stolen, or damaged package, shipping protection ensures that customers are quickly issued a replacement, minimizing inconvenience and frustration. This effective and quick handling can differentiate between a non-returning customer and a loyal long-term shopper. By offering this protection, brands demonstrate their commitment to customers and cultivate a loyal customer base. Customers are more likely to continue shopping with brands that prioritize their satisfaction and provide peace of mind with shipping protection.

How is Corso Green Shipping Protection helping brands just like yours? Take a look at some of our case studies.

Is shipping protection worth it?

Is shipping protection worth it? In our opinion, shipping protection is undeniably worth it due to its numerous benefits. Firstly, it provides financial security by covering the cost of lost, stolen, or damaged packages, ensuring that brands don’t bear the financial burden. This helps to protect their bottom line and maintain profitability. Secondly, it saves brands valuable time by not having to handle the claims process and resolution of package issues. This allows them to focus on core business activities. Additionally, it enhances the post-purchase experience for customers, leading to increased loyalty and trust. By investing in shipping protection, brands demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction and safeguard their reputation.

Ultimately, the cost of shipping protection is outweighed by the peace of mind it provides the financial savings and the positive impact on brand perception and customer loyalty.

Want to learn more about how Corso can help your business? Book a demo with us today.

What does this integration mean?

This integration will allow brands to easily add the Corso experience to their checkout, giving them access to powerful features and tools that can help them improve their post-purchase experiences. 

This partnership is a major step forward for BigCommerce brands, and we are thrilled to see the possibilities that Corso and BigCommerce can offer.

Getting started with the Corso app

Download the app

Adding Corso to your BigCommerce store could not be easier. Start in the BigCommerce App marketplace and search for “Corso Green Shipping Protection” or simply click HERE. On the app listing page, click “Install”.

Once the app is installed, we add a “Sustainability & Coverage” product. This product will be added as a line item to your customer’s order should they choose to add Green Shipping Protection. The multiple variations represent pricing tiers based on the order total. These tiers determine how much the customer will pay for Green Shipping Protection.

Authorize Billing

After installation of the app, a member of our team will send you a billing request which will authorize Corso to bill for Green Shipping Protection. In summary, here is how billing works: your customers add Green Shipping Protection as a line item on the order and you collect the money. Then every week, Corso will send an invoice via Stripe. The total of the bill is the sum of Green Shipping Protection line items, minus any reorders or refunds that we processed on your behalf.

For example, if 100 of your customers purchase Green Shipping Protection for $1, you would collect the $100. Then let’s say there is a $75 reorder. We would process that request and place a reorder through the BigCommerce API. As a result, we would deduct $75 from the bill and only charge you the remaining $25. Of course, you get to keep the $75 for the reorder.

Enable the widget

After the app has been installed and the billing request has been authorized, the last step is to enable the Green Shipping Protection widget. By default, the widget will be placed on the cart page just above the checkout button. However, you can place multiple instances of the widget wherever you want. To do this, all you have to do is place a simple code snippet in the location where you want the widget to be displayed. Here is the snippet:

<corso-cart-widget></corso-cart-widget>

Most brands typically place the Green Shipping Protection widget right above the checkout button so it is visible for the customer to decide if they don’t want to add it to their order.

You’re all set!

Your customers are now ready to start adding Green Shipping Protection to their orders to protect their package against damage, theft, or loss and reduce the carbon on their shipment.

Contact us for any questions or support, our team is on standby to help.