By Ellie-Rose Davies, Content Executive at IMRG The customer experience remains a crucial focus, with IMRG research showing that retailers see customer acquisition and retention as the biggest challenge in eCommerce this year. The top priorities for boosting performance were identified as optimising marketing and advertising (including partnerships and channel strategies) and enhancing the overall customer experience (improved UX, navigation, personalisation, and service). Improving the customer experience is essential at the checkout through to delivery and beyond. In this blog we cover:

• Growing basket completion and value
• Using brand partnerships to boost conversion
• Seamless payments for a better checkout
• Harnessing AI and technology across the journey
• AI for fraud prevention and faster decisions
• Building confidence during the wait
• Data accuracy for frictionless delivery
• WISMO and the power of communication
• Proactive updates to reduce Where is My Order? queries

Growing basket completion and value

Using brand partnerships to boost conversion

To support retailers in improving checkout performance and strengthening key measures like average basket value and conversion rates, industry experts from Awin and PXP have provided their practical advice and recommendations. Lee Metters, Regional Senior Brand Partnership and Retail Media Lead at Awin says, Retailers are using brand partnerships, including non-endemic retail media, to support basket completion and add value after purchase. Promoting relevant third-party brands at checkout, such as offering a free gift with purchase, can lift conversion rates by 4 to 10 per cent, turning abandoned baskets into revenue. These offers also reduce voucher code searches, helping maintain order value. Lee tells retailers to Think recipe boxes for air fryer buyers, or pet subscriptions with pet-friendly vacuums. Retailers making the most of post-purchase moments are using confirmation pages, emails and apps to drive loyalty. Brands that get it right pre and post purchase are seeing impressive results.

Seamless payments for a better checkout

Another way to facilitate positive customer experiences at the checkout is through optimising payments, says Kevin Griffin, Growth Director “ Enterprise at PXP. He says, To bring positive customer experiences and remain competitive, merchants should prioritise a seamless payment journey across all channels. Recent research from PXP shows that 59% of merchants are focused on creating unique payment experiences in the future. Simple checkout optimisations can deliver immediate results: offering local payment options, ensuring digital wallets like Apple Pay are prominently displayed for younger demographics, and implementing smart routing to guide transactions to the best approval rates, to name a few. Kevin continues, Omnichannel payments help retailers to connect in-person, online, and mobile experiences, providing consistent customer journeys across all touchpoints. It's clear that they are critical to exceptional customer service.

Harnessing AI and technology across the journey

AI continues to play an important role in improving the customer experience. Beyond product recommendations, its increasingly being used across different stages of the purchasing journey “ from checkout through to delivery and post-purchase support. As explored by Arne Jeroschewski, Founder and CEO at parcelperform, Making the post-purchase journey positive is essential for building trust. The stakes are higher in the emerging world of AI Commerce, where every delivery creates a performance record for hyper-rational AI agents. Arne tells retailers that A great setup is more than just a tracking page; it demands a unified view of your operations. This is why Arne urges retailers to foreground AI decision Intelligence as a part of their strategy. It provides the proactive insights to perfect every step from checkout to returns, ensuring you delight todays customers while building the flawless record to help win tomorrows AI-driven sales, says Arne.

AI for fraud prevention and faster decisions

Nikhita Hyett, General Manager EMEA at Signifyd also highlights the importance of AI, especially to speed up processes and prevent fraud: Retailers often focus on getting the sale, but its the post-purchase journey that defines the customer experience. Real-time, data-driven fraud detection at checkout and beyond helps with instant order approvals and instant return refunds while still protecting the business. AI-driven models providing insight into the identity and intent behind transactions allows merchants to calibrate the friction involved in issuing a refund, from instant refunds for loyal customers to holding the refund until the goods are inspected for higher-risk requests.

Building confidence during the wait

Once customers enter the post-purchase stage they want to be filled with confidence. This can be helped through AI and having accurate data. Simon Dyer, Regional Vice President, UK & Nordics at Mirakl exclaims Retailers can transform the post-checkout experience by using AI to deliver greater clarity and convenience at every step. Real-time shipment tracking and automated delivery updates help customers feel informed and in control. At the same time, enriched product data and optimised catalogues help reduce order inaccuracies and returns Together, these approaches turn anxious waiting into confident anticipation while lowering the volume of costly customer support inquiries, says Simon.

Data accuracy for frictionless delivery

Barley Laing, the UK Managing Director at Melissa, tells us how accurate data can help build consumer confidence. He suggests for retailers to Start by accurately collecting customer data, particularly address data, at the onboarding stage. With clean and verified delivery addresses retailers can provide a fast and frictionless shopping experience that consumers expect. To obtain accurate address data use address lookup or autocomplete tools that deliver a properly formatted, correct address at the onboarding stage, when the user starts to input theirs. Such technology reduces the number of keystrokes by up to 81% when typing an address, speeding up the path to checkout. Barley notes, It's important to recognise that similar technology can be used to deliver first point of contact verification across email and phone. A smart thing to do once you have the correct customer address is to use geocoding that provides latitude and longitude (rooftop level) coordinates, which will ensure faster, more accurate deliveries, and reduce the chance of costly return to sender issues. Barley says geocoding is important because location and address arent always the same thing. For instance, different properties may share an address, such as a plot of land or the street edge of a driveway.