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[MUSIC PLAYING] Research shows that a better online experience increases your store's conversion rate and your customer loyalty. In a brick and mortar store, a sales associate can help customers feel more welcome and informed. In an online store, that responsibility falls to how you configure your theme. If you haven't set up your online store with customer experience in mind, you run the risk of confusing or losing your customers' interests.
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In order to create a great customer experience on your storefront, you need to consider the customer journey. The customer journey is the path that a shopper will follow on your store. It includes every touchpoint that they have with your business. Your customers' experiences will likely vary. For example, one customer may easily find the information they needed to make a purchase.
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Another might not see a discount applied properly and abandon their cart. Understanding your customers' needs and preferences will help you to consider the possible outcomes along their path to purchase when setting up your theme. You don't want to leave any of this up to chance. Before jumping into the exercises I've prepared for you, let's look at the data to understand how important this work can be.
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As e-commerce grows, so do customer expectations for your store's online shopping experience. As theme developers, it's our job to help merchants find ways to improve the shopping experience to meet this growing demand. A Guardian survey projected that when it comes to making a purchase, 64% of e-commerce shoppers find customer experience a more important key differentiator than price or product.
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That means providing your customers with an excellent experience will help set you apart from your competitors. It's no different than shopping in person. I bet you can think of an example of an in-store experience that helped to make you a loyal customer. Maybe a sales associate showed you how to use a product, helped you find the right fit, or let you know about a great deal.
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You could do all of this with the right Shopify theme.