Alka Mishra, a Mumbai-based software engineer, was pleasantly surprised when she logged onto Snapdeal to find that the site already knew what she had thought of buying. Using analytical software tools, Snapdeal was able to find a trend from her previous purchases on the online site, which enabled it to predict the requirement.

A colleague of Mishra’s got gift coupons from another shopping site, Homeshop18, for referring her friends and relatives to shop on the website. Some online companies are also creating personalised home pages so users get a unique look and feel.

“Discounts are a major draw for consumers but definitely not the only one. We are trying to give a personalised offering to each consumer and this has resulted in more conversion and repeat customers,” said Sandeep Komaravelly, Senior Vice-President (Marketing), Snapdeal.

Thinking ahead

As the $3.5 billion e-commerce industry grows bigger, online firms are going beyond discounts to acquire customers. They are now using a host of tools for customer engagement, including offering tailor-made solutions.

They are creating carefully merchandised pages after studying consumer behaviour, actively using wish-lists, email retargeting and display retargeting to pull back straying customers.

These strategies are not only cost effective but also help get more repeat and loyal customers.

Sundeep Malhotra, Founder & CEO, HomeShop18, said that during the festive season, “we sent out approximately 10 million personalised SMSes to inform our customers about interesting offers and product promotions”. He added that the company saw a 250 per cent spike in sales and traffic this year.

Amazon (both globally and in India) has a referencing tool that allows the site to automatically suggest books on subjects similar to the ones a customer is already looking at. This creates the possibility of impulse buying, a very important and critical method to boost sales, say experts.

A few companies are conducting quizzes and campaigns around the benefits of buying online, about safe usage of using credit cards and sometimes involving them on social issues and taboos.

Awareness campaign

For example, lingerie e-tailer Zivame.com launched a campaign on both television and Twitter to encourage women from smaller towns to break away from the taboos and misconceptions around lingerie that still exist in India. Half of Zivame’s sales come from smaller towns.

Companies such as online food grocer Bigbasket.com keep records of the last shopping transaction, thus making the next purchase really quick and fast. It allows shoppers to store information on their favourite foods, favourite butcher, and so on, enabling the site to continuously identify and deliver meats, cheeses and produce just the way you like them.

Flipkart, the country’s largest e-commerce company, said it is not just the buying experience but delivery, customer service and return policies that play a big role in building a positive online shopping experience.

According to Radhika Aggarwal, Co-Founder, Shopclues.com, tie-ups with affiliate sites such as couponing, recharge and cash-back sites, as also partnerships with banks and telecoms help bring in customers every day. About 40 per cent of Shopclues’ transaction volumes come through such initiatives.

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