Journey mapping is an exercise in truth-telling. It determines where people drop off the path to purchase, and more importantly, why. Going through the process equips organizations with a deep understanding of their customers.
We hear a lot about customer journey mapping in eCommerce, but what exactly is it, and what kind of impact can it have on businesses?
Customer journey mapping is an incredibly powerful tool for eCommerce brands. Customer journey maps clarify the path of the customer, and define user needs, intent, behaviors, and opportunities.
It is also a level-set for engagement. How are customers engaging, what tools are they using, what are their behaviors? These are just a few key questions that the journey mapping process asks.
Ultimately, though, journey mapping is an exercise in truth-telling. It determines where people drop off the path to purchase, and more importantly, why. Often the ‘why’ isn’t necessarily what businesses have anticipated, and can be an unpleasant reality check.
Yet the beauty of journey mapping is that it’s a research-based and data-driven process. While the truth can be uncomfortable, it’s also irrefutable. Going through the process equips organizations with a deep understanding of their customers, and the knowledge and confidence to make adjustments that boost their bottom line.
Journey maps can either be user-focused, or intent-driven. Typically in today’s market they are intent-driven, as roles have combined.
We categorize journey mapping into four types:
Journey Mapping for eCommerce typically is intended to drive two common goals:
In eCommerce journey mapping, it becomes especially important to appreciate context. For example, perhaps a customer is shopping for the right outfit to wear on a date. A smart business will not only promote a nice button down, but perhaps a popular cologne and a smart pair of dress shoes.
Appreciating context allows brands to better understand the customer experience. That context can be location-based (i.e. are they in-store, or are they shopping online from Boston in the winter, etc.); emotion-driven (as in the date outfit example), etc.
Without knowing the context, it’s challenging to properly cross-reference products, content, and tools. Context exposes opportunities and even allows brands to redirect customers.
Perhaps your audience spends a significant amount of time on Instagram. Then after they’ve spent an hour on Google researching new couches, they’ll see targeted ads from your furniture company while scrolling through social media.
But if you don’t know where your customers spend their time, then it’s unlikely you’ll be able to successfully retarget them.
Journey mapping for eCommerce also determines exactly what the purchase pathway looks like. Typically, it’s far more complex than we imagine. Most customers read reviews, or need to have an excellent service experience. Your brand may have a great website, but if there’s no online chat support, perhaps that’s enough to cause customers to drop off.
Journey mapping identifies these problems and turns them into opportunities.
Understandably, when organizations invest in the journey mapping process, they want immediate results.
Depending on the maturity of your organization, the time spent developing a journey map varies. More digitally-mature businesses have more data readily available, so it’s easier to dive in.
Journeys are also forever evolving. Smart brands will have ongoing monitoring of analytics. The most successful journey maps are monitored against performance, and continually updated. Whatever your journey map was prior to COVID-19 - it’s drastically changed. The pandemic has impacted the way people shop, and your journey map should reflect those changes. In fact, according to a recent study from Digital Commerce 360:
Now the million-dollar question: how can journey mapping drive ROI?
Journey mapping looks at your business through a lens of opportunity losses:
Consequently, journey mapping identifies the areas where you see the most loss, as well as areas where you have the most opportunity to increase sales.
The journey mapping process takes time, but often allows brands to start with the low-hanging fruit, and identify areas of concern that are quick to fix. Once the easy changes are made, brands can hone in on addressing the more complex challenges.
It often helps to create an opportunity matrix, which identifies short/mid/long-term benefits, and charts effort vs. value so that you sink resources into changes that give you the best ROI.
Interested in learning more? Reach out to the team of experts at Object Edge. We’ll schedule a free consultation to discuss the journey mapping process.
