3 Ways to Encourage Ecommerce Customer Engagement on Your Site

According to Big Commerce, eCommerce continues to grow at a significant rate year-over-year. Moreover, according to the US Government, a significant majority of global Internet users have engaged in online purchases.

An increasing number of businesses are joining the eCommerce bandwagon and racing against each other to reach the top. It may take just a few minutes to set up an eCommerce store, but even the most seasoned eCommerce experts find it tough to survive the competition. A clear roadmap for re-platforming can be essential.

Whether you have set up an eCommerce store recently or have been running one for years, if you are struggling to increase sales, it is time to take a look at the quality of your eCommerce customer engagement practices.

ECommerce Customer engagement is a set of activities that encourage a customer to interact with a brand and become loyal towards it. If you want more people to interact with your business and turn them into loyal customers, you need to improve your customer engagement initiatives.

However, before we get into the details of improving eCommerce customer engagement, let us first take a look at some statistics which will help you understand why eCommerce customer engagement is critical:

• A strong majority of millennials and Gen Xers prefer shopping online than in-store – BigCommerce
• Millennials and Gen Xers spend several hours on online shopping on average per week – BigCommerce
• Only a small percentage of users rely solely on a desktop for Internet access; most consumers today utilize multiple devices to research and purchase products, a trend highlighted in past comScore reports.
• Americans now spend a substantial portion of their shopping budget on online shopping - BigCommerce

Because a huge portion of online users are millennials and they are always on the go, it is tougher to engage them in a way that is profitable to your business.

Below, we will discuss a few ways in which you can improve engagement on your eCommerce website and increase sales.

The longer visitors stay on your website, the more interested they are in your products and the more engaged they are with your website. By implementing the right eCommerce customer engagement strategies, you can convert prospects into loyal customers. If you want more traffic and more sales for your eCommerce website, consider the following tips from our universal migration checklist:

1. 1. Help Customers Make Better Decisions

People are most likely to research products online before buying them. In fact, the vast majority of people search products prior to buying. The Local Consumer Review Survey by BrightLocal reveals, a vast majority of people trust online reviews, and a high percentage say that the star rating of a business is very important to them.

Including online reviews (posted by real people) helps in improving the overall engagement. Reviews also help customers make better decisions. Not everyone will like your products, so you may also receive a few negative reviews, but never make the mistake of deleting them. A good mix of positive and negative reviews makes things looks natural and trustworthy. Negative reviews give you a chance to address the issues politely and quickly, thus improving the trust factor.

Also, tell customers how your services/ products can help make their life easier.

1. 1. Leverage Social Media

If recent eCommerce trends are to be believed, social media will continue to be the most powerful marketing channel. It allows you to spread the word about your store and products quickly and easily. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have evolved as powerful social platforms for connecting with your customers. According to Shopify, the average order value from Instagram marketing can be significantly higher than other social platforms.

The best thing about social media marketing is that you can leverage a variety of content (text, videos, images, and more) to engage people. For instance, videos and images can be used to target millennials and Gen Xers, whereas text-based content may be more suitable for baby boomers. User-generated content can be very useful. Pictures of customers using your products or online reviews posted by real people are a few examples of user-generated content that can benefit you immensely.

Take the example of Fit Little Bride, an online store selling workout clothing for women. Here is how they use user-generated content:

1. 1. Improve UX (User Experience)

High-quality engagement is almost impossible without a great UX (user experience). UX is about more than just how your website looks. Several factors need to be considered when improving the UX. For example, eCommerce sites must be provided with a detailed search option so that the customer may directly navigate to the desired page. Below is an example of interesting search option offered by Discogs.com:

Cart abandonment is another major issue faced by eCommerce store owners due to poor UX. People often leave the site without completing the purchase. The Baymard Institute reveals, “The average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate is approximately 70%.” The below chart shows the major reasons why carts are abandoned:

Some ways to reduce the cart abandonment rate are:

• Offer easy check-out options
• Offer a variety of payment options
• Reach out people who abandon carts via email
• Offer guest check-out options

Here is how Black Milk Clothing reaches out to customers who abandon carts and tries to persuade them to complete the purchase:

Another quick way to offer quality engagement is by allowing your customers to share products with their friends and family. Designboom does great work here:

Social sharing icons are placed in such a way that they are hard to miss. By allowing your customers to share the products, you can expand your reach without putting in too much effort.

Improved eCommerce customer engagement can take you a long way. So, instead of waiting for your customers to engage with you, devise innovative ideas to reach out to and engage with them. People remember websites that offer amazing experiences and return to buy from them. By improving the quality of engagement, you can not only increase the traffic to your website, but also augment sales and revenue with a comprehensive data migration service.

About author:

Brian Zeng is the owner of Ponbee.com. He is an entrepreneur by spirit. Through Ponbee, Brian would like to share his insights on an array of topics related to business, e-commerce, digital marketing and entrepreneurship.

Monthly Update – September 2025

As we move further into 2025, a significant trend shaping eCommerce customer engagement is the integration of immersive shopping experiences, particularly through augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Retailers are increasingly leveraging AR to allow customers to virtually 'try on' clothes, visualize furniture in their homes, or preview products in their own environment before making a purchase. This not only reduces uncertainty and returns but dramatically boosts customer confidence and interaction. Imagine a shopper using their phone to see a new sofa in their living room, or a beauty enthusiast testing different makeup shades through a virtual mirror.

Beyond AR, emerging VR applications are creating virtual storefronts where customers can browse and interact with products in a 3D simulated environment, akin to walking through a physical store from anywhere in the world. These technologies provide a richer, more interactive engagement that bridges the gap between online and offline shopping, offering a unique and memorable brand experience. Embracing such innovative tools can differentiate your store in a competitive market, fostering deeper connections and driving loyalty by transforming passive browsing into active, enjoyable participation.

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