If you’re starting a new business or developing a new product or service, considering what your customers need is a good starting point. Understanding, anticipating, and meeting customer needs can help you create a better customer experience, earn loyal customers who make repeat purchases, and burnish your company’s brand reputation. A few common types of customer needs should be top of mind as you prepare your product for market.
What are customer needs?
Customer needs are the motivations that drive consumers to purchase a particular product or service. This can include practical needs like functional products or reasonable prices, as well as emotional needs like empathy or fairness. Understanding customer needs and fulfilling them can make the difference between a negative or positive customer experience with your company and products.
Common types of customer needs
Here are some of the most common customer needs to consider when running a business:
Quality
For many customers, the need for a high-quality product is paramount. What unique features do you offer that stand out in the market? How does your product do a better job of solving a customer’s problem? Making sure that customers understand how you prioritize quality will help fulfill their needs.
Price
Price is a factor when it comes to a customer’s purchase decision. Different customers have unique budgets and need to find products or services that fit within those limits. Choosing the right pricing strategy for your target audience can make a huge difference in meeting customer needs.
Convenience
In today’s increasingly digital world, consumers expect companies to make it convenient for them to shop and buy. This can include ensuring that customers can easily find what they need, buy with minimal effort, and have their purchases delivered promptly. One study, for example, found that nearly two-thirds of shoppers worldwide anticipated receiving their orders within 24 hours of purchase.
Whether it’s a well-designed checkout flow on your online store or smart retail partnership with a brick-and-mortar store well-located for your customer base, convenience is an important factor to keep in mind when meeting customer needs.
Choice
One size doesn’t necessarily fit all, which is why businesses offer many different variations or versions of their products or services. For example, an ecommerce merchant selling tech accessories like phone cases will meet customer needs better if it has a wide variety of style and color options.
Information
Information helps customers understand your products or services, which is essential in building trust. For example, a company selling eco-friendly products could provide details about how it recycles materials, manufactures ethically, pays fair wages, uses low-impact shipping materials, and invests in carbon-removal projects. Citing your company’s mission statement also can make a difference with consumers who search for products or services from companies that share their values.
Empathy
A customer’s experience can change drastically based on whether they feel heard and understood by your company. By responding to customer communications promptly with a kind and considerate tone, you can meet your customers’ needs for empathy and improve the customer experience. Active listening, patience, and consistency can help build an emotional connection with your customers throughout their shopping journey, from initial awareness through post-purchase customer service follow-up.
Fairness
Fairness is another important emotional need that can determine whether a customer has a positive experience with your business. Consumers want to be treated equally when it comes to company policies and practices. Offering better prices to some consumers than others without clear guidelines, for example, can end up incurring customer distrust.
How to identify customer needs
Here are a few ways that you can use to gain valuable insights when identifying customer needs.
Customer surveys
Solicit customer feedback through surveys on your website, online store, or through an email campaign. For example, you could include a feedback form on a confirmation email for a customer post-purchase. Keep your surveys short, ask questions related to their shopping experience, and consider offering rewards for customers who take your surveys, like a discount on a future purchase.
These surveys are invaluable, no matter the size of your company. On an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast, Crystal Landsem, CEO of clothing brand Lulus, says, “It sounds crazy, especially at our size, but we’re still looking at every single customer exit survey. The entire leadership team looks at it. It’s not aggregated. It’s not streamlined. It’s just raw customer feedback every day.”
Focus groups
Conduct focus groups with existing and potential customers to go deeper into understanding customer needs with meaningful conversation. Whether in-person or through a live video chat, a focus group can give you a chance to gain customer feedback from your target audience in a setting where you can engage in give-and-takes.
For example, on a Shopify Masters podcast episode, entrepreneur Nadya Okamoto discusses how she developed her period care company, August, by running rudimentary focus groups with friends, family, and volunteers. At this stage, Nadya asked questions like, “Who are we serving? Who is the end user? What do they need? What are they not currently getting?”
Social listening
Another strategy for anticipating customer needs is performing market research on social media. Social listening involves monitoring social media channels for information relevant to your company or industry. For example, you could use social media analytics tools to identify trends on TikTok or Instagram that relate to your products, development in your industry, or changes in customer needs.
Keyword research
You can further identify customer needs by paying attention to the keywords your target customers use in internet search queries. You can use keyword research tools to identify the words used most frequently, helping you understand more about customer needs. For example, if you run an ecommerce company selling footwear, you could explore what specifications your target customers consider when researching running shoes online.
How to meet customer needs
Here are a few strategies designed to improve the process of meeting customer needs throughout the customer journey.
Prioritize customer service
Developing a skilled and empathetic customer service team can help your business meet customer needs. Customer service teams should understand your products or services, set clear expectations and use positive language, and advocate for customers every step of the way toward resolving their concerns.
Good customer service can make the difference between losing a sale or winning a loyal customer. According to one study, 94% of responding customers said a positive customer service experience made them more likely to purchase again. For example, you could use an AI chatbot on your website to answer customer questions at any time, but then bring in a human representative when needed.
Keep messaging consistent
One of the best ways to fulfill customer needs is by setting clear expectations with customers, then meeting or exceeding them. For example, if your website promises delivery within two days, you need to make sure your order fulfillment operations can make that deadline.
Establish a customer feedback loop
Customer-centric companies maintain open lines of communications with their customers to better understand their needs. Whether it’s through social listening, customer surveys, focus groups, or detailed customer data, it’s important to gain insight based on consumer behavior and preferences.
For example, as a Shopify merchant, you have access to built-in analytics that can show how visitors found your business, what devices they use to visit your store, and what actions they take while on your site. Give customers lots of options for customers getting in touch with you: Include contact form fields on your website, respond to customer interactions with your social media accounts, or do in-person events like product launches or trade shows.
Develop useful products and services
Once you understand customer needs related to your company, react to that information by developing products or services that cater to those needs. Conduct product development research and adjust your development strategy based on feedback from your target audience.
For example, if you’re developing a new skin care line and customer surveys and keyword research indicate that shoppers want lavender-scented products, you can include that scent. Businesses with customer feedback loops and flexible product development strategies have a better chance of adapting their products or services to the needs of their target customers.
Customer needs FAQ
What are the four main customer needs?
The four main customer needs are quality, price, convenience, and choice. Additional customer needs include information, empathy, and fairness.
What’s an example of a company meeting a customer need?
An example of a company meeting a customer need is a sandwich shop that offers multiple sizes and condiment options while meeting a customer’s need for convenience by working with a service that delivers to their door.
How can meeting customer needs grow my business?
Meeting customer needs builds your brand reputation and improves the customer experience, ultimately leading to more repeat purchases and better word-of-mouth marketing for reaching new customers.
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