Alright, let's get real about e-commerce in our digital world. With the explosion of online shopping, businesses everywhere are trying to meet customer online demand. For reasons only known to the tech providers of the 2000s, the pet care industry’s answer has been online log-in walls and lengthy pre-booking registrations that are about as welcome as a hairball on your favorite rug.
So what’s a log-in wall? It’s a consumer annoying barrier that forces you to create an account or sign in before you can see certain parts of a website (like availability and pricing for pet services). And don't even get us started on those super lengthy pre-booking registration forms — ain't nobody got time for that!
But, don’t just take our word for it! According to the Baymard Institute, over 40% of US online shoppers have ditched their shopping carts because they had to create an account or found the registration/check-out process to be too long/complicated. And a FIDO Alliance survey found that 58% of consumers abandon shopping carts due to log-in frustrations.
But as pet service providers ourselves, we get it! Pet care providers actually do need a bunch of care and compliance information to provide a safe and high-quality boarding, daycare, grooming, or training experience. BUT that doesn't mean we can't make the online booking process totally paw-some for pet parents!
Alas, a few ideas:
- Let pet parents search for service availability and pricing first — customers are much more likely to give you all their deets after they know you can meet their needs
- Don’t muddy up the buying experience by asking for a bunch of information that isn’t needed to confirm the booking — care information can be gathered later via electronic intake form or at check-in.
- Provide instant confirmation to pet parents seeking your services — as they say, if your customer is waiting for confirmation, they are still shopping
- If a log-in is necessary to keep all of that pet parent and pet information straight, put it in check-out and make it password-less — because who remembers all those darn passwords anyway?
With the fancy tech tools available today, there are zero reasons why the online experience in pet services can’t be easy, secure, and fun for customers. And fret not, we already do all this stuff at Goose so hit us up if you want to chat! 🐾 🎉
Oh, and if you’re still thinking the pet service industry is too complicated to give consumers what they really want, check out our blog on a platform that pet parents are flocking to in droves.
— Your friendly, pet obsessed Goose Team 🐶
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