Customer delight in e-commerce (Case study: Revolve)

I wanted to start the year acknowledging good product ideas out there, and for once my example from be picked from Amazon.

We often hear “e-commerce can’t get much better” and that customer sign-up and purchase flows are already optimal (for the big brands at least).What else can be invented to delight customers? Is there anything else customers might want?

The answer is yes. There are many new ideas coming out as we start this new year and this one below is a great one.

Have you ever bought something online and realized it was a size too small or too large and the entire exchange process is just lengthy and annoying? I bet you than more often than not you don’t even try to get another size and just say “it doesn’t fit” and return it. The company looses your purchase and potentially you as a customer that might never return.

Nowadays competition is fierce in e-commerce. You can often get the same item from equally good stores, with equally good return policies and shipping dates and if not you often can “pass on that item” as we are often buying more than we really need.

I love how REVOLVE found a smart solution to overcome this problem and it is a feature called “Additional Try on size”. This e-commerce allows you to add to the cart another size of the item you are intending to buy at NO EXTRA COST (at least during the trial). You then receive both sizes and return the one that didn’t fit (or both if they just don’t fit) so you can make sure you get the right size with no frustration, no wait and at no extra cost.

The reason why I love this idea is because of the WIN-WIN scenario.

Not only the customer is happy because it is a truly hassle free and convenient solution but Revolve is also finding a new revenue model (after trial the customer has to pay for this extra service).

Let’s not forget that a happy customer is a customer that will come back.

Well done Revolve team!