Remote shopping experience

When customers can't visit your business, you can stay connected to them by creating online shopping experiences such as virtual shopping appointments, live social media broadcasts, and short videos posted to your profile or story. Connecting with your customers directly is a great way to develop stronger relationships and brand loyalty, while reassuring your customers that you care about their customer service needs.

Book virtual shopping appointments

You can offer virtual shopping appointments with your customers to let customers shop and place orders using a live video chat. When customers book an appointment with you, use a video chat service to connect remotely to provide a one-on-one shopping experience.

For example, if you sell sports and athletic wear, then your customers could book an appointment with you to discuss the fit or specific details of your products. Speaking to your customers about their needs can also help you find a product that you sell that suits their needs better than the product that they’re asking about. Personalizing the shopping experience like this can help your customers find exactly what they’re looking for.

During the appointment, you can create a draft order to begin processing your customer’s order. This lets you to keep track of what items your customer has decided to purchase, and creates an invoice for your customer. When the appointment comes to an end, you can email the invoice to your customer for them to complete payment.

Download an appointment app

  1. Go to the Shopify app store.
  2. Search for appointments.
  3. When you find an app that you want, click Add app.
  4. Follow the app's installation instructions.

Create a draft order

You can create a draft order for your customer and then send them an invoice for the order. By default, the invoice contains a link to a checkout, where your customer can pay for their order.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Orders.
  2. Click Create order.

  3. Add products to the order.

  4. Add the customer's details.

  5. Optional: Add any additional details such as:

    • Apply discounts.
    • Turn taxes on or off.
    • Add tags or a note.
    • Add a note to the order.
  6. Do one of the following actions:

    • Send an invoice to the customer. By default, the invoice contains a link to a checkout that your customer can use to pay for the order.
    • Accept payment from the customer.

Save the order as a draft so that you can update it later from the Drafts page.

Use social media Live posting

Using the Live feature on Facebook or Instagram is a great way to open a direct link between you and your customers. When you use the Live features on your social media, you can talk about new or featured products, current or upcoming promotions, or any updates to your business that would be good for your customers to know about.

You can also use the text chat to answer questions about your brand or products as your customers ask them. Replying directly to your customers adds a personal touch to the brand experience, and can build brand loyalty.

For more information about Instagram Live, refer to the Instagram Help Center

For more information about Facebook Live, refer to Facebook solutions

Post and feature products on social media

You can engage your customers while using your social media accounts like Facebook or Instagram. If you want to feature a specific product, such as a new arrival or an item that recently went on sale, then you can use the story feature on your social media to draw attention to it. You can use your Story to speak to your customers directly by responding to their comments and posts or highlighting fans of your brand. Being active on social media also works to remind and reassure your customers that you are still accessible through your online presence and store.

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