Do You Deliver a Closing Memory?

Newegg.com is the second-largest online-only retailer in the United States. They are like the “mother ship” to technology fanatics, carrying a dizzying level of inventory to ensure that customers can get what they want when they want it. At the core of Newegg.com’s fast growth is their decision that they would grow through fanaticism for their customers and the experience they deliver to them.

Clarity about how they want a customer experience to end led Newegg.com away from one that punctuates many Internet customer experiences. There are no pop-up ads from third party vendors. Newegg.com makes sure that things stay between you and them. They wanted to become not only a place where customers go to buy, but also an important forum where technology fanatics go to chat with one another. This clarity for shoppers’ experiences has paid off. Many customers stay on Newegg.com 20 minutes or longer—a testament to the fact that the site has become a destination, not just a place to buy something and depart. Newegg.com doesn’t want to disturb the reverie of that experience with a pop-up ad. Not only do they want to deliver a closing memory, Newegg.com wants every part of their shopper’s experience to be memorable and reliable.

Newegg.com traded short-term financial gain from pop-up ads for long-term customer relationships. Still, they continue to be one of the fastest-growing retailers in their industry. In fiscal 2009, the company ended the year with $2.3 billion in sales; an 8.6 percent increase over fiscal 2008. Newegg.com has grown to 13 million registered customers since their first order was placed in 2001 and enjoys approximately 600,000 average daily visitors to their Web site, who stay and shop four times longer than the industry average for online retailers.

• How can you take a cue from Newegg.com and own the closing memory for your customer?
• Do you have clarity on how you want the final moments of your customer interactions to play out?

What’s the last thing you want your customers to remember about you after they say “good-bye”?