The 4 pillars of connected consumer electronics and how to address them

When looking at ways to grow your consumer electronics brand, there are dozens of potential levers to pull.

But to keep you laser-focused on what matters most, we've narrowed this down to four key pillars:

1. Onboarding
2. Customer experience 
3. Online and retail ratings
4. Sales

By rallying your OKRs and goals around these areas, you can improve the experience users have with your brand and take their lifetime value to new heights.

At Copilot.cx, we recommend getting started with one or two pillars that make the most sense for your business. After all, it's not worth investing time in online and retail ratings until your customer experience is on point. 

Now, let's look at those pillars in a little more detail.

1. Onboarding – the ultimate tool for reducing returns

The average return rate for consumer electronics devices is somewhere between 10% and 30%. Some of that depends on what, how, and where you sell. But a big part of it is because of poor onboarding.

By increasing the number of users who make it over the onboarding chasm, you'll grow your active user base and reduce returns. And when you consider the effort and marketing costs to sell just 2% more products, you're far better off investing that time in a more effective onboarding experience.

To learn more about best practices in your users' setup process, follow our chapter on onboarding.

2. Customer experience – turning customers into users

Customer experience (CX) is an incredibly strong tool for improving the status of your brand and products in the new connected age. Many new-age consumer electronics companies invest huge amounts of energy in CX. And by giving users a brilliant experience, they've seen significant growth in their lifetime value – and the bottom line.

Here’s more about why you should improve your CX.

3. Online and retail ratings – creating consumer confidence

Online and retail ratings can affect your sales by over 100%. It's all about the vertical you're in, how many reviews you get, and what scores your customers are giving you.

On paper, it seems so simple. But getting users to leave a review without risking low scores can be hard work.

To read more about minimizing negative reviews and driving more five-star scores, go to our section about ratings.

4. Sales – looking beyond the first purchase

At the end of the day, it all comes down to that all-important metric. Sales. The glowing highlight that shows your bosses and backers how good you are.

The top consumer electronic companies now go beyond that first sale to explore subscription and upsell opportunities. This approach helps to drive sustainable revenue growth and increase your users' lifetime value.

Once you've managed to get users onboard successfully and give them a great experience, it's time to look towards that next revenue stream.

You can find more information on the sales funnel here.

The Copilot.cx Mavericks team is here to help you with anything you need, from understanding your users to improving their journey with your brand.

Any questions? Feel free to reach out or comment with your take on our four pillars.