What is customer-centric and why is it a good idea?

It consists of designing the entire strategy around user, every step that occurs is very thoughtful and it is seen through customer´s eyes. As we already said, it is a strategic approach, rather than a tactic or timely action, which means to take a company philosophy. 

I do not mean that the usual market approach does not think of client. Obviously it is the heart of the strategy when what you want is to sell, but this view is a both short-term as it focuses on acquisition far above the retention: they want more and more customers each month.
 

A company with customer-centric approach tries to value this acquisiton by generating strong relationships with its customers that extend their life cycle (CLV). In other words: they try to get the most out of each acquired customer. 

The first step is always to know your customer. You need to make the most accurate segmentation as possible. Enter all relevant variables for your business (social demographic,geographic, lifestyle, behavior, habit of consumption). If you can cross quantitative and qualitative data you will have many more guarantees of success. 

Surely few approaches justify better the use of buyer persona because they are a great way of adjusting the tone of communication, content, acquisition strategy, promotion and even product. There is nothing better than putting a face to the person we are interacting with . 

Correct segmentation makes that we are capable of "shooting" in a much more efficient way, we will be more competitive and it will improve customer retention. 

Obviously if you want to improve the user experience you need to know his opinion right? 

Again in this case, paying attention to information collected by customer service department makes much sense, but is not the only way of communication. You can use online surveys with Customer-centric approach, many times only one simple question is enough to identify insights, for example, the tool Starred or even on social networks. 

Talking about social networking... you cannot forget to monitor the results that appear in the different profiles. It is amazing what you can learn of our audience just by looking at what their opinion is, but much more if you are able to establish a dialogue with them. 

All commented so far loses much impact if we are not able to apply this to customer journey. 

We know who the customers are and we can even reach conclusions regarding to understand what they do and what motivates them to do so. If we add when, we have almost solved the equation. By knowing what motivates customers to move from one phase to the next, we will be able to search for resources favoring that progress and extend the useful life time of that client. 

Set a clear series of KPIs in order to have your goals under control. 

Draw all possible conclusions on all we have said so far and give it shape to enhance the customer experience. Do it at all levels, as it is not an exclusive matter of eCommerce Design. 

You have to achieve to make buying on your store be such a positive experience that it is worth it, and that customer, not only comes back to buy but he also recommends us. You have to manage an emotional connection that goes beyond a solely transactional action.