Interacting with your customers online rather than in person can be a big shift. While technology is definitely advancing so that customers and businesses don’t have to lose that personalized feeling of shopping in-store, we’re not quite there yet.
Are you wondering how to connect and show up for your customers when they have a question or concern about your service?
Let’s dive into some of the details around e-commerce customer service and how to create an excellent experience for each shopper.
What is customer service in e-commerce?
At its core, e-commerce customer service serves the same purpose as retail: it’s a business taking the time to understand and put into action a customer’s needs concerning the product, their purchase, or their account. This includes helping the customer solve problems and making their shopping experience exceptional across all channels and platforms.
E-commerce customer service should examine all of the ways a customer interacts with your brand, and offer support at each touch point. This will look different depending on your customer base. A shopper may pose a question on your direct message or in the comments section of social media, email or call your customer service representative, or look for a chatbot on your website.
The key to customer service online is to ensure that your customers are never left without a place to get their questions answered. Whether that means creating a stream of blogs about your industry or staying active on social media, your business needs to feel like it is at the customer’s side whenever and wherever they need you.
A quick note about quality service
No customer service is almost better than bad customer service. According to research conducted by Khoros, a global leader in customer experience software and services, 65% of customers will likely switch to a competitor after a bad customer service experience.
Like great customer service, once someone has a bad experience, they’re likely to post about it on social media. Yelp is the 44th most visited site in America. Customers research before using a service, product, or going anywhere. Referrals and word of mouth are excellent ways to grow your business, but the opposite can happen too without a tight and seamless customer service experience.
The power of providing support services
Along with word-of-mouth and referrals, happy customers are more likely to remain loyal. When poor customer service is the reason many shoppers choose a competitor, it’s vital to ensure each interaction with your customer is a positive one.
Looking for new customers should always be a goal for your business, but if you feel like your customer base has depleted, this can be an expensive ordeal. Suddenly, none of your customers have a history of shopping with your brand and you have to not only attract new customers, but build a relationship with them as well.
Conversely, when your customer service practices are exceptional, customers are more likely to both stick around and spend more on average. 99 Firms found that veteran customers are likely to spend 30% more than they did when they made their first purchase with your business.
How do you build a loyal customer base? With trust.
Customers want to know that your business is operating with transparency and producing quality products on top of it all. Let’s dive into a few best practices you can use today to improve your e-commerce shopper experience.
The key to customer service online is to ensure that your customers are never left without a place to get their questions answered.E-commerce customer service best practices
Even though consumers are shopping online more now, this doesn’t mean that they want to sacrifice incredible customer service. Your customer service teams should be proactive about how they approach customers, as well as use technology to help boost their efforts. Here are a few best practices to get you started:
1. Offer self-service opportunities
Customers typically don’t love asking for help in every situation. Instead, they may look for ways to figure out the solution on their own. This could be in the form of blog content on your website or FAQ documentation at the bottom of the page.
As you interact with your shoppers, you may notice that they’re asking the same questions over and over again. This is your clue to offer documentation to answer their questions on their own.
2. Take feedback seriously
Suppose a customer is taking the time to talk about an experience they had on social media, emailing you, or otherwise contacting you. In that case, this is a valuable interaction and opportunity. You have the chance to not only answer them directly, but also take note of what’s working or not working with your business. When a customer sees that you’ve responded to their feedback not only verbally but with action, this builds trust, loyalty, and a line of communication.
Putting words into action can help your brand stand out from your competitors and create an incredible customer experience.
3. Reduce redundancies
The biggest headache that customers face when asking a question on an e-commerce website is having to repeat the question when or if it gets elevated. For example, you may have asked a question on a chatbot; when a service representative hops on, you get a call about the issue, then you get an email, and so on, and at each touch point, you have to repeat your name, question, and the reason for your call.
SFG’s Seamless Customer Service Solutions
A solution to this common frustration is to partner with a full-service BPO like SFG. At SFG, our customer service team is fully trained to know your products and handle your customer service needs. SFG’s technology stack is the backbone of our scalable customer service excellence with a focus on utilizing customer data to its fullest potential. And our web-based toolkits are not only customizable but also driven by logic and a deep understanding of the customer service landscape, making them a perfect fit for businesses looking to elevate their online customer service game.
To learn more about our customer service solutions, reach out to an SFG representative today.
