Good customer service has become a focal point for most businesses, and improving your company’s eCommerce customer service should be at the forefront of your development plans. Shoppers’ expectations today are higher than ever, and brand loyalty is harder to maintain.
The modern consumer is looking for friendly, customer-centric brands who care about what their customers think and feel. When it comes to eCommerce, great customer service can be challenging because of the lack of face-to-face contact, but it’s just as important, if not more so, as in any customer-facing business.
For this reason, customer service should form the center of your eCommerce business strategy. When you improve customer service on your website, you create satisfied customers, which encourages repeat purchases, improves your reputation and increases your revenue. Here are some ways eCommerce companies can improve their customer service to stay ahead:
Offer live chat
eCommerce is driven by instant gratification and convenience, and on-site live chats are a great customer service tool that provides a quick means of communication and allows you to engage with your existing or future customers via your website.
Customers may decide to leave your website if they face challenges in trying to purchase, but with live chat in place, they can quickly contact you to resolve them. Customers get their questions answered instantly, while you build customer confidence through human interaction.
Seek customer feedback
If you’re new to eCommerce, getting customer feedback when you first launch your store is crucial. If any point in the digital journey is difficult, customers will abandon or, even worse, tell others about their bad experience. Even if you already run an established store, customer feedback will help you understand what your customers like and don’t like, what can be improved, and how to do it.
By asking for feedback, you’re showing your customers that you care about their shopping experience, and that you are constantly working towards ensuring potential customers are satisfied. In short, customer feedback can help you to continuously optimize your business along the way.
Improve average response time
eCommerce is all about speed and convenience. It’s better for your business to offer help as soon as it can, and that usually means instantly. Making sure customers don’t have to repeat themselves or wait days for a response is an important aspect of a good customer service experience. Even worse, delaying a response to an upset or confused customer could result in bad PR. Quick response times in digital customer service channels can be improved by using tools like chatbots.
Focus on personalization
We are in the age of personalization, and customers want to feel value. To improve customer service practices, start by getting to know your customers and build on these to create a personalized shopping journey that makes them feel like you understand their needs. Make use of recommendation engines to suggest personalized product recommendations based on the user’s location, shopping, and browsing history.
True personalization is only achieved when your site becomes reactive to customer behaviors. Something as simple as a personalized message rather than a generic one can make customers feel acknowledged and increase loyalty to your brand.
Don’t forget to follow up
After a customer service interaction, keep the customer engaged by reaching out several days later. If they had a query, ask them if everything was taken care of to their satisfaction. Consider offering a discount, deal or promotional code to reward them for reaching out. If they’ve made a purchase, shoot out valuable deals and offers immediately after they buy when you are still fresh in their minds.
Leverage social media
Social media has become a great tool for improving customer service in eCommerce and allows brands to project their unique brand voice. When customers can’t connect to you via your website or Live Chat tools, they will often turn to social media. This means you also need to be responsive on your social media channels.
Engaging with customers on social media can be an incredibly positive medium, even if you’re dealing with negative feedback, and allows you to communicate directly and build relationships.
Prioritize transparency
A consistent and transparent journey can create a very positive experience for your customers. Greater transparency leads to fewer abandoned shopping carts and more satisfied customers. One way to improve transparency is displaying product availability. No customer wants to get to the end of checking out online only to find out that the product they are buying isn’t in stock and is on backorder.
Other areas to focus on when increasing transparency are pricing and promotions. Show customers the entire price they will be paying for an item and outline promotions clearly so customers don’t feel like they were duped into buying something.
If you want to grow your eCommerce business, provide customers with an unrivaled experience and you will retain your current customers and attract new ones. Great customer service keeps your customers happy and loyal, brings your business more insights on what currently works and what can be improved.
